Claiming innocence

Mia gave him an innocent look, her lips trembling. “What do you mean?” she asked, her eyes searching his. “I never betrayed you.” “Is that so?” Thomas asked, his voice dripping of bitterness. “Are you saying that you did not give my money to Jonathan?” Her face scrunched up in confusion. “What? No, of course not! He tried to force me to tell him, but I refused. It was your sister who gave him your bank account information.” “Nessa? How did she know my account information?” Mia shrugged. “I don’t know! I would never do something like that to you, Thomas. Not after everything you have done for me. I was willing to endure any kind of torture to protect you.” Thomas stared at her, the stormy look on his face not abating. She bit her lip and reached for his hand. He shifted out of her reach. Her brow dipped low. “Do you really believe the things they are saying about me?” she asked in a hurt voice. “Can’t you see what they are trying to do? They already took half of what you have, and now they want to destroy the rest. Don’t let them ruin what we have, please.” Thomas walked around the table, putting more distance between them. “Where did Jonathan hold you and Nessa captive?” he asked her. “I don’t know,” she replied. “You don’t know?” he repeated in a disbelieving voice. She shook her head. “Please believe me. It was in the middle of the jungle. I don’t know how we got there or which way we came. I tried to find out from the servants, but they did not say anything.” “So how did Sophia find you?” he asked her. “Did you run away from where he was holding you captive?” She nodded. He scoffed. “Then how can you not know where it was? Were you blindfolded when you escaped?” “I…I think he drugged me,” she told him. “When he left to meet you guys, he took most of the guards with him. I was able to sneak out and wandered around in the forest. That was when Sophia found me.” She held out her arms and gestured to her body. “Look at what she did to me. I was so disoriented that I could not even fight back.” “Is that so?” Thomas asked. “I swear I’m telling the truth.” Thomas walked to one side of the room and inserted a flash drive into a screen on the wall. A few seconds later, a video of surveillance footage started playing. The scene was a clearing in the forest. It showed Mia walking into the clearing and looking around. A few moments later, Sophia appeared in the view. They exchanged words, and Mia even laughed at some point. She had a dagger in one hand, which she pointed at Sophia threateningly. After a short while, they started fighting. Mia was not disoriented as she had just claimed. She put up a good fight, and it took Sophia a while to disarm her of the dagger. Eventually, Sophia overpowered her and inflicted a lot of serious blows. Thomas paused the video and looked back at Mia. “So, what is this? You don’t look disoriented to me.” “I…” she started, her eyes fixed on the screen. “I don’t know how…” She lifted her eyes to Thomas. “Please believe me, babe. I really can’t remember what happened.” Thomas crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah? Alright. What about the baby? Is he mine?” “Of course he is,” she replied. Tears welled up in her eyes once again. “Do you think I’m lying about that too? I’ve not been with anyone else since I met you. How could I do that after everything you’ve done for me? You gave me everything I’ve ever wanted.” Thomas reached into his trousers’ pocket and retrieved a paper. He threw it at her. It fluttered to the ground and fell at her feet. “So, is science lying to me too?” Mia bent down and picked up the sheet of paper. She unfolded it and looked at what was written. It showed the results of a paternity test. “What is this?” She looked up at Thomas. “How can you even…when did you…” “All I needed was your blood,” he told her, seeing as she had run out of lies to tell. “There’s no relation between me and the baby.” She shook her head. “That’s impossible. How can they even tell? The baby is not born yet! This is not correct!” Thomas sighed and threw his head back, clenching his jaw. No matter how much evidence he had, she would claim innocence and blame everyone else. She had always played the victim before and he had fallen for it. How stupid he had been. He had thought she was his fated mate, but it had all been a lie. All of it. Everything he thought he had was now gone. A Luna, a fated mate, an heir. He had lost everything because of her lies. He turned to her. “If you don’t confess everything you know, you and your baby won’t survive the weekend,” he warned her. “You better make yourself useful real soon.” He turned to leave but she threw herself at him before he reached the door. She wrapped her arms around his middle and pressed her body to his back. “Please listen to me,” she begged, crying. “You are wrong. They are all wrong. I would never do any of those things. I’m your mate and the mother of your heir. If you let them kill me, you’ll be destroying yourself.” Thomas reached for her hands and pried them off him forcefully. “Tell us what you know if you want to save yourself.” “They’ll kill me even if I say anything. You know that! How can you just let them do that to me?” her voice rose. “What happened to you? You used to defend me. I’m your fated mate!” Thomas laughed bitterly and turned back to give her one last look. “Are you?” he asked, taking a step towards her. His eyes narrowed as he looked down at her. “I don’t know what it is that you did to me, but this is where it ends. You are nothing to me. Think carefully about whether you want to keep up this act or not.” When he turned to leave again, she did not stop him.