It was a senior class road trip. I suddenly grabbed the steering wheel and plunged the car off a cliff.
Four people, including our head teacher, died instantly. I, however, was thrown from the window, sustaining only minor injuries.
The victims’ families camped outside the police station daily, and online, the outrage was deafening.
“This sociopath deserves to be put down, not just once, but a hundred times over!”
My mom spent a fortune hiring a lawyer for me, but I went wild and bit the poor guy, sending him to the hospital.
Yet, she still refused to give up.
“Jade is still a child; she wouldn’t hurt anyone without a reason! Please, give her another chance!”
“What reasons?” I sneered, flipping off the jury. “I just didn’t want to live anymore and decided to take a few people down with me.”
The internet branded me a demon who deserved to die, while my mother sobbed before the cameras, pleading for mercy.
In the end, the judge gave me three days.
“If no hidden circumstances can be proven in this case within three days, Jade Vance will be sentenced to death, effective immediately!”
In a corner no one saw, I let out a silent sigh of relief.
Just three more days. Everything would be fine.
……
“Defendant, what was your motive for these murders?!”
It was a live-streamed court session.
Facing my stone-cold defiance, even the seasoned judge looked visibly frustrated.
“You know the jury will decide your fate, yet you publicly bit your lawyer?”
“I felt like it!”
Licking the blood from the corner of my mouth, I pulled a cruel smile.
The victims’ families in the courtroom erupted instantly.
“She admitted it! What more do you need? Just give her the death penalty and let my daughter finally rest in peace!”
I coldly watched the disheveled, distraught woman in the spectator’s box.
It was Chloe Miller’ s mother, one of my former high school dorm mates.
Just two days ago, I’ d personally sent her daughter straight to her grave.
Beside her, crying inconsolably, were the parents of my other two dorm mates.
“Kill her! Four lives lost and not a shred of remorse!”
“This kind of antisocial filth, leaving her alive will only lead to endless trouble!”
The comment section of the live stream was a furious torrent.
The jury stared intently at my every move, trying to find a crack in my facade.
But I just looked indifferent, even leaning back, legs crossed, and letting out a casual whistle.
Only three days, anyway.
If I kept my mouth shut during this time, they couldn’t pry anything out of me.
It was a shame I survived the crash, by some twist of fate.
But I had to die.
“Defendant, please show some respect!”
The judge’ s face darkened. “You have a successful career, a decent income, a reasonably happy life. Not long ago, you even booked plane tickets for a family vacation.”
“How did you suddenly become a sociopath and brutally murder your high school dorm mates?”
I paused, then quickly regrouped.
“They were showing off their wealth.”
I pointed a finger back towards the spectator box. “It was her daughter, Chloe Miller. In the car, she insisted on showing me some designer jewelry and luxury bags, even laughing and calling me a poor nobody!”
“Back in school, I was the poorest in the whole class, fighting tooth and nail just to get by! How dare she get all that without lifting a finger?”
“Just for that?”
“Just for that!”
“You’ re lying!”
Mrs. Miller gasped, choking back sobs. “My husband went bankrupt three years ago! Chloe couldn’t possibly buy luxury items anymore!”
I stammered. “Then I misremembered!”
“Anyway, one of them was showing off. As for who… I hit my head, I can’t quite recall!”
“I’ ve always hated you holier-than-thou rich people. It’ s disgusting…”
With that, I spat in the direction of the spectator box.
Then I flipped off the jury.
“Jade Vance is a pathological liar!”
“This kind of person is obviously consumed by jealousy! Her three dorm mates had such bright futures, all ruined by her!”
“And her homeroom teacher, Mr. Davies, was a top educator in the district!”
“My daughter wasn’t a bad person!”
A staggering figure suddenly burst into the courtroom, making my heart lurch.
It was my mom, Eleanor, who had been knocked unconscious and sent to the hospital just moments ago, after arguing with the victims’ families outside the courthouse.
She’ d returned, dragging her injured body back here.
“Here’ s her junior high transcript, look… A straight-A student, always in the top ten!”
“Even if she did something wrong, it’ s because her dad and I failed as parents. If someone needs to be jailed, send us to prison!”
The mention of my dad, Arthur, brought a sudden surge of bitter memories.
My mom’ s tearful plea made the jury exchange uncertain glances.
Netizens were buzzing.
“It’ s been over six years! What does a junior high transcript prove now?!”
“Jade Vance is 22, and in her mom’ s eyes, she’ s still a child? No wonder she raised a daughter like this!”
“Your Honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, and victims’ families, I’ m kneeling here on behalf of my daughter!”
My mom dropped to her knees, her bandaged forehead hitting the floor with a heavy thud.
A shocking crimson stain spread.
I struggled to look away, forcing myself to stop trembling.
“There must be some hidden story here. How could Jade harm four strangers for no reason?”
A flicker of surprise crossed the judge’ s eyes.
Suddenly, I went wild, shoving past the court officers and scrambling out of the defendant’ s box.
I lunged forward, tackling my mom to the ground.
Quickly, I chewed up the transcript and swallowed it.
In doing so, my clothes ripped, revealing a mosaic of old scars on my back.
“Defendant, who caused these injuries on your body?!”
I’ m done for, I thought.
I hastily tried to cover my back.
But everyone in the courtroom, including the live stream viewers and my mom, had seen it clearly.
The judge called for a forensics team to examine my injuries.
