Foreign |l.r.h au|

1.9

Three weeks later...

"The state versus Alexander, on the first degree of human trafficking, how does the jury find the defendant?" the judge asks.

"We find the defendant guilty." Alex looks at me and I can feel my heart rate pick up. His eyes are full of hatred.  But already, I knew that he wouldn't be out of for awhile.

"On the second degree of manslaughter, how do you find the defendant?" I can see a small smile slowly forming on her face.

"We  find the defendant guilty." I look at Jason, whose hands were covering his face. His shoulders are shaking, indicating that he's crying. Justice for Bella has been brought. Because Jason testified on multiple occasions for many of the other girls, he was only on parole and had to participate in community service.

"On the first degree of aggravated arson, we also find the defendant guilty." I squeezed Larissa's hand that was to my right, as Georgia was served justice.

"On the first degree of child abduction, we find the defendant guilty." I feel my mom grab my left hand and kiss my knuckles. I could see tears trickling down her cheeks, out of joy.

"On the first degree of sodomy, we find the defendant guilty." my stomach dropped and weight lifted from my shoulders. If I could not feel God then, I do now. I raise my head and whisper a thank you.

"And on the first degree of domestic violence, we find the defendant guilty." After the words are spoken, an officer goes behind Alex and puts his hands behind his back. Alex shoots me one last look, but it wasn't prideful or hateful, it was defeat.

After the years of hell and torture, years of captivity, this is what freedom truly felt like. The sensation is foreign but left me ecstatic.

"The jury is thanked and excused. The court is adjourned." I put my face in my hands and began to cry as I felt multiple arms wrap around me and relief washes over me. I can see Kelcie's blonde hair and her arms wrapped around Ashton, attempting to extend her arms out to me

After a few moments, I escape the hugs and look for Tamika and Detective Pacheco, along with the man who originally found me. I look around and see that they were gathered in a corner, speaking with, who I'm assuming, is their chief.

I walk up to them, and without hesitation, I threw my arms around Tamika, who was my prosecutor. I believe my actions took her back, but not even two seconds pass by and I feel her arms wrap around me. We hugged for awhile and then I released her from my grip and moved down, hugging the officer who found me and then Detective Pacheco.

"Thank you guys, so much," I say looking at each one of them and extending my hand to their chief. He smiles at me and gladly accepts it. A few moments pass by and it was just me and Detective Pacheco.

"I'm proud of you, kid," he says, smiling. Detective Pacheco helped me through so much. I tear up again and then wrap my arms around his neck. If there was any man who was like a second father to me, Detective Pacheco was the man.

When I pull away, his very pregnant wife comes up next to him and hugs me. I whisper into her ear and ask her if I could give him his gift. She whispers a soft yes, and we pull away from each other.

"I'll be right back," I tell them both, heading towards my dad who was holding the gift. He was in a conversation with my mom, and I quickly take the gift out of his hand and he nods, signally me that he knows what I'm doing.

The present is covered by an ivory green and white gift wrapping paper. And I cannot hold back my smile as I make my way to Detective Pacheco. 

"So Detective Pacheco," I begin, handing him the present. "do not open it yet. Let me finish." he furrows his eyebrows, looking at the small gift in front of him. His wife grabs his hand and she smiles up at him.

"You have done so much for me. And throughout these very, very long months, I remembered you telling me that your wife was pregnant. You were unsure of the gender and you never found out because you were helping me out during her appointments." I take a deep breath and smile widely. "So, your wife and I talked and I asked if I could help with the gender-reveal."

He uses his right hand to cover his mouth, and I see tears prick his eyes as he looks down at the gift in his other hand, and looking back at me. I nod at him, as permission to open the gift.

As the wrapping paper is handed off to his wife, he grabs the piece of fabric and looks at it.

"What does it say?" Mrs. Pacheco asks, grinning. Tears are now running down his face and I can't help but giggle.

"It says, This Little Girl's Daddy is a Detective" He finishes, and engulfs both his wife and me into his arms.

Walking out of the courthouse, I see messy blond hair and bright blue eyes. He's wearing his typical black skinny jeans, paired with a gray plaid, button-up shirt. He looks really, really good.

Luke couldn't be here for this trial, he had expressed a numerous amount of times that he could not bear to stay in the same room as Alex. When he first told me this, I thought of him as selfish because I was the victim.

Truthfully, my entire family, including my boyfriend was a victim of heartbreak, anger, and pain. But we all came out stronger and as survivors, including me.

"Luke!" I yell out for him. Finally, his eyes meet mine and a wide smile comes to his face. I charge down the stairs, feeling completely invincible and into his open arms.

"We won! We won! We won!" I cry. In our embrace, we continue shifting our weight from one foot to the other. His grip around my waist gets tighter and he swings me off my feet, spinning in circles for a few seconds.

"I'm so fucking happy, Rem." he says, digging his face into the crook of my neck and I could feel his tears rolling down my skin.

So much crying, dear Lord. I thought to myself.

My story wasn't over and I know Alex will be locked up for over a hundred years wouldn't fix the damage that had been done, but it was a start.

"God, I fucking love you," I tell him.

"I love you so fucking much." he tells me before pressing his lips to mine.

there is an epilog i promise <3 i can't believe we are almost done. im sad this book is coming to an end, but i cannot wait to start this new book im preparing :')

thank you all for this incredible experience! :D

-shannon xx