"Please don't shoot! I'm innocent," I said, my hands raised above my head.
One of the officers quickly rushed towards me, threw me to the ground, and before I knew it, they had already put handcuffs on me and started dragging me away.
I spotted Henry standing beside his mother. They were both crying. I rushed towards him.
"Henry, please tell me you don't believe them. I would never do something like that to your father. I'm innocent. It's all a setup. Please tell me you believe me?" I cried.
I had snot all over my face. I didn't even care about the ones that got into my mouth.
"You lying bitch! You almost made me believe you when you said our child was still alive, and now you do this to my dad?" Henry lashed out at me.
I had never seen him like this before.
He slapped me across the face, and I found myself falling to the ground. This was the first time a man had laid his hands on me. He quickly grabbed me up from the ground and began to choke me.
"Die, you murderer, die. Do you think you would survive after putting a bullet through my father's head?" he said.
I was already turning purple.
"Stop, Henry, you're killing me. Please, have mercy. Stop," I cried out and begged for mercy, but he kept on choking me.
The police didn't move an inch. It was as if they were all waiting for him to strangle me to death.
Mrs. Dragon finally came to my rescue. She struggled with her son until he finally let go of my neck.
I heard her slap him, but I didn't see it because I was too busy coughing. My neck was already swollen.
Mrs. Dragon came towards me and hugged me. She told me that she believed me and that she knew I was innocent.
"I will do everything in my power to get you out of this mess. I promise you," she said, kissing my forehead. Immediately, the police held me and began taking me away.
"Please, Mrs. Dragon, don't let them take me away from here. They will kill me. Please," I cried and struggled with the policemen.
One of them got really angry and hit me with the butt of his gun, and then I became unconscious.
It felt like I was drowning when I opened my eyes only to discover that a whole bucket of water had been emptied on my body to make me regain consciousness.
"You better start talking. Why did you kill Mr. Dragon?" asked one of the officers.
"I didn't kill Mr. Dragon, I swear on my life I'm innocent."
Immediately, the door opened, and Henry walked in, his face contorted in a frown.
"You slut," he said as he dropped an envelope on the table.
"What's this?" I asked.
I took the envelope from the table, quickly opened it, and discovered it was filled with fabricated photos of Mr. Dragon and me. The pictures all insinuated that Mr. Dragon and I were having an affair before he died.
The only picture that wasn't fabricated was the one of him kissing my forehead right after we both heard the sound of the camera in the room before he ran off.
It was a harmless kiss on the forehead blown out of proportion.
"Please, Henry, it's not true." I could barely hear my voice anymore. It had cracked so much from crying and trying to defend myself from a crime that I didn't commit.
I couldn't defend myself from all of Henry's accusations. He claimed I killed his dad because I wanted his money.
"Say something, Andrea. Anything. Try and defend yourself, do something. Lie like you always do. Don't just keep silent," he said.
I wanted to defend myself so badly, but I couldn't. My voice was gone. I had no more desire to live. Right now, death was the one thing I earnestly wished for.
"I hope you rot in prison for the rest of your life," said Henry as he stormed out of the interrogation room.
My heart felt like a bullet had pierced it. I've been labeled a murderer in just a matter of seconds.
There was no way I could get past this. I had nobody on my side. Nobody would ever believe me. Could things get any worse than this?
I haven't caught my breath since I married into the Dragon family. How I wished I knew the people responsible for all this before I finally leave this world.
Why have I been marked out for destruction? Is it a crime to be an orphan? I couldn't stop lamenting.
Three days later, I was taken to court and given a life sentence.
I didn't bat an eyelid or feel sorry for myself because I had already given up on life.
I saw the happy look on their faces when I was given the life imprisonment sentence.
Henry was happy, so was his brother Jeff. Monica was the happiest of them all. They were all happy that my life had become a living hell, except for Mrs. Dragon, who quickly rushed towards me immediately after the court hearing.
She held my hands and cried bitterly.
"I don't believe any of that nonsense. Of course, you never had an affair with my husband. That's totally ridiculous. I don't know where all those rumors came from.
I will never give up on you, my dear. Please don't give up just yet. There is still hope. I will make an appeal, my dear child, you hear me? Just stay strong," she said.
I had no expression on my face after hearing her say all that. I'm done getting my hopes up.
She kissed both of my hands before the police whisked me away.
I was brought to the maximum-security prison where the inmates swore to make my life a living hell. I get beaten up almost every single day.
Broken ribs, a dislocated leg, a burnt back. Just to mention a few.
*************
Three months later, I discovered that I was pregnant with Henry's child once again. But then I became depressed after discovering that I was pregnant again.
I was placed in a completely different cell alone, and my hands and legs were constantly shackled because they didn't want me to hurt myself. Day by day, I grew weaker. I had vowed never to allow any food to touch my mouth again.
I heard the doctor say to the warden that came in together with her, "If she continues this, I'm afraid she won't be able to last even a day. You must act fast, even if it means you have to force her," she said, and then she left angrily.
The warden followed closely behind, and I was left alone.
About two to three minutes later, three prison wardens came into my cell. One of them was holding a food tray, while the other two had whips in their hands. They threatened to flog me if I refused to eat the food they had brought.
All their threats fell on deaf ears. Immediately, one of them raised her hand to flog me with the whip. I saw a different warden run inside.
She whispered something into their ears, and they quickly rushed out of the cell and asked me to come out as well.
I didn't know where they were taking me. They were probably taking me to where I would be slaughtered.
I followed them without asking any questions and found myself in a room where they kept prisoners' items.
My clothes and phone were handed back to me.
"Congratulations, you've been cleared of all charges. You're a free woman now," said one of the wardens.
I was surprised. How in the world did I get cleared of all the allegations leveled against me? There was no court appeal or anything like that.
Who could be powerful enough to pull such strings?
I quickly dressed and left the prison. I suddenly began to feel the desire to live again for my baby's sake. Maybe this child would bring the joy that had long been gone and forgotten back into my life.
After taking about fifteen steps away from the prison, I heard the honking of a car. I quickly looked in the direction and was surprised to see that it was Mrs. Dragon. She waved at me. I started walking towards the car.
I must confess I was really happy to see her, even though she didn't keep her promise of visiting me while I was in prison.
"You see, I told you not to give up and that I would never give up on you," she said, beckoning for me to get into the car.
It was Mrs. Dragon who had fought so relentlessly to see that I was proven innocent. How could I ever repay this woman for all her good deeds towards me?
Even when the whole world gave up on me, even when I gave up on myself, she never did. I got into the car, and she drove me away from that miserable place.