The emergency bus from the hospital arrived, and the paramedics quickly loaded Alex's body into the vehicle. Emily watched in a daze as they drove away, feeling a sense of numbness wash over her. The chaos of the night still lingered in her mind like a fog, and she struggled to comprehend what had just happened. How had it escalated so quickly? One moment, she had been trying to get Alex out of her life, and the next, he was dead on her apartment floor.
She barely registered the arrival of the police officers at first. Her mind was still focused on the last few moments before the gunshot rang out. She had been trying to push Alex away when it all happened. She could still feel his hands on her, the desperation in his touch as he tried to force her into something she wasn't ready for. Then…..nothing. Just the deafening silence after the shot. It felt surreal, as if everything had happened in a dream.
The officers came up to her, their faces stern and unreadable. She recognized them, of course—some of them were her colleagues, people she'd worked with for years, people she trusted. But now, as they approached, she felt like an outsider. A suspect. The weight of their cold expressions made her stomach churn.
"Emily, we need to take you in for questioning," one of the officers said, his voice firm but polite. It wasn't an option; it was a command.
She tried to process the words, but they felt like they were coming from far away. "What?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
The officer nodded, his eyes flicking between her and the scene behind her. "You'll need to come with us. You're a witness, but right now, we have to treat you as a suspect."
Emily felt a surge of fear, a wave of panic that threatened to overwhelm her. She wasn't ready for this. How could they think she had anything to do with Alex's death? She didn't pull the trigger; she didn't even know who had. But as she stood there, the weight of suspicion falling on her shoulders, she realized that she had no choice but to comply.
Her hands trembled as she let them lead her away. She kept her head down, her heart pounding in her chest, as she climbed into the back of the police van. The ride felt endless. The officers were silent, their faces unreadable, and Emily couldn't bring herself to speak. The air in the van felt thick, heavy with unasked questions. She wanted to tell them she was innocent, to scream that she had nothing to do with Alex's death. But the words stuck in her throat. They wouldn't believe her, not when everything pointed to her.
At the police station, the world seemed to shift even further out of her control. Emily was taken to a small, sterile room and asked to sit. The fluorescent lights above her hummed ominously. She could hear the bustle of activity outside the room, the clatter of desks and the murmur of voices, but none of it seemed to reach her. The officers who had brought her in stood nearby, watching her with cold eyes. She felt like she was under a microscope, every move being scrutinized, every breath being analyzed.
The questioning began almost immediately. The first officer, a man named Rodriguez, was the one to speak. "Tell us about your relationship with Alex," he said, his voice flat. His eyes were narrowed, but there was something distant in his gaze. Emily shifted in her seat, feeling the walls close in around her.
"I don't know what you want me to say," she began, her voice shaky. She swallowed hard, trying to steady herself. "I—Alex and I had been together for a while and we both agreed we won't initiate any form of intimacy till I was ready but he came to my room this night drunk and uninvited." She tried to keep her voice calm, but the words felt like they were slipping through her fingers. She wasn't sure what they expected her to say.
Rodriguez scribbled something down in his notebook and then looked at her expectantly. "So?"
"He'd been drinking a lot lately and trying to initiate it without my consent but I kept telling him to exercise patience" Emily said quietly, her thoughts drifting back to the past few days. "He wasn't the same. He'd get angry... unpredictable. And I—" She paused, unsure how much to reveal. "I told him to go freshen up before we could have a conversation but he refused "
Another officer, a woman with short dark hair named Jenkins, interjected. "So, you and Alex had been fighting? That's what you're telling us?"
Emily nodded, her throat tightening. She could feel the weight of their eyes on her, and she couldn't shake the feeling that they were already deciding her guilt. "What we had this night wasn't really a fight he tried forcing himself on me and a bullet from nowhere hit him. But I didn't kill him. I swear."
"Where were you when the gunshot was fired?" Rodriguez asked, his voice still impassive.
"I…..I was trying to get away from him," Emily said, her mind racing. "I told him to leave, but he wouldn't listen. He grabbed me, and that's when it happened. I…I don't know who fired the shot."
The officers exchanged looks, and Emily's stomach turned. They didn't believe her. She could see it in their eyes, the skepticism written all over their faces.
Before she could say anything more, the door to the room swung open, and in stormed Alex's father. His face was flushed with anger, his fists clenched at his sides.
"Emily Carter," he spat, his voice trembling with grief. "You killed my son! You—" He cut off as his emotions overwhelmed him, but the accusation hung in the air like a cloud. "I want you arrested. I want her locked up for what she did!"
Emily's heart plummeted as she watched the officers step forward, trying to calm Alex's father down. But his rage was palpable, and his words cut through her like a knife. They were still processing the scene, still trying to understand what had happened, but to him, the truth was simple. Emily had killed his son, and that was all that mattered.
The officers exchanged another glance, and before Emily could protest, she felt the cold metal of handcuffs being slapped onto her wrists. She gasped in shock.
"No, wait!" Emily protested, her voice cracking. "This isn't—this isn't what happened. I didn't do it."
But her words fell on deaf ears. The officers didn't hesitate as they led her out of the room, and she was soon being escorted through the narrow corridors of the station. Her mind spun with panic, and the last shred of hope she had was quickly slipping away.
As she was marched toward the holding cells, her eyes locked with Liam's. He was standing in the doorway, his expression unreadable. For a moment, Emily thought she saw something in his eyes—maybe concern, maybe anger, maybe a shrug—but whatever it was, it was quickly masked.
Liam didn't move. He didn't step forward to stop them. He just watched her, and it felt like his gaze was the heaviest thing in the world. Emily wanted to scream at him, to tell him she was innocent, but the words wouldn't come. Instead, she mouthed a desperate plea: "Please." She hoped he would see it, hoped he would understand, but Liam didn't respond. He merely watched as she was dragged away.
The cell door clanged shut behind her, the sound reverberating through her body like a final verdict. She was alone in the cold, dark room. The walls seemed to close in around her, and all Emily could hear was the pounding of her own heartbeat. She wanted to cry, wanted to scream, but she couldn't. She had to stay strong. For herself, and for the truth.
As the hours stretched on, Emily's thoughts turned inward. She thought about her life—the choices that had led her here—and she couldn't help but wonder where things had gone wrong. Was it really just the pressure of her job that had kept her from seeing Alex's darker side? Or had she been blind to the danger all along?
And what about Liam? Why hadn't he helped her? Did he think she was guilty too?
As the night wore on and Emily was left to wrestle with her thoughts, one thing became clear—she wasn't going to give up. She couldn't. She had to find a way to prove her innocence, to uncover the truth.