Chapter 7 Shadows of Betrayal
888 Words
After finishing her volunteer registration, Jenna had just returned to Elmwood Apartment when she received a message from Lucas.
Lucas: Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of Hopewell Orphanage. Let's go back and celebrate together.
It had been five years since the fire at Hopewell Orphanage. During all those years, Jenna carried a deep guilt and hadn't visited since her release.
She stared at the screen in silence for a long while before finally replying the message.
Jenna: Okay.
After leaving Hopewell Orphanage tomorrow, she would head straight to Oakridge Correctional Facility to pick someone up.
The next day, Jenna arrived at Hopewell Orphanage. The place had been rebuilt, pristine and bright, with red brick walls and large windows; no trace of the burnt ruins remained.
Margaret King was standing at the gate, welcoming the guests who had come to celebrate. But when her eyes landed on Jenna, her smile froze, and her face turned stone cold.
"Who told you to come here? Get out!"
Before Jenna could react, a few older children picked up stones and sticks from the ground and hurled them at her without a word. The stones hit her with a sting, and Jenna instinctively stepped back.
Those she once treated like her family, Margaret and the children she had truly cared for, now harbored nothing but hatred. Her heart felt gripped by an invisible hand, pain so sharp she could hardly breathe, and her eyes immediately reddened.
For a fleeting moment, it felt as if she had been transported back to that night five years ago, when Hopewell Orphanage caught fire.
That night, troubled and restless, Jenna had returned to the orphanage to clear her mind, and Lucas had followed. Awakened from a nightmare, she realized Lucas wasn't beside her. Stepping into the courtyard, she was struck like lightning.
Lucas and Stella were entwined in each other's arms, kissing as if they could not let go, their breaths mingled.
Jenna stumbled, accidentally knocking into a nearby flower stand; a vase crashed to the floor. Both of them startled, yet their hands stayed tightly interlocked.
The rage from being repeatedly betrayed surged to her head, and all her reason shattered. Jenna, red-eyed, screamed at them for their shamelessness, cursed Lucas for his lies, and let the pent-up grief and fury explode.
Lucas stepped forward to calm her, but his gaze constantly signaled Stella to leave first. Jenna, disheartened, broke free from his hold, crying out that she wanted a divorce.
That night's chaos ended only when she collapsed from exhaustion. No one expected that in the middle of the night, a thick smoke would awaken everyone.
The fire spread quickly. By the time it was noticed, several children were trapped in the burning attic. Margaret's biological daughter rushed in to save them without hesitation. But in the end, she could not escape, perishing along with the three young lives.
After the fire, Jenna stayed at Hopewell Orphanage to help care for the surviving children. A few days later, the police suddenly arrived and arrested her, claiming she had started the fire.
Her mind went blank as she was sent to the detention center in confusion. At the trial, Lucas and Stella both testified. They claimed that Jenna, discovering them together that night, had lost control in a fit of rage and threatened revenge, setting the fire herself.
Jenna couldn't believe her ears. She locked eyes with Lucas, the man she had loved for over twenty years, as he coldly pushed her into the abyss with his lies.
She jumped to her feet, her voice trembling from shock and fury. "Lucas! Why would you do this to me? Why would you frame me?"
Jenna was forced back into her seat, her gaze still fixed on Lucas. But he kept his head down, refusing to meet her eyes.
Stella turned to Jenna, feigning regret. "Jen, I know you were just upset and lost control. Just plead guilty—it could help reduce your sentence. Stop holding on…"
From a distance, Jenna could clearly see the malice and pride hidden beneath Stella's red-rimmed eyes.
Hopewell Orphanage was old and lacked surveillance; there was no evidence to prove her innocence. Lucas and Stella's testimonies became the only evidence.
In the end, the judge found Jenna guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced her to six years in prison.
As the gavel fell, Jenna went black and nearly fainted. She carried a false charge and was thrown into the darkness of prison.
Those first days at Oakridge Correctional Facility were like living as a walking corpse. Betrayed and framed by the people she trusted most, the pain gnawed at her heart day and night like a venomous snake.
What tormented her most was guilt. She constantly thought that if she hadn't returned to Hopewell Orphanage that day, if the awkward incident with Lucas and Stella hadn't happened, perhaps the fire wouldn't have occurred, and those lives wouldn't have been lost.
In her despair, she even wished Lucas would come to see her. But he never did. Not once. It was as if he had erased both her and their twenty-plus years of connection from his life, leaving her to wither in the prison's darkness.
Just as Jenna resigned herself to a heart of stone, Lucas suddenly appeared in the visitation room.
- Writer
