The Judgment Chamber

"Everyone, stop yelling!" Rebecca suddenly shouted while holding her belly.

All of us turned toward her. She looked at us with eyes full of pleading.

"I'm eight months pregnant. Please… I don't want to die."

The noisy room fell silent in an instant.

Rebecca's voice trembled as she began.

"I'll go first. I've had three abortions. My husband's family only cared about having boys. They said if my first child wasn't a boy, they'd force my husband and me to get a divorce. I went to a private clinic and secretly did ultrasounds. Whenever it was a girl, I aborted it without telling anyone."

I looked at her closely and noticed how thin she was, almost gaunt, except for her swollen belly.

Helen spoke next. "I… I lied to someone once."

At that, Oliver immediately yelled at her. "Are you kidding me, you idiot? That's nothing! You think that counts as a sin? Are you trying to ruin the game?"

I couldn't stand it anymore and snapped at Oliver. "Then why don't you tell us what you've done?"

Oliver puffed up, proud for no reason. He lifted one brow and said with twisted satisfaction, "Me? I killed someone."

"What? You're a murderer? Are you the one who brought us here?" Cheryl screamed first, and everyone stared at Oliver with mixed expressions.

Oliver sneered, "Don't pretend you're all saints. None of you is better than me. I know exactly what filth every single one of you has done."

He pointed at Cheryl.

"You seduced a married man while pretending to be a tutor. Then you pushed him to kill his wife and daughter, ruined their whole family, and pinned the crime on them before running off with a pile of cash."

Cheryl's face lost all color.

Oliver pointed to Dwayne.

"You took huge fees to defend a murderer. Thanks to you, he walked free. And the day he got out, he slaughtered the victim's entire family."

Then, his finger swung toward me. "And you."

His eyes swept over me from head to toe before he snorted. "You caused someone's death. Indirectly, but you did."

The mood in the chamber shifted. Everyone's masks of dignity were torn away, revealing something far uglier underneath.

As Oliver finished speaking, the countdown on the wall froze.

The speakers crackled.

"Congratulations. You have completed the first round. Unfortunately, one of you has lied. To enhance your experience, please identify the liar and vote them out. If not, the game will continue."

"Who lied? Which one of you lied?" Dwayne shouted, losing his usual polished composure. His gold-rimmed glasses had fallen somewhere. "Come out and say it! If we don't figure it out, we all die!"

"Was it you?" Oliver shouted at Helen.

Helen flinched and sobbed uncontrollably, shaking her head.

I looked at Oliver. "Why are you targeting her over and over?"

"She's the most suspicious."

"And how do you figure that? All I see is you bullying her nonstop. Maybe you're trying to cover up your own guilt."

Helen shot me a grateful look through her tears.

Oliver suddenly panicked and cursed at me.

"You pathetic loser. You think you can question me? Stop pretending you're the good guy. You're way filthier than I am. What would an idiot like you know?"

His insults were vicious.

I pressed my lips together. "Then tell us. How do you know so much about every one of us?"