Chapter 2 

Arlene's POV 

Veronica and I were never close. But I never imagined she would be the reason my life would fall apart.

She was my parents' favourite while I was the one they managed to relate with. My mum had died during my birth and this made my Dad have this deep hatred for me. 

“You're a jinx! You should have died that day instead of my sweet Miriam.” He would always say.

My Dad remarried when I was three and my life went from bad to worse. His new wife treated me like trash and I grew with that trauma. 

Things got worse when they had Veronica. She was their treasure, the one who got all the love and attention, she was born lucky; I was lucky to be born.

It's been more than twenty years now. I left home immediately after college to start my own life and last week, Veronica came for my engagement party and she has been with me ever since.

I can't believe that just last week, I had been living a blissful life, planning my wedding with my boyfriend, Tristan. Today, I'm locked up in this stinky cell.

The cell door opened and the prison guard announced, “you have a visitor.” 

When I came to the visitor's room, my eyes fell on my boyfriend, Tristan's face first, then my dad, my Stepmom and Veronica finally.

“You disgraceful child! You have been nothing but trouble. You're into drugs now? Is that it?” My father bellowed.

“Please calm down, father. Don't be too hard on her.” Veronica said meekly, holding my father's hand.

“Tell us what happened, Arlene.” Tristan said, sitting close by.

I narrated everything that happened, starting from Veronica's text till when I was arrested.

“That's ridiculous! Arlene, can you stop lying for once? I never texted you. I was asleep from the moment you left, till that morning. You can even check my phone and hers too.” Veronica objected.

Tristan was still in doubt but he took the phones. He scanned through Veronica's text while I waited patiently for him to see it.

“Arlene, there's nothing here. She didn't text you.” Tristan pointed out.

“No…there must be a mistake. I'm sure of it. Check mine. I received it by 5am. It said she was in trouble.” 

In obedience, Tristan took my phone and scanned through but the pained look on his face said more than words could.

“Arlene, you didn't receive any text from Veronica…oh God.” he ran his hand through his auburn hair. I always loved when he did this, except this is a different scenario.

My lips parted but no words came out, not only from the look on their faces, but everything all together.

“I… swear on my life, I'm not lying…” I stuttered.

“So, who is lying then? When are you going to tell them the truth about the drugs you've been taking? How did you get the gun that the police found at the crime scene?”

“What drugs is she talking about, Arlene?” Tristan asked, his eyes darkening in rage.

“Anti-depressants. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about them but I've been having trouble with sleep, so I've been taking them for two weeks now.” I explained, my voice cracking from the pain I felt. 

Veronica was trying so hard to paint me as a drug addict.

“I don't take hard drugs. I swear, Tristan. You know me…”

“No, I don't! I don't know you anymore, Arlene. Just a week ago we agreed to get married and now this? Our wedding is in a month but I'm getting married to a junkie? A murderer? What do you take me for? The guy you tried to kill…he is my cousin. Arlene, he is my distant cousin. He just came into town for our wedding! Fuck this!” Tristan bellowed, banging his hands on the desk before me.

I shuddered and broke into tears. I don't understand any of this. His cousin? But that guy tried to assault Veronica, why is she denying it? My heart broke into several tiny pieces…Tristan doesn't believe me. Even if no one else did, I expected him to…

Junkie. Murderer. The words echoed nonstop in my head.

I bent my head and shed hot tears, wondering what I did wrong for my life to fall apart so soon.

“And the gun? How did you get that?” Rose, my Stepmother asked.

“I found it at home. Veronica told me that the guy used it to attack her.” I managed to say with my quivering lips.

“Another stupid lie…” Veronica chuckled, shaking her head in distaste.

“They found your fingerprints on the gun. No traces of the guy were found at home. It didn't even seem like anything happened at the house. You had that gun all along, didn't you?” Veronica sneered.

“No! Why are you doing this? Veronica, I came home and you were crying, you said the guy assaulted, cut you and ran away. I saw the blood. Stop denying it to protect him!”

“The fuck?!! To protect him? I don't even fucking know him from anywhere. There is no cut on my skin, as I'm perfectly fine. Why are you making things up? You've gone crazy for real. Arlene, this isn't funny anymore.”

She looked up at my Dad, “I think she needs serious help.”

“But Veronica, all your texts with Arlene, are gone. I find it weird that all of a sudden, your chats are wiped.” Tristan said, peering his gaze at her.

“Oh come on, I do that randomly. Besides, we don't even text all the time, and my phone has low storage capacity. That explains it. Surely, you're not trying to believe her lies, are you?” Veronica asked.

“I…I just don't know what to believe anymore. This whole situation is just messed up. I know Arlene, she couldn't have done this but everything points to her…” Tristan said, his voice laced with frustration as he ran his hands through his hair again.

He leaned at the edge of the table with his head hanging low. Veronica walked up to him and gave his shoulders a little squeeze,

“Most times, we don't really know people. Afterall, you didn't know about the drugs nor the nightmares she has been having. Arlene needs serious psychological care. She's my sister, I am more hurt than you are. But we have to accept the truth.” She said, leaning towards him as she spoke and this made my heart ache more.

I looked around in disbelief, this time I began to doubt my own sanity. Was I really hallucinating? Making things up?

“Henceforth, I don't know you. You're not a part of this family. I disown you as my legal child today.” My father declared.

Before anyone could react to what he just said, the door opened and the guy I attacked burst inside the room. 

“So, you're the motherfucker who tried to kill me. I'll show you not to mess with me.” He charged towards me immediately, his face twisted in rage. 

Before I could react, his hand struck my cheek…

“Hey! Hey!”

The guards rushed in immediately, dragging him back before he could land another blow.

The sting reverberated, ringing in my ears. I looked up, expecting someone to say a word in my defense, to try and stop him, but they all stood there and just looked on. 

“You have to leave now, Sir.” The guards dragged him away, while I watched in dejection.

“Visiting time’s over. Everyone leave now.” The guard ordered.

“Babe, please…at least tell me you believe me.” I swallowed, staring longingly into his grey eyes.

Tristan stared at me, his jaw tight.

“I want to believe you…” he said quietly. “But everything is saying I shouldn’t. I need to clear my mind for a while. I can't talk to you like this.” 

“Babe, please no…you've known me for years.” I reached out to take his hands in mine but he pulled away.

“That's the fucking point, Arlene! I've known you for years, yet it feels like I don't. Maybe if you trusted me enough, you would have told me about the drugs you started taking. I could have helped you.”

“Tristan…I…” my voice cracked 

“Before I go…my ring, Arlene. Let me have it.” Tristan said quietly.

“No, Tristan, you can't do this to me. You said you'd stand by me. This…has to be some misunderstanding.” I pleaded, my eyes fixed on him.

“Don't make this anymore difficult for me, please.” Tristan reiterated.

For once, I could see the look of defeat on his face, the pain in his eyes. He was struggling to hold it all in.

“I'm sorry, Tristan. But I didn't do this. I won't admit to what I'm not guilty of. We're getting married, you can't just walk away.”

Tristan did what I never expected. He grabbed my left hand, struggled with the ring to force it out of my finger. 

“Tristan…” I muttered with a betrayed heart and teary eyes.

His fingers tightened as he struggled with the ring.

I didn’t fight him. I just watched as he pulled it off like everything we had meant nothing.

He slid the diamond ring off my finger and tucked it into his pocket.

“Maybe when this whole thing gets sorted out, we'll sit and talk peacefully. For now, I have to go.”

“I hope you rot in jail.” My father spat and left, followed by everyone else while my world crashed before me. The door slammed shut behind them.

And just like that, everything I had ever called mine…was gone.