Chapter 11
747words
A plainly dressed middle-aged couple got out.
It was Jason's parents.
They had been waiting at home for Jason to bring his"fiancée"for Thanksgiving dinner.
When he didn't show up and wouldn't answer his phone, they had come looking for him.
The moment his mother saw the burned-out shell of the car and her son in handcuffs, she let out a piercing scream.
"Jason! What's going on? Who are you people? Why are you arresting my son?"
Jason's father spotted me immediately.
He pointed an accusing finger.
"It's you again! You're a curse on our family! I knew you were bad luck for my son!"
"Was it you? Did you throw another one of your tantrums and get my boy arrested?"
Seeing his parents was like seeing a lifeline.
"Mom! Dad! Help me!"Jason screamed.
"That bitch Emma set me up! She's trying to ruin my life!"
Jason's mother charged at me, her hand raised to strike, but Ryan caught her wrist in an iron grip.
"Ma'am, I suggest you get your facts straight before you say another word,"
Ryan said, his voice dangerously low.
"The facts? The fact is my son has been ruined by your spoiled, pampered princess of a daughter!"
she shrieked.
"My Jason is a good boy! He would never do something like this unless she pushed him to the edge! You think you're so special because you have money? You think you can just bully poor country folk like us?"
Her words started to stir murmurs among the small crowd of onlookers that had gathered.
Ryan let out a cold laugh.
He turned to the lead officer.
"Captain Fletcher, would you mind playing that audio file again for these two? Let them hear for themselves how their 'good boy' tried to murder my sister."
The recording blared through the night once more.
The arrogance and fury on his parents' faces slowly melted away, replaced by shock, then horror, then utter disbelief.
Jason's father's legs gave out, and he nearly collapsed.
When the recording ended, a dead silence fell over the scene.
"No... that's not possible..."
Jason's mother whispered, refusing to believe the venomous voice on the recording belonged to the son she was so proud of.
His father, however, snapped back to reality.
His demeanor changed in an instant.
He scurried over to Ryan, forcing a smile that was more like a grimace.
"Mr... Mr. Cross! This is all a misunderstanding! A terrible misunderstanding!"
"My boy... he was just fooling around with Emma! You know, kids' stuff! Look, Emma's fine, right? No real harm done! We can... we can settle this privately, can't we?"
He rubbed his hands together nervously.
"We'll pay! We'll sell everything we own to pay for the damages! Just name your price!"
"If you'll just let this go, I promise my son will spend the rest of his life making it up to Emma!"
Ryan looked at him with utter revulsion and uttered a single word.
"No."
"Please!"
His mother snapped out of her stupor and threw herself at Ryan's feet, grabbing his leg and wailing.
"Mr. Cross, I'm begging you! He's our only son! If he goes to prison, what will happen to us? He's a top university graduate, the CEO of his own company! You can't just destroy his future like this!"
Through her sobs, she turned to me, as I was being loaded onto a stretcher.
"Emma! All those years you and Jason were together, did they mean nothing to you?"
"Can you really stand by and watch him go to prison? Talk to your brother! Please! I'm begging you!"
I lay on the stretcher and looked at the ugly, desperate faces of this family.
Years together?
Yes, I once thought what we had was unbreakable.
And in return, he and his childhood sweetheart left me to die in a burning car, sealing my fate with packing tape.
My voice was hoarse from the smoke, but my words were crystal clear.
"When he was slamming the car door on me, when he was taping my mouth and nose shut, did he think about our years together?"
"When he left me alone in a car that was about to explode, all for Chloe, did he think for one second about whether I would live or die?"
"He didn't. So whether his future is destroyed or not... has nothing to do with me."
