"Jade Doe, you are under arrest for impersonation, you have the right to remaining silent, anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law, you have the right to an attorney, if you can't afford it, one will be appointed to you" Anna said and Jade looked down terrified, she would go back to a cell or back to her father, either way, she had no way out.
"Come on, this is wrong and you know it" Beck said upset "She is not a criminal"
"It's procedure, I'm sorry" Anna said and made Jade walk outside "Let's go, we'll talk at the station" she added and Jade looked down in resignation, she knew it was over.
They drove her to the police station and took her into an interrogation room, they wanted her to tell them the truth, but she didn't intend to do it, she was afraid her father would find her if she did.
"Okay 'Jade', care to tell us your real name?" Alex asked, but she stayed quiet.
"Listen, we wanna help you but we can't do that if you don't talk to us" Anna added "We know you've been through a lot, please let us help you"
"You wanna help me? Really? Is that why you brought me here in handcuffs?" Jade asked back annoyed.
"You committed a felony and you're under arrest, but we can make a deal if you cooperate" Alex said.
"What kind of deal?" She asked coldly.
"If you tell us the truth, we can convince the ADA to reduce your sentence, otherwise you'll go to prison for two years" Anna affirmed "We can help you, but you have to tell us everything, why did you lie?" She asked and Jade stared at her nervously.
"What's your real name? Where do you come from?" Alex asked and she looked down, she didn't want to risk it, if they found her father, he would know where she was and she didn't want that, prison was a better option. She knew he couldn't legally take her, but just the thought of having to see him again made her blood go cold, she was afraid of him but she also felt guilty for leaving him and she didn't want to face him, it was complicated.
"Come on, tell us" Anna demanded and Jade took a breath.
"I'll tell you this: I want a lawyer" Jade said coldly and the detectives looked at each other.
"Fine, we tried to help you" Anna said and they made her stand up, they placed the handcuffs on her wrists and took her back to the cell to wait for her lawyer, but on their way there they bumped into Mr. and Mrs. West, so they looked at Jade disappointedly and she looked down, she couldn't face them.
"Where are you going with her?" Mr. West asked.
"Back to the cell, she lawyered up" Anna said and continued walking, then she took the cuffs off and left Jade inside the cell.
"Come on, you can finish filing charges over here…" Alex said and they followed him to a desk, while Jade stared at them sadly. She'd never imagined she'd be put in prison by the very people she'd considered her parents for the last three years, but she wasn't even mad at them, she knew she deserved it.
Jade was sent to a detention facility to await her trial and she was provided with a public attorney because she had no money to afford a private one. However, she knew she'd stay in prison, she wasn't Jade anymore so everything she'd had up until that point was gone and she had to face the consequences of her lies.
"Doe, you got visitors" A guard said as she approached Jade in her cell, she was just reading a book and trying to distract her mind.
"You sure it's for me?" Jade asked.
"Come and look for yourself, I'm not your secretary" The woman said annoyed and Jade sighed, she left the book on her bed and simply made her way to the visitation room, but then another inmate stood in her way.
"Hey newbie, did you make my bed already?" The woman asked and Jade rolled her eyes.
"I told you, I don't work for you" She responded coldly and the woman chuckled.
"You don't wanna mess with me, kid" She said.
"I'm not afraid of you" Jade simply said and tried to keep walking, but the woman held her arm tightly.
"I've been nice to you because it's your first week and we are cellmates, but it's about time you learn your place in the food chain" The woman said coldly as she looked into Jade's eyes "You're a cute little fish…and I'm a shark, don't test my patience" She threatened.
"Stay the hell away from me, 'shark'" Jade responded angrily and pulled her arm away, so the woman simply smiled and the next thing Jade felt was a fist across her face, she landed on the floor and tried to focus her sight, only to see her cellmate looking down at her.
"Go see your visitors and when you get back to the cell, make my bed like a good girl" The woman ordered and smiled cynically as she walked away. Jade simply exhaled angrily and stood up, she stepped into the visitation room and her friends immediately smiled, but they looked at her confused because she was holding her nose.
"Jade!" Beck said gladly and tried to hug her.
"No touching" A guard immediately shouted and he moved back.
"What are you doing?" Tori asked because Jade kept holding her nose and they all sat down around the table.
"Nothing" She said and removed her hand, so they saw she had some blood on her face.
"Oh my god, what happened?" Andre asked and she rolled her eyes.
"I just ran into my cellmate and we had some bonding time" Jade said sarcastically and they looked at each other worriedly.
"Can't you report her?" Tori asked and Jade laughed.
"Sure, if I want to have someone laugh in my face" She responded sarcastically "It's prison, not summer camp and I'm a criminal just like everyone else here, no one cares if I have a black eye" she added annoyed.
