Watching the man in black disappear from the surveillance footage, James Lowell slapped the table and spoke with certainty.
"All right, the direction and time are clear now.
"Right outside the North Gate is Commonwealth Avenue. That area is covered with traffic cameras. This guy won’t get away."
He turned to Wendy Lynch. "Come back to the station with me to give a statement and officially file the case. Leave the rest to us."
Wendy nodded quickly and followed him to the police station.
At the station, the statement process went smoothly since she already had photos of the receipt and purchase details on her phone. From reporting the incident to receiving the filing receipt, the whole ordeal took just over two hours. Wendy was quite satisfied with this efficiency. Seeing that it wasn’t even twelve o’clock yet, she even found time to grab some fast food before heading back to the office.
The moment she sat back at her desk, Wendy subconsciously opened her WhatsApp inbox. Sure enough, just like yesterday, the morning’s message from the "Time Mailbox" had vanished without a trace. This confirmed her previous deduction: as long as the future was altered, the corresponding email would disappear.
At 4:00 PM, Wendy got up to get some water from the pantry. Just as she reached the door, she heard her colleagues discussing something in hushed tones inside.
"Did you guys hear? That old lady who fell on Stallion Road today was sent straight to the ICU!"
"Seriously? Doesn’t the ICU cost tens of thousands a day?"
"I heard she was already in shock by the time she reached the hospital. The doctors said they missed the best window for resuscitation."
"Her family is still causing a scene at the hospital right now!"
"No way, what does this have to do with the hospital?"
"Who knows? They probably just think the hospital is an easy target. Honestly, I bet they realized they couldn’t squeeze a dime out of that sanitation worker, so they turned to the hospital instead!"
Wendy walked into the pantry with her empty mug, her face completely expressionless. Hearing that the old woman was in the ICU, she felt not a shred of guilt. On the contrary, when she heard about the family causing trouble at the hospital, she felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
Even though that email had vanished, she hadn’t forgotten the regret and fury dripping from every word of it. If it hadn’t been for that warning, she might currently be surrounded by the woman’s family at the company entrance, getting cursed at—or worse, losing her newly acquired job.
The upbringing she had received since childhood taught her to be kind and helpful. But kindness was never meant to be without limits. Being bitten by the hand she fed and having her career ruined—as described in the email—was something she absolutely refused to accept. She was willing to help within her means, but repaying malice with virtue? She couldn’t do that, nor did she want to.
As for the consequences of her inaction, what did that have to do with her?
Carrying her steaming cup of coffee, Wendy turned and left the pantry. She wasn’t a bleeding heart, nor did she want to be one. Even if she were given ten thousand chances, she would make the exact same choice every single time.
Since she didn’t have to work overtime today, Wendy got home early. She cooked a simple bowl of tomato and egg noodles, eating while booting up her computer to catch up on the TV shows she had fallen behind on over the past few days.
The wall clock TICKED. The hour and minute hands finally overlapped at midnight.
Wendy immediately refreshed her inbox. The next second, a familiar subject line popped up.
[Time Mailbox: You have a letter from September 17, 2025]
It was here!
She took a deep breath, hovered her cursor over the title, and gently clicked it. Ignoring a few lines of pointless complaining, Wendy’s eyes locked onto the useful information.
"Officer Lowell’s efficiency is simply amazing!
"It only took him one day to get my e-bike back!
"[...]
"Shirley is so lucky! She actually won 20,000 on a lottery ticket!
"She’s so generous too, treating the whole team to afternoon tea!
"I’ve decided. Starting today, I’m going to buy lottery tickets with her.
"If you strike it rich a year from now, you definitely have to thank the present me!"
After reading it twice to ensure she hadn’t missed anything, Wendy began to analyze today’s email.
The message mentioned two things. First, her stolen e-bike had been successfully recovered. Second, in two days, Shirley would use her 20,000 in lottery winnings to treat the team to afternoon tea.
Wendy wasn’t surprised that the e-bike would be found; what surprised her was *when* it was found. This time, the recovery was a full day earlier than mentioned in the first email.
After a moment of thought, she figured out why. First, she had reported the case half a day earlier. Second, the officer handling her case had changed from the young rookie to James Lowell. In his forties, James Lowell was the designated community officer for Meridian Mall and possessed rich investigative experience. Plus, he could directly access the mall’s security footage without going through standard bureaucratic channels—that alone saved a tremendous amount of time.
This once again proved Wendy’s earlier theory: the future could be changed. Any inadvertent little action could very well trigger a ripple effect in the future.
Compared to retrieving her e-bike, Wendy was far more interested in the second matter: Shirley winning the lottery. There were twenty-three people in her team, and the only person she’d call "Shirley" was Shirley Lowell.
Shirley Lowell had joined the company a year before her, having jumped ship from another firm. She was amiable and took great care of Wendy, a fresh graduate. Just last week, when Wendy messed up some document data, it was Shirley who stayed behind to help her and another colleague fix it during overtime.
Staring repeatedly at the lottery information in the email, Wendy gradually furrowed her brow. This matter left her feeling a bit conflicted. If she were in desperate need of money, or if the winner had been someone else, or even if the prize had been 200,000 instead of 20,000, she would have definitely found a way to take that money for herself.
Just as the little angel and little devil in Wendy’s head were strangling each other and rolling on the ground, she slapped her forehead. She realized she had fallen into a logical fallacy.
The most important thing to figure out right now wasn’t whether she should fight for the money, but rather *what kind* of lottery ticket Shirley had won.
If it was a one-off scratch-off card, she would just sit back and wait to enjoy the afternoon tea Shirley was buying in three days. But if it was a multi-draw jackpot lottery, she could absolutely buy the same numbers alongside her. After all, jackpot lotteries allowed identical bets. Buying an extra ticket wouldn’t affect Shirley’s chances of winning at all.
Having figured this out, the two little figures in her head simultaneously let go of each other, and the conflict between her brows was completely swept away.
Early the next morning, Wendy arrived at the office ten minutes early. Taking advantage of the time before official working hours began, she sneakily approached Shirley’s desk.
"Shirley, I was craving the café downstairs today. I remembered you like their Coconut Latte, so I bought you one on the way," Wendy said, placing a cold, sweating Coconut Latte on her desk.
Shirley didn’t decline. She accepted the drink with a wide smile.
"Oh, iced coconut! Thanks, Wendy!
"I just mentioned it in passing last time. I can’t believe you actually remembered. That’s so sweet of you!"