America: From a Fallen Child Star to the Head of the University of the West

"Sit down," Jerome finally spoke, gesturing to the chair beside him. "Now that you've come all this way, I have nothing to hide."

Jerome's favorability towards Sean is a cold [0].

Sean and Matthew sat down opposite him. Marcus leaned against the door, gesturing for the other players to leave first.

“Yes, someone did contact me,” Jerome said, his voice a little dry. “It was about two weeks ago. Someone knocked on my door and said they were investigating the Avalon Foundation case and asked if I would be willing to testify in court.”

"Testify against me?" Sean asked.

“Yes.” Jerome looked directly into Sean’s eyes. “Mr. Pan, I won’t lie to you. I really hate you. I put all my savings into that damn fund and it all went down the drain. My wife divorced me because of it, and my son still won’t speak to me.”

"So when they came to me, I was going to say yes. I wanted to see you in jail, I wanted to see you pay for what you did."

Sean didn't speak, he just listened quietly.

“But I didn’t agree,” Jerome continued, “because what they made me say wasn’t true.”

"What do you mean?"

"They showed me some photos and said the person in the photos was you. They said I'd seen you at events in California, shaken your hand, even taken photos with you, and seen you sign a lot of agreements in public." Jerome shook his head. "But honestly, I've never seen you, Mr. Pan. I spent three weeks in California, attended more than a dozen events, and met many people. But you weren't among them."

"The person in those photos is not you at all."

Are you sure?

“I’m sure,” Jerome said. “I have many flaws, but I’m not good at lying. If I had actually met you, I would not hesitate to stand up and testify against you. But I haven’t met you, so I can’t lie.”

"And what about Thomas?" Matthew interjected. "Why would he be willing to testify?"

Jerome sighed. "Thomas has spent more time in California than I have. He's attended more events than I have. Maybe he really did meet someone and was fooled by those photos. Or maybe..."

“Or maybe he desperately needs that money,” Marcus added. “Thomas is in a worse situation than Jerome. He’s drowning in debt and can barely pay his rent. If someone told him he could get a lot of money just by testifying in court, he might choose to believe what he wants to believe.”

Sean was silent for a moment, then asked, "Mr. Washington, who are those people who came to see you?"

"They said they were members of a victims' association," Jerome replied. "Something like the Avalon Victims' Support Alliance. They said this organization is all over the country, with branches from the East Coast to the West Coast. They say they specifically help people like us who have been scammed by foundations."

"Victims Support Alliance?" Sean repeated the name.

“Yes.” Jerome nodded. “They say there are many people in the alliance, some are simply victims, and some were people who once championed the Foundation but later realized their mistakes. They’ve united now to seek justice.”

"It should be like NOVA (National Crime Victims Advocate)." Matthew guessed from the side.

"Does Philadelphia have this organization too?" Sean asked again.

"Of course. They say the Philadelphia branch is one of the most active, and apparently it has some kind of working relationship with a committee."

Seeing this, Matthew took out his phone again and started searching quickly.

"Found it." A dozen seconds later, he said, "The Avalon Victims Support Alliance, Philadelphia branch. Founded last October, it's a registered non-profit organization."

He continued scrolling down, "This organization has a close working relationship with an organization called the 'Urban Vulnerables Protection Committee.' They often hold events together to provide legal aid and psychological counseling for victims."

"The Urban Vulnerables Protection Committee?" Sean felt the name sounded familiar.

"Wait, I found a photo." Matthew handed his phone to Sean. "It's from an event they co-organized last month."

Sean took the phone and looked at the photo on the screen.

The photo shows a conference room with dozens of people sitting in chairs and several people standing on a stage in front. The banner reads, "Speak up for the victims, declare war on injustice."

Sean's gaze swept over every face in the photo, then settled on one person.

It was a woman in a dark blue suit standing to one side of the podium, talking to the person next to her.

Catherine Donovan.

"This person..." Sean pointed to Catherine in the photo, "What's she doing here?"

Matthew leaned closer for a look. "Kathelin Donovan? She's a Pennsylvania state senator, you know her, right?"

"More than that, she's the one who invited me to Philadelphia. She wanted to get me involved on that committee." Sean's brow furrowed even more. "But why is she herself showing up at the Victims' Alliance event?"

"Maybe it's just a routine for politicians?" Matthew guessed. "These kinds of events usually invite politicians to show their support and increase exposure."

"Maybe."

That bitch wanted him to hand over that list to satisfy her desire to defeat her rivals, and now it seems the whole thing is definitely related to her.

"Mr. Pan?" Jerome's voice interrupted Sean's thoughts. "Do you know the woman in the photo?"

"We met once." Sean handed the phone back to Matthew. "Mr. Washington, did any of the people who came looking for you mention her name?"

Jerome thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No. They only said they were volunteers from the Alliance, without mentioning any politicians' names."

"What did they look like? Do you remember?"

"There were two people. One was white, in his forties, wearing a suit, and looked like a lawyer. The other was black, younger, around thirty, and wearing glasses."

Sean searched his memory for the images of the two people, but found no matching memories.

"Thank you, Mr. Washington." Sean stood up. "The information you provided was very valuable."

"Wait a minute." Jerome also stood up. "Mr. Pan, I have a question for you."

"Please speak."

"Are you really innocent?" Jerome looked directly into Sean's eyes. "I mean, you really know nothing about the Avalon Foundation?"

Sean was silent for a few seconds.

"Mr. Washington, I won't tell you I'm completely innocent," he finally said. "I did promote that foundation, and my name and face were indeed used to deceive many people. In that sense, I bear some responsibility."

"But I can tell you that I didn't know it was a scam. I was used, just like you were."

"And now, someone wants me to take the blame for the whole hoax. They fabricated evidence, bribed witnesses, and may even have killed Thomas. I don't know who they are, but I will find out."

Jerome stared at Sean for a while.

"I believe you," he finally said. "At least, I believe you haven't seen me."

Then, his favorability towards Sean became [15].

Just then, the door to the lounge was pushed open.

A white man in a police uniform stood in the doorway, followed by two other men in police uniforms.

"Excuse me for interrupting your gathering, everyone," the police officer said sternly. "I'm Officer Michael Brown of the Philadelphia Police Department. We received a report, so we came here."

"A report? An officer?" Marcus frowned. "This is a private union event; we have a valid venue permit."

"I know, you certainly have that right," Officer Brown said with a smile. "So it has nothing to do with you law-abiding American citizens; I'm just here to see someone."

Having said that, he looked at the rows of black faces. The faces in the room were so similar that the white face that resembled his stood out.

However, it took him a while to slowly scan Sean before he finally reached the end of his procedural scan.

"Mr. Sean Penn? Ha! You're the one I've been looking for!" Officer Brown stepped forward. "I happen to have a few questions for you regarding the death of Thomas Reynolds this morning."

Sean looked at the numbers above Officer Brown's head.

【-42】.

"Of course, officer. I'd be happy to cooperate."