The Secrets of Confessions ✔️

Chapter 29: Oozing Hypocrisy

My feet plant themselves onto the ground when I hear Mason's words ring against my ears. "Or should I say, Arjun's house?" How the hell would he know I went there? I look at Mason, like a deer caught in the headlights, as he stares me down intensely. "So it's true. You did go to Arjun's house."

I gulp a little bit, knowing that my life is probably about to end right here, and stand straight. I can't help but think who the hell ratted me out like this. Then, I remember the only person who could have done this. Nathan. He's the only one who knew, and who would accidentally, or purposefully, let it slip that I've been going. "It was Nathan, huh?" I almost snarl, as I smell it from a mile away.

"He let it slip by accident. Probably the most useful accident that I've ever come across." I cross my arms, because I pretty much have refute after refute backed up just in case Mason decides to try anything on me.

"Are you crazy, Ashmita? He's a convicted criminal! Do you know what you could have gotten yourself into? You could have died! You could have gotten injured!"

I raise an eyebrow, because the term "convicted criminal" isn't a hundred percent correct. Arjun turned himself in. And even then, he may not have even killed my mom. He may have turned himself in just for a plea bargain. "Arjun turned himself in. I know he accepted a plea bargain. Do you really believe that Arjun killed my mom? I want you to be honest."

Mason looks at me, with an even angrier look in his eyes than there was before, and just takes a deep breath. "That's not the-"

"Answer me, Mason. Answer my question first."

Shock stings Mason's eyes a little bit, and then he starts to choke out an answer. "I-uh-Fine, okay? I don't. I don't believe that Arjun killed your mom. I couldn't believe the news when I heard that Arjun was your mom's killer. He'd always treated her well, and he never even laid a finger on her. I was surprised that he even would consider hurting Jyoti in any way possible. There! Are you happy?"

Anger fills me a little bit more, considering that despite this, he still filled the first 21 years of my life with such wrong information that he didn't even believe initially. He spent all this time putting all this information in my head, and that's what makes me so infuriated. "No, I'm not happy. Why did you even consider putting information into my head when YOU didn't even believe it in the first place?"

Mason just looks at me, with another blank look on his face, and then it all makes sense. He forced himself to believe the information. He forced himself to believe that Arjun was a cold blooded criminal who would murder a puppy and bury it in the bottom of a well. He forced himself to believe it so that he could make me believe it, and that I wouldn't take any sort of risks and associate myself with Arjun.

"Oh, I get it now. You wanted to force yourself to believe that. You forced yourself to hate Arjun, because you knew how much I was attached to you, and you didn't want me to risk my life. Although I kinda appreciate that, you basically lied to me my whole life. You built my entire mindset over the unproven thought that Arjun is a cold blooded killer. And you have the nerve to tell me that I'm crazy."

Mason straightens up a little bit, and then moves onto his next point that he feels is important. "Okay, but can we talk about how you're reinvestigating the case! You looked through my stuff to find your mom's diaries! I would have let you investigate it had you been honest with me towards the beginning!"

"Are you kidding me, Mason? First of all, we both know that's not true. Second, the diaries are not enough for me to gain an unbiased opinion on who I think did it! I needed the autopsy report, and a source from Arjun and Sunil themselves!"

Mason's jaw falls open with shock, now that he knows that I've gone through my mom's diary, and asked two different people for their opinions. "I can't believe you right now. You went through my stuff, blatantly lied and disrespected me, just because you got curious."

"You also blatantly lied and disrespected me as well when you lied about the entirety of the nature of my parents' marriage, just because you couldn't keep it in your pants! Don't you dare paint me like I'm the bad guy here! I only got curious because you prevented me from being curious. You instilled in my mind that Arjun was the bad guy for leaving my pregnant mom when he was in the right all along! If Sarah cheated on you, and possibly got pregnant from the dude, would you have stayed either? When Daniel cheated on me, you told me that I shouldn't even give him a chance because cheaters are low. Do you realize how hypocritical you're being, Mason? If you thought you were doing a favor by protecting me from Arjun, you thought so wrong. You didn't even give either of us a chance to be in each other's lives. And you know what? I regret it myself. I regret not pushing this earlier. I regret not inquiring about this whole thing altogether, because Arjun has proven to be nothing but a great person overall. It sucks that you were so falsely blinded that you never gave him a chance to be in my life."

I can see Mason's face morph from shocked to completely crushed, and although a part of me would normally feel a little bit bad, I can only see red as I storm up into my room and slam the door. I slide against the wall, plop down, and let out a huge sigh. I can't deal with anything right now, because I've vented out everything that I possibly can at that moment. I feel like someone just took my willpower and wrung it dry. I feel like at any moment, I'm going to pass out on the floor, and before I have any chance of doing that, I hear footsteps approach my door.

I know it can't be Mason, because I've lived long enough in the house to know that they're far too light to be Mason's. They're also too strangely coordinated to be Sarah's, which means there's only one option left. Nathan. Unless someone decided to break into the house and stalk me into my room, which is fairly unlikely, then it has to be Nathan. "Ashmita, are you okay?" he calls into the room, to which I can't help but roll my eyes a little bit.

I just had a huge argument with Mason, and he's asking if I'm okay. "Does it sound like I'm okay? Nathan, I can't believe you'd rat me out like that. Why would you even do that to me?"

"First of all, it was an accident. I let it slip, and I'm sorry about that. But even if it wasn't an accident, I would have told Mason anyways. You were getting yourself into some dangerous shit. You're my sister, and I love you, and you know how scary it is to think that your only sibling is risking their life? I want you to tell me."

"Do you trust me, Nathan? If you trusted me enough, you would know that I wasn't going to get myself into any trouble. I thought you believed in me."

I can hear pin drop silence from the other end of the door, followed by Nathan's footsteps leading away from there. I rest my head against the door, wondering when this will all be over. I wonder when I will ever get the truth, and when everyone will stop lying to me. I'm sick of everything around me having the possibility of being a lie.

I just want to go back to where everything was. Simple, with me studying to get a bachelor's degree, and after that, getting the fuck out of school so I can work and not have to worry about stupid midterms. I let out a huge exhale, hoping for one more thing.

Something that will steer me in a different direction in this case.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I remember someone saying that if Mason didn't believe Arjun was guilty, then they'd actually hate him, and I was just thinking, "Oh, man, you're in for it." So, what do you guys think? Do you think that Mason was in the wrong for getting mad at Ashmita? Let me know in the comments.

Hey everyone! How's it going? So, I'm getting closer and closer to the end. I can see myself having like another 10 chapters to go, which is crazy. I'm thinking it'll end in the mid 40s, which I can't believe, because I remember constantly rewriting each and every version.

I remember in the first version, Mason was single and (biologically) childless, and then I changed it to him being divorced and childless, then divorced with a son, and now happily married. TSOC has changed like anything, I'm telling you.

Well, that's all I got. Hope you guys liked this chapter!

Please vote/comment/share/follow/message if you like my work! See you all next Sunday with a new chapter of TSOC! Have a great week!

Love you guys,

Shree