from first love to worst heartbreak

Chapter 30

Jace's POV

As per usual, Bella warmly welcomes us into her room. There are crisps, biscuits, waffles, soft drinks and alcohol on the floor.

"You guys brought monopoly? I absolutely love that game." she says with a big smile.

We all sit down and Bella starts taking the game out of the box. She sets it up and puts the box away, making room for herself.

"Let's start." she announces.

"Actually, there is one person missing here." Ty says with a quite voice.

"Who?" Bella simply asks.

"Well, I thought that I'd invite Lana, since she had nothing to do and I figured it would be a great idea to ask her to join us." Ty tries to make sense. "You don't mind do you?" he adds.

"Of course not." she responds. Ty's face expresses relief as if he got away with murder.

A little later Lana arrives and after a little conversation with Bella about her leg which she just saw, we start playing the game. The game goes well and almost everyone ends up being half drunk or at least dizzy. After the game we have a little chat, talking about uni and our schedules.

"I have to go, you guys." Lana announces and stands up. She thanks us for inviting her and leaves, wishing us a good night. Ty and I do the same as we check the time and realise that it is late.

"Bye guys." Bella says to us and closes the door.

Bella's POV

"No, dad I'm fine. I have a bandage over it and I'll probably remove it tomorrow or something." I reply.

"Are you crazy? You are not doing anything until the doctor tells you to, alright?" he slightly raises his voice.

"Fine." I sigh.

"I will sue that prick and let him rot in prison, just let me talk to my lawyer." he explains.

"Yeah, I know you will but I am asking you this: please wait and don't contact your lawyer until I tell you to do so. I will talk to Christina and try to make her report sexual assault and turn herself in." saying this, I try to hold him back from what he was going to do after our conversation.
He stays silent for what feels like ages and then says "Alright, but if she doesn't, then you will have to let me know, alright?"

"Promise." I assure him.

I hear dad quietly gasping for air and pulling his nose. Is he crying?

"Dad, are you crying right now?" I ask in disbelief. I have only seen him cry once and that was when he had an intense argument with Elizabeth.

"I just...I can't believe that I sent my daughter into danger." he is hardly able to speak now.

"Oh come on, it's not like I have been murdered." I say and giggle as I hear his chuckle through the phone.

"I will call back later to check on you, okay honey?" he asks.

"Sure, bye dad." I respond and hang up after he says goodbye.

My dad thinking that I am in danger or feeling guilty of sending me here makes me feel bad. I have to find Christina as soon as possible and get this problem over with. Not that it will take a day to solve this but still, we have to start somewhere to finish it.

I pack my stuff and head out of my room after realising that I was running late to my lectures. My first lecture was very exhausting but utterly interesting. The difference between me and other students is that most of them despise their major and hate going to lectures and classes and would rather drop out, it's almost like they weren't the ones choosing all this.

After the lecture I try to find Christina so I can talk to her about Richard. He has been locked up since the incident but we have been invited to give a short testimony before his trial starts. Christina did not want to go because she was afraid that if Richard isn't guilty he will find her and punish her.

My day of lectures and tutorials end as I head outside of the building. I breathe in the fresh air and see Christina who was rushing away from the facility. I began to run and eventually reached her.

"Jesus, you fucking scared me!" she remarks.

"I don't care." I say. "Listen, tomorrow we have to go to the police station whether you like it or not. You are a witness to what happened to me and you are the one that has been abused and assaulted by that filth, so unless you speak the truth and tell them everything, we'll be good and he'll be found guilty and the problem will be solved, understood?" I add and notice that she has been looking at the ground the whole time.

"And what if he is not guilty? Then I will be dead." she argues.

I can't believe that this is her main concern right now. "Look, our job right now is to give that fucking testimony, his trial is not even in the schedule yet, so all we have to do right now is to tell them the truth. I don't think that with all this evidence that we have, he will be set free. And even if they decide that he is not guilty, I will make sure that they reconsider their decision." I try to reassure her.

"And how will you manage that?" she curiously asks.

"Doesn't matter." I say with a strict tone. A lot of things in life are easier when you have a dad who si somewhat powerful and can't count the connections that he has on his hands.

"Alright, I'll go then." she lets out a sigh.

"Be here tomorrow at 10, I'll pick you up, Jace will drive us there." I say while pointing down on the asphalt and leave her.

I go up to my room and put down my stuff. Tomorrow will be a tough day. I decide to call Jace and tell him to come here because I need to talk to him. A minute later he knocks on my door and steps in.

"How are you?" he greets me.

"Fine, thanks, and you?" I question back.

"Great, are you ready for tomorrow?" he asks.

"Yeah, will you be giving a testimony too?" I curiously ask.

"I mean they didn't contact me, so I guess I don't have to but do you want me too?" he asks.

Jace wasn't there the entire time, so the one thing that he can tell them is how I was hurt and bruised. "You only witnessed the last bit of it, so I guess it is not much needed, but we'll see once we get there." I state.

"Alright, will your dad come?" he looked curious to find out.

"He is working, so he will arrive a bit later at the station." I reply.

After talking for a while, Jace leaves and I make myself ready to go to bed. I set my alarm for tomorrow and close my eyes to get some sleep.