The Mask of Malice Frame Me, and I'll Strip Your Face

Tags: Male Best Friend Framed Him, Forced to Take the Blame, Reborn for Revenge, Clearing His Name I poisoned myself and landed right in the hospital bed. When my wife stormed into the room, she looked completely hysterical. "Why the hell would you eat it if you knew the food was poisoned?!" I shrugged and looked her dead in the eye. "Because I was the one who poisoned it." In my past life, her male best friend had intentionally prescribed the wrong medication to a patient, stole a corpse from the morgue, and eventually poisoned my patient's food, causing him to die on the spot. While all of that was happening, I was busy saving another life in the OR. The moment I stepped out of surgery, drenched in sweat, the police slapped handcuffs on my wrists. Before I could even defend myself, they shoved security footage in my face. The screen clearly showed that I was the mastermind behind every single crime. I couldn't defend myself. I had no alibi. In the end, the victim's furious family stabbed me to death right in the hospital hallway. Even as I took my last breath, I couldn't understand why the footage showed my face. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the exact day her best friend poisoned the food. "Evan, are you out of your mind?!" "Why would you eat that meal knowing it was poisoned?!" Chloe stormed in, pointing her finger right at my nose. I looked up at her, feigning total innocence. "How did you know the food was poisoned?" Realizing she had slipped up, Chloe scrambled to cover her tracks. "I... I heard the nurses talking! They said you were hospitalized for food poisoning!" "Besides, why are you eating a patient's food in the first place?!" An officer slowly walked into the room. "Because he was the one who spiked it." "Then his conscience kicked in, and he ate it himself." "Luckily, we pumped his stomach in time. He's out of danger now." "However, Mr. Hayes, you'll need to come down to the station to give a statement. Since a crime was committed, you'll be held in custody for five days." Chloe instantly panicked. "No!" "Evan, I know you would never do something like this! Explain it to the officer! Tell him the truth!" I waved my hand dismissively. "If I did wrong, I did wrong. I'm going willingly." "Don't worry about me, Chloe. I'll be out in a few days." The officer patted my shoulder, visibly relieved. "Good man. Owning up to your mistakes." "Let's go." Chloe was beside herself. She grabbed my arm tightly. "Evan, have you lost your damn mind?!" "Weren't you performing surgery all day?!" "When did you even have time to do this?! Are you stupid?!" Watching her desperate attempt to clear my name made me feel entirely numb. Seeing my silence, Chloe pressed on. "Don't forget, I went against my family just to marry you!" "If my dad finds out you went to jail, he'll force me to divorce you on the spot!" I gave her a cold look. "If your father has never respected me, then so be it." "I don't want you living a hard life with me anyway." "Everyone has to pay for their actions. No matter what you say, I'm taking the blame." Completely enraged, Chloe slapped me across the face and stormed out. Watching her figure disappear down the hall, I let out a long breath of relief. I remembered my past life all too well. Her long-lost childhood best friend, Mason Vance, had suddenly reappeared. Chloe was so thrilled she spent every waking hour glued to his side. Everyone in our circle knew they grew up together and had unresolved feelings. When I found out, I didn't cause a scene. I just wanted to let her go and move on. Yet on the very day I planned to ask for a divorce, Mason deliberately prescribed the wrong pills, making a patient cough up blood. Then he snuck into the morgue and stole a body. Finally, he poisoned the lunch of my favorite patient, killing the young man instantly. I was in emergency surgery the entire time. When I came out, I wanted to tell Chloe immediately and urge Mason to turn himself in. Instead, a line of officers charged forward and handcuffed me. Chloe stood right behind them, watching silently. The second I opened my mouth to defend myself, she snapped at me. "Stop dragging Mason down with you! Own up to your own sick crimes!" "I know his character better than anyone!"I had frozen in place, staring at her in sheer disbelief. I couldn't fathom why the woman I loved the most refused to trust me. "That's him! That's the murderer!" When I turned around, the victim's family, the deceased's relatives, and the morgue attendant were all glaring at me. They screamed that I had prescribed the wrong medication, stolen a corpse, and poisoned an innocent kid. I desperately tried to explain that Mason was the