"I'm sorry…" Tori said sadly.
"Whatever, what are you doing here?" Jade asked.
"We came to see you" Cat said like it was obvious.
"Well, here I am…" Jade said emotionlessly.
"How are you feeling?" Beck asked concernedly.
"I'm in prison" She said coldly "How do you think I'm feeling?"
"I'm sure you'll get out soon" Tori said nicely.
"My…I mean, Jade's parents, hate me now and with good reason, so I don't see how I could be getting out" She responded and sighed "It's fine, I always knew I'd spend my life in a cell…at least here I get to the sun sometimes" she added like it was nothing, but they felt their hearts crushing.
"Don't say it like that, you won't spend your life here" Beck affirmed "The police told us it would be two years tops"
"Two years…as if that would make a difference, I'm a convicted felon and if I'm not here, then where?" Jade asked emotionlessly, she was calm and collected but they didn't know what to make of it, it seemed she no longer cared about anything.
"What do you mean?" Tori asked.
"You know exactly what I mean" Jade responded and they looked at each other.
"No, we don't" Andre said and she stared at them coldly.
"Where would I go, Andre? I have no place to live, unless I go back to my dad, do you think he'll take me back?" She asked sarcastically, she was clearly angry and done with everything.
"Jade, come on…" Beck said and shook his head "You know that's not what we mean, you could stay with us"
"A day? Sure, a week? Maybe, but there is no way I can stay with you long term, you all live with your parents…because you have parents and you have homes, I don't" Jade responded coldly and sat back shrugging "That's just how things are, I'm homeless so I might as well just stay in prison"
"No, we'll figure things out, I promise" Beck said, but she didn't want to drag him into her mess, so she simply sighed.
"Thanks for coming but you don't have to, it's over" Jade said and stood up.
"No, it's not over" Beck affirmed and she looked at him emotionlessly "We are here for you, I'm here for you" He added, but she simply looked down and walked away anyway.
Two weeks later, her trial began and her friends showed up in support, but at that point she had lost hope of having a life in freedom, so she didn't really care about anything, she just sat there staring into space in her prison suit because she had no clothes of her own. She'd also been fighting with her cellmate because she refused to be a slave, so she ended up getting beaten and she was full of bruises by the time her trial came around.
"I call the defendant to the stand" The prosecutor said and Jade took the oath to tell the truth.
"She looks terrible" Tori commented, seeing Jade's black eye and multiple bruises on her face and arms.
"I guess her cellmate still doesn't like her" Andre added and Beck looked down mortified, while Jade's previous parents looked at each other worriedly as well. They didn't enjoy seeing her beaten up.
"Miss, can you please tell us your name? The real one, I mean, not the one you stole when you impersonated Jade West" The prosecutor said.
"I don't know it" Jade said.
"You don't know it or you just don't want to share it? Are you hiding something? Past crimes perhaps?" The prosecutor asked "You're a con artist, so I wouldn't be surprised" He added and she rolled her eyes.
"Objection!" Jade's lawyer said.
"Sustained, watch it, Mr. Evans" The judge said to the prosecutor.
"Okay, given that you haven't provided a name, we'll just call you Miss, is that alright?" The prosecutor asked and she nodded. "Yes or no"
"Yes" Jade said annoyed.
"Okay, where did you live before you came to the West residence and claimed to be their lost daughter?" He asked and she looked down.
"I…I don't know" Jade said.
"I remind you that you're under oath, lying will only add charges to the list" The prosecutor said and she sighed "I'll ask again, where did you live before?"
"A room" Jade said.
"That's not a location, where was it?" He questioned.
"I don't know, I was locked up" She responded.
"Who did you live with?" He asked.
"My dad" She responded.
"So, you do have a family" He said.
"I wouldn't call it that" Jade commented.
"Who paid for the tattoo on your arm?" He questioned.
"My dad" She said again and he nodded.
"So, you say were locked up, but you got your father pay for your tattoo and then lied your way into another person's life, that sounds to me like you had some range of freedom" He commented "Was it your idea to scam the West family or was it your dad's plan all along?" He asked
"I didn't want to scam th-" She replied but he cut her off.
"Yours or his idea?" The prosecutor asked.
"Mine" Jade said.
"So, Miss, just to rewind: you say you were locked up, but you managed to trick your dad into giving you a tattoo and then left your house, you went to see Mr. and Mrs. West and told them you were their missing daughter, that is not random, you planned it carefully and let me just say, congratulations, you were close to getting away with it" He said and she sighed, she didn't even have energy to defend herself.
"Is there a question in that statement?" Jade's lawyer asked.