While waiting for the report, he persisted with his questions.
“Is this why you refused to stay in the hospital or change your clothes after the car crash?”
I remained silent.
“Who inflicted these injuries on you?”
“Those three bitches, okay? Are you happy now?”
The internet exploded.
“No way! Is this about bullying?!”
“They looked so innocent and sweet, not like people who’ d do something like that!”
I glanced at the big screen displaying the comments.
“You idiots know nothing! Haven’t you heard that appearances can be deceiving?”
“You’ re lying!”
Brooke Johnson’ s father, Mr. Johnson, suddenly stood up. “My daughter was an excellent student, a model student chosen by teachers and classmates. How could she bully you…?”
“They were jealous of my grades, obviously!”
I forced a smile. “Mr. Johnson, you were quite busy back then, weren’t you? Did Brooke ever tell you about cheating on exams?”
“Did she tell you she paid me to do her homework?”
“I…” The man was momentarily speechless.
I scoffed. “You don’t know your own daughter at all! Because of negligent parents like you, I was bullied for a year and a half!”
“Defendant.”
The judge’ s voice was stern. “Is this why your grades suddenly plummeted in the second semester of junior year?”
“Yes.”
“What about my husband?”
Mr. Davies’ s wife glared at me. “Even if Brooke and her friends bullied you, what does that have to do with my husband?! Why did you have to kill him too?!”
“Because he knew and did nothing!”
My face darkened. “I told him about the bullying back then, but he didn’t want to offend your well-connected families. He chose to turn a blind eye.”
“Just because I came from a poor background, did I deserve to be abused?!”
After a heated exchange, my mom listened, utterly bewildered.
Just as she was about to ask something, the medical examiner arrived with my injury report.
The results surprised everyone.
My old scars were indeed consistent with injuries sustained around six years ago.
But the force required was far beyond what three underage girls like Chloe, Brooke, and Skylar could inflict.
“Defendant! Are you still lying now? Who was the man who beat you like this?!”
My mom finally snapped out of her daze and rushed to hug me.
“Jade, who did this to you?”
I turned my face away, not wanting to see the tears in her eyes.
“It’ s my fault, Jade! If your dad and I hadn’t been so busy working, you wouldn’t have been unsupervised and ended up like this…”
“Did you fall in with bad company?”
My mom desperately held my hand. “Were you threatened by some gang members? Tell me, Mom will get justice for you!”
“No, no, no!”
I impatiently shook off her hand. “Stop playing the devoted mother act. Who are you trying to fool?”
Before I finished speaking, Chloe’ s mom suddenly grabbed a chair and charged at me.
Thud.
My mom blocked me, collapsing to the floor in pain.
I clenched my fists, unmoving, my nails digging deep into my palms.
“What kind of person is she? Her mom almost died protecting her, and she just stands there, cold-faced and indifferent?”
“Ma’ am, you should give up! This kind of heart can’t be warmed. Saving her is pointless…”
The court officers tried to send my mom to the hospital, but she waved them off, struggling to her feet.
“Are you refusing to speak because you’ re trying to protect someone?”
My mom clutched me tightly. “The person who beat you… it wasn’t your dad, was it…?”
A pang of pain shot through my heart.
“Your dad lost his job this year and went back to our old village. I thought you’ d be safer with him looking after you. I never imagined he’ d hit you?”
“N-no… it wasn’t…”
“I’ ll go confront him!”
My mom turned angrily, but the judge called out to her.
“Eleanor Vance, who did you just mention?”
My mom turned back, confused. “My husband, Arthur Vance! Jade’ s dad!”
“But…” The judge frowned. “Mr. Vance passed away five and a half years ago…”
“What?!” My mom looked as if she’ d been struck by lightning. “How can that be? I personally saw him off to work in the city just last month!”
“Look at the photos of the four victims. Do you recognize them?”
My mom shook her head blankly.
“They were Jade Vance’ s high school homeroom teacher and dorm mates.”
The judge suddenly understood. “I thought you just weren’t involved enough in your daughter’ s life to remember her teachers and classmates…”
“Jade Vance’ s mom… could she have amnesia?”
On the other side of the camera, netizens discussed my mom’ s anguished expression.
“No wonder she kept talking about juvenile protection laws and her own negligence…”
“So that’ s why she still thinks Jade is a child?”
“What trauma did she suffer to lose her memory? It looks like what she forgot might be connected to Jade’ s murders!”
The judge thought so too.
He immediately ordered the police to summon witnesses to the stand.
My mom had contacted my junior high teachers, intending to prove I was a good student.
But now, she looked at their aged faces and fell into a panic.
“How can this be?”
My mom clutched her head, roaring helplessly. “Didn’t Jade just finish junior high? Didn’t her dad just go to work in the city?”
But seeing her like that, I could do nothing but feel a crushing heartache.
Things were spiraling out of control, so the judge decided to adjourn the court.
It was also because the police had found a new lead.
After my dad died, my mom had a boyfriend named Malik.
That name sent a chill through my entire body.
My mom, however, claimed she didn’t remember him.
“This Malik was an orphan, with no family left.”
The trial resumed the next day.
The police publicly announced the new lead they’ d found.
“According to our investigation, he came to the town of Sunnybrook five years ago for work and soon began a relationship with Eleanor Vance.”
“Later, the two decided to move back to the village to open a general store, so they relocated to her old home.”
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