Just Because You Did It Doesn't Mean You're Guilty Novels & Stories

"Hardly out of the goodness of their hearts, I'm sure." "What does that mean? You know what, it doesn't matter. Considering what's happened, Dad, I don't think you can criticize them⁠—" "What did I just say about guilt?" "Why would you cut a deal? Why not fight it? If you're not guilty, you can win. Just tell the truth⁠—"

I know what it looks like, but I didn't do it on purpose. Mom sighs. I still don't look at her. "What's done is done. I'm not blaming you for what happened. I know that's what you think I'm doing but I assure you it's not. I'm just trying to show you that it's not as simple as black and white. Both of you made mistakes."

Every fucked up feeling i ignored, now brimmed within my chest and squeezed my lungs. Guilt spun, stoking the agitation that was working its way free. Anxiety buzzed through my consciousness. My head f*cking pounded. I shook my head as i lowly said, "I didn't do it. He did, he made me do it-" He scoffed, "It's all your fault." I shook my head, "No, it's not, he made me do it, you saw him, I didn't want to do it - I didn't !"

Real, heavy, gut-punch guilt. “I did this,” he says. “What?” “If I hadn’t been so stupid, this wouldn’t have happened.” “Come on. It’s not your f—” I start. But he glares at me, and I stop. I wasn’t sure I believed the words myself anyway. My mom might be older, sure. Higher risk and all that. But still, deep down, I know the stress didn’t help. No matter how hard I try to reason it away, a part of me believes it played a role.

DANTE As I stood there, staring out at the bustling city of New York, I couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration. The city didn't stop functioning just because I was at the receiving end of a mishap. People walked around comfortably, without any worry of what might happen next. It was as if Anna's death hadn't even happened. Just like the court of justice believes that nobody is guilty until proven otherwise, I also believe that nobody is innocent until proven otherwise. In that case, one of these people walking around the city could be the reason behind Anna's death.

“Maybe it’s his karma.” “What?” I shrugged, even though she couldn’t see me. “Maybe this is just… everything coming back around,” I said. “The way things ended. The way he acted back then.” “That doesn’t sound like you,” she said. I frowned slightly. “What’s that supposed to mean?” “You’re trying to justify yourself for something wrong.” “I’m not.” “You are,” she said calmly. “Be honest with yourself, Aria,” she muttered. “Are you doing this because it’s your job… Or because it’s him?”

Something I wished he hadn't done. “You can't do that to me, Sage. I'm sure you know the truth already, or do you need me to spell it out for you? You need to believe that I didn't do this on purpose. Not for a moment, but can't you see the truth? Do you want me to come directly before you understand?” What was he talking about? Who commits a crime and claims to be right?

"Why did you do it?" "I didn't do anything wrong, you have to believe me. These people are lying and trying to pin it on me. Nate fell on his own because he didn't want to be locked away. You have to believe me, Jace." "Trust me, you don't want me repeating myself." My eyes turned black, my voice took a darker tone as I stared blankly at her wide eyes. "I didn't do anything wrong." Without uttering another word, I waved the three men to take her away. "If she gets away, your life will be too small to pay for her crimes."

But I can’t stop my mind from rehearsing what would happen over and over again as it tires itself out. Guilt. This is what real guilt feels like. Can I say I didn’t do it on purpose? I didn’t! It was there because I didn’t throw it out of the window after I have thrown most of the things off! I wouldn’t even believe myself... Maybe I should say that I was just really mad at Ava, and I just wanted to teach her a lesson. Ava uses this as a legit excuse all the time. But somehow it just doesn’t sound legit in my mind. Maybe if--

"Sangre." I couldn't shake the guilt. I couldn't get rid of it, no matter how hard I tried to justify what I did. I shouldn't have done it. What if someone had seen? What if it backfires? What if I didn't do it right and it makes things much worse?