The other side of the truth

The other side of the truth
JESSICA'S POV..

“I can't. I loved him.“ I muttered as my broken betrayed me.

No matter how monstrous he seemed to appear to me, I needed to admit for once he did it to protect me.

But…

The image of Andre's body stacked dead to the floor appeared in my head. I shook in fear — conflicted between love and fear.

But what more than peace? If not love.

All that happened next was another round of awkwardness just that this time, it was longer. We sat opposite each other, the atmosphere hung tight between us that even the steamy tea I had made earlier and served now for victor was already cold.

I was exhausted and I could feel it in my knees — it cracked and for a while, it sent numb.

I turned over to Victoria who tapped me by the shoulder, she was still confused.

I signed. And narrated the whole incident to her.

“He did it for me.“ I said, searching for her gaze that wandered around my body. Her face grew more worried that I could feel it too, it was as if David was coming here to do more harm.

Cause what risk Is it that I had to keep loving a monster who might kill again.

I saw the will in Victoria's eyes, she was going to keep arguing with me but there were bloodshot as she examined my body comforting me until a knock jerks us apart.

Maybe not here. But it came again at the door. We froze.

My chest heaved in uneven strength, I panicked. Victoria keeps her grip firm on my wrist as we feared it might be David.

Fear gripped me and I couldn't bring myself to courage. I shuddered as Victoria checked through the peephole.

She stared at me, as she took in her lips.

I stared back, confused but she opened the door and it revealed a woman in a long black dress holding onto an envelope.

I looked around, had she dropped a letter to the wrong address?

But her soft voice cut me off. “You should both know the full story.“ She said disappearing down the hallway. She left even while we tried to trace her but we couldn't. And her face! It had some striking resemblance. But neither of us could quite place her.

Victoria shut the door jerking me off my thought. The place was quiet except from our racing heartbeats. We sat down to a couch and together as we opened the envelope.

Inside was a USB DRIVE and a handwritten note.

“He lied. Andre wasn't just a pervert. He came for revenge.“

My heart thumped and I could hear it.

Victoria shuddered in fear but I stood, convincing, insisting we played the video.

We plugged the USB into the TV and a grainy video came to sight as it played. It was a recording between Andre and a woman.

I recognized the voice. My mother's.

I stiffened. They talk about David's family and how it connected to series of illegal activities and how Andre had discovered it while working for them.

I gasped. Victoria too.

The voice… It was my mother. Much younger, vibrant, but it laced with something I had not heard before — fear. There she was, seated across from Andre in what looked like a dim, dusty library as the shelf loomed around them towering over my mother's little stature as she say just In Front of it. But there it stood as if masking a lot of secrets.

My knees buckled slightly, but I didn’t sit. I watched.

“She doesn't know,” my mother whispered.

“And she can’t know. If she does… they will come for her.”

Andre leaned back, he was young too — a teenager and with his arms folded, he mouthed.

“You think I care about your daughter? I don’t. But if they don’t pay me, I’ll destroy the whole damn legacy. Every skeleton in that golden family’s closet will be dragged out into the light.”

My mother’s hands trembled in the video.

“Andre, I’m begging you. Don’t use her. Use me.”

He smirked. “Too late.”

And then… static.

Victoria pressed pause. The screen went black. I stood in complete silence.

“What the hell…” she muttered.

But I couldn’t speak.

Andre hadn’t just hurt me for pleasure. He used me to get back at David and his family. I wasn’t just a victim of obsession, I was a pawn in a war I didn’t even know existed.

I picked up the handwritten note again. I hadn’t noticed the second line written in sharper ink following the first until now.

“The truth is in the second video. Play it only if you’re ready to question everything you know.”

Victoria looked at me, hesitant. “Jess…”

“Play it,” I said.

Her hand hovered, and then…

A second video played.

This time, it was surveillance footage. A small child, no older than four or five, sat playing in a grand room, full of laughter and toys. The camera zoomed slightly. The child had a striking resemblance to David.

Then, a man walked in, his face tight but he was well-dressed, and from his appearance cold.

“David’s father.“ Victoria mouthed, I nodded.

A conversation began in harsh tones, words flying in and out.

“Cover it up. Pay him off. And if he doesn’t back down, eliminate him. That’s an order.”

There, the video ended but I still stood — confused.

Victoria stared at me but my
mind was just as blank as her face right now.

All that passed through my mind was how to piece the puzzles.