The Secrets of Confessions ✔️

Chapter 40: Unchained

"Arjun?" I ask, as we wait in the area near the courtroom.

He looks at me, with a curious look on his face. "Yes, Ashmita?"

I gulp, and say, "Tell me a story to calm me down."

Arjun thinks for a second, then his eyes light up with a story in mind. "So, back when your mom and I were still together, and we had found out that she was pregnant with you, we had already started deciding names, because we were so excited. If you were a boy, we would have named you Kartik or Siddharth. For girls' names, I suggested your name, Ashmita, and she suggested Bhoomi. Of course, I left before you were born, but she kept my wishes in mind when naming you, and she named you Ashmita Bhoomi Patel."

I smile a little bit, thinking of how great my mom was to honor his wishes. Arjun smiles at my smile, and says, "There's that smile. Don't worry. After all of this, everything will be back to normal. I just hope that she confesses and I can get my name cleared."

I nod my head, then look at Nathan, who looks pretty dressed up, considering that he's been spending most of his time at home lounging around in sweats. He himself looks scared, and I can't blame him. I'd be terrified if I saw one of my parents go to jail for murdering someone. It's sickening to see that the person whom you once looked up to, loved, and admired is now known as a cold blooded murderer and will have to face the consequences.

"You doing okay, Nathan? You'll be okay?"

Nathan gulps a little bit, which doesn't help his face that lacks any color, due to fear. He adjusts his shirt a little bit, and then shrugs. "I have to face the reality. It wouldn't be fair to completely ignore the fact that Mom is a killer."

I look at Mason, who himself looks a little bit scared. Guilt starts to sting me from inside, as I realize how none of us have won in this. I grew up in a life that was plagued with lies from all sides of my family. Because of these lies, I lived with my mom's killer for over 15 years and falsely misjudged my real dad, which caused us to lose 16 years of time that could've been used to form a strong bond. I had to go through the pain of realizing that I've treated an innocent man like garbage, and see other people go through the pain of realizing that a seemingly innocent woman was not what they seemed.

Mason has had to go through the pain of losing his best friend, thanks his wife, and was blinded by his false hatred of my real dad to realize that his wife was the true villain. Arjun has lost 16 years of his life due to a false conviction, met his daughter only when she was an adult, only to be cussed out and ostracized, and didn't utter a word or complain when he was looked down upon by everyone around him. Nathan has to watch his mom go to prison, has to watch his dad's heart break, and has to adjust to another person coming into his life. My mom got justice, but we all had to make personal sacrifices for it.

They let us all into the courtroom eventually so that we can watch the pain of everything. My heart is like a horse inside of my ribcage. It keeps on galloping and galloping, with no sign of stopping anytime soon. At any point, I'm going to explode. I head on over to sit down, with Mason on my right, and Nathan on my left. Arjun sits in the row ahead of us, because he's got to be there just in case anything happens.

After the judge comes in and beckons for all of us to sit down, I sit down along with them and just watch as everyone is staring at everyone else. This is it. This is the day in which Arjun's fate is decided. Is he a guilty man, who is cold and cruel, or an innocent guy, caught in a bad situation. I let out a huge sigh, and look at Mason, who looks just as terrified as I am, if not a little bit more. Nathan himself looks as pale as a ghost, and to be honest, nobody is prepared for this.

If you told me this last year, I wouldn't have believed it. Now, I have to face the woman whom I considered a mother figure for the past 16 years go to prison for depriving me of my biological mother. It's a scary situation. But, I hope that my own mother is watching us right now, and smiling at the justice that she has finally received.