Chapter 6

Jade's POV

The words didn’t make sense at first.

“You are under arrest for stealing the Princes’ diamond rings.”

For a second, my mind just…. blanked. Like the world stopped moving. Like the air froze in my chest.

“W... What?!” I finally choked out, staring at the guard like he’d grown two heads.

Before I could even reach for my school bag or grab the rings to inspect them, the guard’s grip tightened brutally around my arm and yanked me forward. I stumbled, almost falling on my face, but he didn’t care. His fingers dug painfully into my skin.

“I didn’t steal anything!” I screamed, my voice cracking. “Those are not mine! I don’t even know how those rings got there!”

They ignored me.

Of course they did.

Mum rushed forward, her face twisted with fear. “Please.... wait! There must be a mistake. My daughter would never....”

A guard shoved her so violently she flew backward and hit the ground with a harsh thud.

“Mum!” I screamed, trying to wrench myself free. “Leave her! Don’t touch her! Mum!”

She groaned, trying to sit up, one hand pressed to her rib. She looked so small. So helpless. And the guards… they didn’t even look at her. As if she were nothing.

As if we were nothing.

“Move!!!,” the one holding me barked, dragging me toward the door.

“Please, listen!” I cried, kicking the ground, trying to dig my heels in. “I don’t know anything about the rings, I didn’t take them! I swear I didn’t take anything! Let me go! Mum!”

My mother struggled to her feet and reached for me again.

“Jade...!”

“Mum!”

Another guard blocked her, pushing her away with his arm and pinning her back against the wall. She winced, pain shooting across her expression.

“You have no right..!” I screamed at him, but the guard holding me only tightened his grip.

“No right?” he sneered. “We have every right. Theft against the Alpha's family is punishable by imprisonment or death. You should be grateful we’re even taking you alive.”

My heart dropped.

Death?

My legs gave out for a moment, and I was dragged more than I was walking. “I didn’t steal anything! Please! Please listen to me!”

No one answered.

No one cared.

They dragged me out of the small room, my home, my safe place, and down the corridor. The morning air outside slapped my face, cold and sharp. People in the pack compound turned to stare. Some whispered. Some laughed.

Traitor’s daughter, their eyes seemed to say. Caught at last.

I wanted to scream at all of them. I wanted to tear their smirks off their faces. Instead, my throat tightened and burned.

“Please,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “I didn’t… I didn’t take anything.”

But even I knew it didn’t matter.

To them, I was already guilty.

They dragged me to the holding cells behind the pack’s judicial building. A cold metal door screeched open. The cell inside was small and dark, with nothing but a concrete floor and iron bars.

The guard shoved me inside.

I hit the ground hard, my knees scraping painfully against the rough concrete.

Before I could push myself up, the iron door clanged shut behind me. The sound echoed in my ears like a death sentence.

“Wait, no, please!” I rushed to the bars and grabbed them. “At least tell me what happens next! At least, listen to me! I didn’t steal anything! You’re making a mistake!”

“Await your judgment,” the guard said coldly. “The Princes will decide your fate.”

Then they walked away.

Just like that.

As if they had tossed trash into a bin.

Their footsteps faded, leaving the cell wrapped in silence.

My hands shook as I let go of the bars, and I slowly sank to the floor. My knees pulled to my chest, arms wrapped around them. The sting in my eyes increased until tears spilled over, dripping onto my pants.

It was my birthday.

I turned eighteen today.

And instead of celebrating my shift… instead of having a normal day… I was locked in a cell being accused of stealing from the very boys who made my life hell.

I wiped my face roughly with the back of my hand, angry that I was even crying.

This… this couldn’t be real.

Who framed me?

Who put those rings in my bag?

I pressed my palm to my forehead, feeling lightheaded again.

Everything hurt, my body, my pride, my chest.

Was this really how my birthday was going to start? Sitting alone in a cold cell, waiting for a judgment that could easily end my life?

My tears fell again before I could stop them.

“I didn’t steal anything,” I whispered to myself, hugging my knees tighter. “I didn’t do anything…”

But nobody could hear me.

And even if they did…

Would anyone care enough to believe me?

A thought suddenly slammed into my mind so hard it made me gasp.

Linda.

Yesterday… in the triplets’ room… right before she left…..

She had bent over the sofa to get her purse and I saw her hand brush over the table.

I remembered something shiny in her palm, something small she quickly slipped into her bag before flashing that sugary smile.

My chest tightened.

Could it…. could it have been the rings?

Did she take them?

Was she the one who framed me?

But why?

Why would she go that far?

Did she hate me that much?

My stomach twisted painfully. Of course she did. She has proved that time and time again. But this? Stealing from the princes and planting it on me? That wasn’t harmless bullying. That was a death sentence.

Before I could think anymore, the sound of footsteps echoed through the corridor.

I looked up, wiping my face with shaky hands.

Ronan.

Ryder.

Renzo.

They stood in front of the iron bars, their faces unreadable, their eyes on me like I was some creature trapped in a cage.

I shot to my feet instantly, stumbling to the door and gripping the bars tightly.

“Please, listen to me,” I rushed out. My voice trembled, but I pushed the words out anyway. “I didn’t take the rings. I swear I didn’t. I think.... I think Linda took them. Yesterday, when she was leaving your room, I saw her grab something shiny....”

Ryder laughed sharply, a cruel snort.

The sound cut through me like a blade.

“Of course you’d blame Linda,” he said, shaking his head as if I were stupid. “Typical.”

Ronan’s eyes narrowed with disgust.

“Keep Linda’s name out of your filthy mouth,” he spat.

Filthy mouth.

Of course.

As if I was something rotten.

My throat tightened, but I forced myself to meet his eyes.

Renzo.

“You also don’t believe me?” I whispered. I hated how small my voice sounded. How desperate.

Renzo’s expression didn’t flicker. His face was carved from stone, cold, distant, merciless.

“The rings were found in your bag,” he said. “That’s all the evidence we need.”

A tear escaped before I could stop it.

So that was it.

They wouldn’t even consider the possibility that I was innocent.

Ryder stepped forward, his eyes burning with hatred.

“You’re going to be punished for being too greedy, Jade,” he said. “Those rings were an heirloom from our late mother, and you decided to steal them.”

“No, no, I didn’t....”

“I suggest she be stripped naked and flogged fifty times,” Ronan said, his voice dripping with venom.

My blood ran cold.

“What?!” I gasped, my hands trembling on the bars. “Strip me....? Fifty...? You can’t be serious...”

Renzo took a slow step closer, eyes locking onto mine with a glare that made my breath catch.

He looked at me like I was the worst thing he had ever seen.

“What?” he said softly. “Are you surprised? You think that’s too much?”

My heart pounded so loudly it hurt.

“But that’s nothing,” he continued, voice dropping lower, harsher, “compared to everything you’ve done so far, Jade. You should be grateful we’re not doing the usual and sending you to be killed for your crimes.”

Killed.

Crimes???

The word made my knees weaken.

“That’s right.” Ryder leaned in, his voice dropping to a low growl. “Fifty lashes is already us going easy on you, Jade. You…”

The word you hung unfinished in the air, and another, far more authoritative YOU crashed over it, sharp and final.

“YOU will not suffer this punishment.”

Every head snapped around in unison, turning toward the source of the sound…