Chapter 12
Jean was still half–asleep when his phone buzzed. He answered without thinking, but his mom hung up night after saying just one sentence. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he tapped the video she’d sent.
The clip was edited, short and to the point and what he saw made his stomach drop. It was Luna. She was the one who threw the cat into the pond. Samira had only rushed in to save it.
More clips followed, each one hitting like a punch to the gut. Years of misunderstandings, all unraveling right in front of him. His mind went completely blank.
Then Miranda’s voice echoed in his head, “There might be more to the kidnapping case too. Samira wasn’t the kind of person you thought
she was
The call ended, but Jean couldn’t move. The shock had rooted him to the spot. His chest felt tight, like something was slowly squeezing the life out of him.X
He remembered Samina clinging to him, crying, trying to explain back then, begging him to believe her. And he didn’t
Not only did he turn away, he teamed up with Luna. He helped them break Samira down. And she knew. She knew the whole time
Jean collapsed onto the floor, head buried in his hands. The weight of it all finally crushed him. The guilt, the shame, it tore him apart Then, Miranda’s last words come rushing back again. He stood up, grabbed his phone and made a call. A little while later, he was on his way to the prison where the kidnappers were still being held.
- n. Even after all these years, they remembered
Inside the visiting room, the men sat across from him. They stiffened when they saw him. who he was and clearly wanted nothing to do with him.
Jean got straight to the point. His voice shook slightly as he asked, “Back then when we tried to escape and you caught me who came back to help me? The one who got stabbed, who was it?”
One of the kidnappers blinked, then answered, “It was the tall girl.”
Jean froze. Deep down, he’d known it all along. But he still couldn’t process it. “No someone else got hurt, I remember seeing it.”))
The kidnapper looked confused and defensive. “No, man. We never laid a finger on that other girl. She vanished after the escape. The tall one, she came back. She took the hit.
It was like the floor dropped out beneath him. Jean sat there in silence, completely hollowed out. The truth had been right there all these years and he never saw it 2.
Finally, he gave a weak wave to the guards, signaling them to take the men away. He couldn’t even look up.
Everything he thought he knew… had just been turned upside down. Jean sat in silence, his chest tight with regret and rage. The more he thought about everything, the harder it was to breathe. “What the hell have I been doing all these years?
And all of it, all of this pain… come back to Luna ||
Those texts at the party, he was starting to realize they were probably fake. And Samira never tried to defend herself. Not even once.
If they really were fake, it wouldn’t have been hard to prove. Just like the stuff Luna used to say when they were kids. Lies that were paper thin… but people still believed her.X
No one believed Samir. Not then, not now. They had all decided she was just some jealous girl who wanted to hurt Luna.
The thought made Jean’s blood boil. He couldn’t sit still anymore. He had to face Luna. She needed to answer for what she did.
He drove straight to her place, but the apartment was empty. Not a single light on. He didn’t need to think twice. She’d probably run back to the Jourdain house
When he got there, the tension in the air was thick. Luna was huddled in her mother’s arms like a scared child. Her father stood nearby, tense and trying to hold it together.
“She didn’t mean for things to go that far,” her mother said, voice cracking. “She just felt so insecure, she didn’t know what to do. Don’t be angry with her. If someone has to pay for this, let it be me. I raised her, I failed her.”
Jean stared blankly at her
Her father snapped, “That doesn’t excuse what she’s done! Don’t try to protect her with that nonsense!”
Without saying a word, Jean walked over and grabbed Luna’s wrist. She whimpered, flinching at the sudden grip. He didn’t let go.
“If neither of you are willing to make her take responsibility,” he said coldly, “then I will.”