culprit, not me. I was in the OR the entire time! Nobody believed a single word. They pulled out surveillance tapes that clearly showed my face committing every single act. They would rather believe I had superpowers to be in two places at once than believe the footage had been tampered with. In the end, the grieving father stabbed me repeatedly. Blade after blade plunged into my chest. No one moved an inch to help me. They all thought a scumbag doctor deserved to die. Even after death, I couldn't figure out why the footage showed my face. Who had the skill to pull off such flawless video manipulation in such a short window? That was virtually impossible. What had actually happened? Now that I was reborn, I was going to uncover the truth and clear my name once and for all! I followed the police to the station. I spent five whole days inside the detention center. For five days, I did nothing but eat and sleep, staying on my best behavior. The moment I was released, I pulled out my phone to check the local headlines. Sure enough, chaos had erupted at my hospital once again. Everything Mason did in my past life, he had repeated in this one. Instead of panicking, I felt a surge of anticipation. I had been locked inside a cell for five straight days. There was no way my face could be on that tape this time. Yet barely five yards past the station gates, a mob ambushed me. They were clutching bats and tools, looking ready to rip me to shreds. Leading the pack was the exact same father who had stabbed me to death in my past life. He grabbed my collar with bloodshot eyes. "You bastard! You poisoned my son's food! You killed him!" I froze, then argued back. "I ate that poisoned food myself! Whoever poisoned him after that wasn't me!" He didn't want to hear it. He roared into my face. "My boy just got accepted into college! His whole life was ahead of him! Why did you destroy him?!" The rest of the crowd chimed in with venomous shouts. "Yeah!" "You intentionally prescribed the wrong meds to my dad, making him cough up blood!" "You sick freak, you even stole a dead body! Do you have any idea what you put the family through?!" "Her husband died in an accident, and you didn't even leave his remains behind! She passed out and had to be admitted!" Listening to their accusations, my ears rang. Why? I had been in a cell for five days! Why were they still pinning this on me? Pulling myself together, I said calmly, "That's impossible. I haven't had the time to do any of that. You have the wrong guy." "The person you're looking for is Mason Vance. Go check the hospital cameras if you don't believe me!" Instead of looking confused, smug smiles spread across their faces. "Ha! We knew a piece of trash like you would say that!" "We already pulled the tapes!" They shoved a phone in my face, and my breath caught in my throat. The footage clearly showed that the person doing all those horrible things was, once again, me!A local streamer passing by caught the scent of drama. She quickly squeezed through the crowd with her phone out. "Guys, what's going on here?" The mob screamed their grievances into her lens. "This monster poisoned my son's lunch and killed him!" "He gave my dad the wrong prescription on purpose, making him cough up blood!" "He broke into the morgue and stole a corpse, sending the widow straight to the ER!" One accusation after another hammered me into the ground, branding me as an irredeemable demon. The streamer turned the camera directly onto my face. "Did you all hear that, guys?" "A doctor who's supposed to save lives turns out to be a psychopathic killer!" Her chat exploded instantly. —*Holy crap, what a psycho!* —*A healer turned murderer? That's terrifying!* I clenched my fists, forcing myself to stay level-headed. "It really wasn't me." At this point, any defense sounded like a cheap excuse to them. The boy's father swung a punch straight into my jaw, shouting, "You still have the nerve to deny it?!" "A life for a life! You're not walking out of here alive until you answer for this!" The man whose father was given the wrong meds slammed a prescription slip against my face. "Look at this! Read what you gave my dad!" "He had a heart condition, and you gave him asthma medication! He had inflammation, and you pumped him full of heavy stimulants!" "How can someone be so evil?! Don't you have parents of your own?!" The morgue attendant stepped forward, spitting on the ground. "Exactly!" "To think I looked up to you as a role model! You're disgusting!" "I was blind! Today, we get justice for the victims!" Their voices battered against me like a tidal wave. I took a deep breath and spoke clearly. "I understand how angry you all are, but I'm telling the truth. I didn't do this." "The person behind this