"I have a question now because this is all really confusing, what was the point of impersonating Jade West? You didn't commit any crimes as her, as far as we are concerned, but there must have been a reason" The prosecutor said and walked closer to her "Did you plan on becoming a young heir?" He asked and she stared at him confused, while her previous parents looked at each other creeped out, they hadn't even thought about that.
"What? Are you asking me if I wanted to kill them?" Jade asked shocked.
"It makes sense, doesn't it? You just had to wait until you were of age, you couldn't take the inheritance as a minor, but now you're an adult and with them out of the way, you would have become a very wealthy young woman" The prosecutor said and she shook her head "Was that your plan all along?"
"No!" She immediately said.
"You sure about that?" He asked.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Of course I'm sure, I never wanted to hurt them" Jade said upset.
"Well, I don't really expect you to admit it, you're a very smart girl" He commented and she glared at him upset, she didn't care about going to prison, but she didn't want her parents to think she'd ever had the intention of hurting them.
"I'm not lying, I swear I never intended to hurt them" Jade affirmed.
"Your word is not really reliable, though, is it?" He asked and she exhaled upset "No more questions" He finished and went back to his seat.
"Miss, the prosecutor here wants to make you look like a criminal who plotted a plan to scam AND murder a rich family, what a story, I'm sure it would sell well" Jade's attorney said and the prosecutor rolled his eyes "But let's move away from fantasy and examine the facts, okay?" Jade's attorney said and she nodded.
"Yeah" She said, he'd convinced her to tell the truth in open court, he'd said her father wouldn't have to be found for her story to be believed and after the cross examination with the prosecutor, she felt even more compelled to talk about her past, she didn't want the West to think they'd had a criminal with them all that time.
"You just stated that you lived with your father, can you describe exactly where you spent your time?" He asked.
"I was locked up in a grey room, it was really small, there was only a bed…and a toilet and a bath and it was downstairs" Jade explained.
"How do you know? Did you have windows?" He asked.
"No, there were no windows, but I could hear the steps when he came down to see me" She explained.
"Did you ever leave that room?" Her lawyer asked.
"Dad started letting me out in the house when I turned fourteen" Jade said.
"But before that, never?" He asked and she shook her head.
"No, never…at least not that I can recall" Jade said sincerely and her parents looked at each other, that was sad.
"Do you remember anything before the room?" He questioned.
"No, as far as I know, I spent all my life there" Jade responded emotionlessly.
"Which can be proven by her medical records, as you can see here, she had a severe lack of vitamin D when she was fifteen, she had to be medically treated for it for several months because she had some critical bone issues related to that" Her attorney said and gave the papers to the jury.
"What's the point of this line of questioning?" The prosecutor asked.
"The district attorney is trying to paint my client as a calculating criminal and I'm simply showing the truth" Jade's attorney said.
"I'll allow it" The judge said and the lawyer nodded.
"Miss, you stated you don't have a name, so…what did your father call you?" He asked.
"Girl" Jade responded
"And what did the other men call you?" He asked and the gang looked at each other confused, they didn't understand what he meant by the other men. Jade simply looked down sadly and closed her eyes ashamedly.
"Miss, please answer the question" The judge demanded.
"What did the other men call you? Go ahead, tell the jury" Her lawyer demanded nicely.
"Um…doll, princess, little slut…it was never the same" Jade said mortified as a couple of tears streamed down her cheeks, but she quickly wiped them away.
"Miss, can you please tell the jury everything that happened in that room?" Her attorney asked and she nodded.
"My dad…umm, he made me have sex with him" Jade said nervously.
"How old were you the first time he raped you?" He asked and she looked down.
"Six or seven, I…I don't know, I just know I was small and it was really painful, but he said it was normal, he said that's how dads showed their love and that I had to be a good girl and love him back" Jade said and Evelyn and Mr. West looked at each other completely heartbroken, they had not really expected her story to be so horrible.
"What else did he do?" He asked and more tears streamed down her face, she was barely holding herself together.
"He brought other men and made me have sex with them too" She admitted ashamedly as she stared at a spot on the floor, because she couldn't look at anyone in the face after saying that.
"Did he say why?" The man asked and she nodded.
"He said they were his friends and that I had to be nice to them too, but I always saw them giving him money when they were done" Jade said and her voice cracked, along with her friends' hearts.
"Oh my god" Evelyn whispered completely appalled.
"Jesus…" Beck said in pain and impotence, as he saw her struggling to tell her story, every time she revealed new information, the horrors became worse and he couldn't believe someone could've gone through all that pain, especially not his own girlfriend, but she had and the worst part was she wasn't even done talking yet.
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I hope you guys liked the chapter, PRETTY PLEASE REVIEW!