Innocence: A Novels & Stories

And in three months — another one. "The thing that keeps arriving," I said quietly, "is that the child is innocent. I keep coming back to that. Whatever I feel about the situation — the child had no part in any of it. Didn't choose its parents or its conception or the five years its mother spent in a basement." I pressed my lips together. "And I know what it is to be an innocent person made to pay for circumstances you had no hand in creating." Elena looked at me. "Yes," she said. "You do."

"Don't claim to be a saint, even the lady who held you out of a truffle in the bar got assaulted in the alleyway and you didn't bat an eyelid to pass by a scene of her getting assaulted" Isadora broke eye contact, her gaze glued to the ground, "She deserves all she got. Don't comment on a situation you don't fully understand." She gritted her teeth. "I don't understand? Do you claim innocence?" Vincent stalked around her kneeling frame like a panther. "Innocence?" Isadora soliloquized, "Is there any innocent person in this world?" No one is completely good and no one is completely bad. Sure at first glance at her many "abominable" people might give instant judgment that she is an evil person

That there were so many different little pockets to this one organ that, up until a few seconds ago, was just the thing that made me live. I didn’t believe in the heart’s ability to talk to you, to tell you things that even your head was afraid to say or couldn’t say. I didn’t know that your life’s blood could be tied up in someone else until I felt the evidence of her innocence at my fingertip just as her eyes opened on mine, and for a split second, I saw into her soul.

And yet each weight pulled me further and further away. I closed my eyes. Murder had been in my past. I'd given it all up, moved beyond, and now I was there again. "Details?" "Do you really want to know?" "She was innocent." That simple statement was what ate at me. Then again, I'd seen other innocents die. They'd died for power, for revenge, and for love. "Her death took precedence over her existence," Deloris said matter-of-factly. "Sometimes the saying is true: the end justifies the means. She was available. Besides, her fate was sealed when she reneged on her obligation to Infidelity and attempted to blackmail Spencer."

And yet each weight pulled me further and further away. I closed my eyes. Murder had been in my past. I'd given it all up, moved beyond, and now I was there again. "Details?" "Do you really want to know?" "She was innocent." That simple statement was what ate at me. Then again, I'd seen other innocents die. They'd died for power, for revenge, and for love. "Her death took precedence over her existence," Deloris said matter-of-factly. "Sometimes the saying is true: the end justifies the means. She was available. Besides, her fate was sealed when she reneged on her obligation to Infidelity and attempted to blackmail Spencer."

“You want me to confess to a crime I didn’t commit?“ “It’s not about your innocence right now Raz, it’s about survival!” Zane’s voice was laced with desperation. “What good is your innocence if you’re dead? They’ll kill you. What about Enid? You really want her to lose her mother at three? If you’re still alive, I can help you Raz. Even if you’re exiled, I’ll make sure you’re fine.” My heart clenched. “I am innocent, Zane. I will not trade my life for a lie. Because they’ll kill me regardless of my confession. I will not die a confessed murderer in their eyes. If I die, I die as I am – falsely accused.”

Not an ounce of pain, not when all I could think about is her pain. No matter how much I bleed, the blood is not going to wash away my sin. Nothing can wash it off. How could I not believe her? Onika. My Onika. So pure. So naïve. How could I turn so blind so as to not see her innocence which was written all over her face, in all her tears. She kept saying that she didn't do anything, that she has been framed in all this. I thought all of it was just an act, her denial would irritated me so much that it just brought the worst out of me.

For the last time, Geneva's mom asks Cindy what if she hear that her father left for other woman, Cindy said she knows, she saw her father on her 7th birthday party, She saw with another woman, and while she chasing them her incident happened, Geneva's mom seems startled and asked her if she recognized that woman, And Cindy said no because it was too far to recognized that woman's face and she added that as per her mom it was also her accident suspect, She also said that if ever her father goes back for them she should never forgive him for the huge ache he cost. "My dad's mistress is also my accident's suspect." she said,

The doctor slipped out past them, leaving Cecilia alone with her sobs. “She’s tough,” Ryker muttered, his voice low and gravelly, breaking the silence. “But I really believe she doesn’t know shit. The way she broke was pure panic. No lies slipped through. Dominic kept her clean.” I nodded, jaw tight, the agreement settling like fact. “Yeah. She’s innocent in this. No playbook, no codes. Just a girl caught in the crossfire.” Ryker glanced at me, one brow arching. “So what now, boss? We escalate to phase three? Waterboard the truth out, or…”

My thumb brushed his jawline, forcing his face upward, forcing him to look at me. “You’ve been very quiet lately,” I continued, my voice smooth as poison. “Too quiet. No suspicious calls. No strange behavior. No mistakes.” I tilted his face side to side like I was examining something delicate, fragile, breakable. “Innocence is either purity…”My eyes narrowed. “Or a lie.” His jaw trembled, but his voice tried to hold. “I haven’t done anything.” “A bold statement,” I breathed, “from someone trembling under a towel.”