is Mason Vance, my wife's childhood friend. You can confront him yourself. Besides, for the last five days, I've been in a holding cell. There's no way I could—" Before I could finish, an angry voice cut me off. "Evan Hayes! What kind of nonsense are you spewing?!" I turned around to see Chloe and Mason walking toward us side by side. Before I could say a word, Chloe snapped. "Do you have any idea how worried Mason was about you when you were locked up?!" "He kept defending you, saying you were a good man! If it weren't for the security tapes, I never would've guessed that behind your gentle doctor act, you were such a monster!" Mason gently rubbed her back, putting on a comforting facade. "Chloe, don't be too upset. I'm sure Evan just had a momentary lapse in judgment." Then, he turned to me with a sly glint in his eyes. "Evan, I know you've always looked down on me at the hospital." "You were always picking on my work and telling the chief I wasn't cut out to be a doctor." "All I ever wanted was to save lives. I wanted to help people." "I could take your insults, but trying to pin a murder charge on me now?" "I can't let that slide. If you did something wrong, take responsibility instead of framing innocent people!" The crowd looked at Mason with overwhelming sympathy. "You scumbag, trying to frame an innocent guy!" The boy's father raised a wooden club in blind rage and swung it at my head. I couldn't dodge in time. The impact sent me crashing onto the asphalt. Warm blood dripped down my forehead, and dark spots danced across my vision. "Stop! What the hell are you doing?!" A patrol car pulled up, and two officers rushed over. Leading them was Officer Martinez, the very cop who had processed my detention five days ago. He stared at me in shock. "You just got out, and you're already causing a riot?"The entire block went dead silent. Seeing me stay quiet, Officer Martinez pressed on. "What happened here?" I glanced at Mason, who looked slightly uneasy, and a subtle smirk touched my lips. "Officer Martinez, you have to help me!" "I just walked out of the station gates, and they jumped me, accusing me of murder and stealing a body! When would I have had the time?!" Martinez frowned and addressed the mob. "That's impossible. He's been locked inside our detention center for the past five days." I nodded quickly, leading him along. "Right? I followed every rule and never stepped a foot outside my cell!" Martinez stepped in front of me, shielding me. "You folks must have made a mistake. I booked him myself. We have armed guards monitoring the cells twenty-four hours a day. It's impossible for him to sneak out and commit crimes." The crowd refused to back down. "We have video evidence! Officer, look at the footage yourself if you don't believe us!" Martinez took the phone and scrubbed through the clips. His brow furrowed instantly. He, too, could clearly see my face committing every crime. "Alright. To be fair to everyone, I'll take this footage inside and have our digital forensics team verify it." The crowd nodded. "Fine! But we want to watch!" "Who knows if you'll tamper with it behind closed doors!" To de-escalate the situation, Martinez agreed. Inside the patrol cruiser, under everyone's watchful eyes, the technician confirmed the footage was genuine. Not a single frame had been digitally edited. Martinez's face paled visibly. He stepped aside and made a hurried phone call. When he hung up, his expression hardened. He spun around, drew his cuffs, and snapped them onto my wrists. "Don't worry, everyone. I just called the detention facility." "There is a hollowed-out crawlspace behind the panel in his cell, and that tunnel leads straight into the municipal drainage behind our station!" "Evan Hayes, I actually thought you were remorseful and willing to cooperate!" "Turns out you were using the detention center as an alibi while sneaking out to kill!" Hearing Martinez's declaration, Mason could barely contain his triumphant grin. He pointed at me and shouted, "Lock him up! A murderer deserves no mercy! Justice for the victims!" The crowd behind him cheered in agreement. Watching them point fingers and pile on accusations, I didn't feel fear. In fact, I felt deeply amused. Since I had been given a second chance at life, I was never going to be as naive as before. I quietly tapped my phone and sent a pre-typed text. Once it went through, I leaned back against the patrol car seat and said calmly, "Don't be in such a rush. Let's wait a minute. You might just see a plot twist." Someone in the crowd scoffed. "A plot twist? Please!" "I'd love to see who could possibly save your ass now!" Ten minutes later, a young man shoved his way through the circle. "Evan Hayes is not a killer!" "I can prove it!"