Chapter 2: liar

Lydia couldn't even say anything with how ashamed she felt, so she took her leave. Her tears did not stop falling, and her heart did not stop aching, but that wasn't enough to call it a day because Lydia found herself under arrest for theft less than an hour later.

"I didn't steal that! I didn't steal anything. No, this is a mistake!" the very words Lydia yelled out after the police officer found Patek Philippe's Grand Complications wristwatch in her winter coat pocket echoed in her head as the police drove to the station.

Lydia had no clue how the wristwatch got into her pocket, and when the police stopped her to search based on tips from people across the road, she gave the go-ahead. She couldn't believe her eyes when the officer pulled the expensive wristwatch out of her pocket, and the police didn't listen to her words after that.

The officers brought Lydia into the station, and she told them she needed to make a phone call. It was her right to make at least one phone call to the one person she had now: Kevin Mars, her older brother. He wasn't the best person in the world, but he was all she had left.

After the first ring, he answered. "Hello, who's this?" His harsh voice came through.

Lydia had always hated how mean it sounded, but she felt happy to hear it today.

"It's Lydia," she replied before quickly adding, "Please don't hang up."

"Lydia." His voice softened a little. "Why are you calling me?"

"I'm in jail." She replied in a whisper, too ashamed to even say it louder. "The police brought me in for stealing, but I didn't steal anything; I am innocent. I swear."

Lydia and Kevin didn't have the best of relationships. He was abusive towards her both physically and verbally when they were younger. He was also a drunkard who did a lot of drugs and got into too many fights, and she believed he would end up in jail someday—the irony of that.

The silence that followed her reply wasn't unexpected, but it was painful. "Then why aren't you calling me and not Anthony Chester? Last time I checked, he's in a better position to get you out of this situation."

Pain panged Lydia's heart at the mention of Anthony's name, and it felt like a knife had been launched into her chest. "He broke up with me, Kevin," she muttered quietly.

He groaned in frustration, and she didn't need to see him to know that he was visibly disappointed in her. "I knew you would ruin things with him because you hate good things. What did you do this time?"

Lydia didn't want to explain herself to Kevin since he already concluded she was in the wrong, but she needed his help if she hoped to get out of this hell. "I didn't do anything. He has another woman," she replied quietly.

"You probably didn't do your girlfriend duties, and he found someone better. Men are like that, and I tried to tell you, but you were always too stubborn to listen." The more his response came, the more horrible she felt.

"Can you come and get me out? Please?" She begged, whimpering towards the end. This was her first time getting arrested, and she didn't like it here and wanted to leave.

"I am on a job site three states away and won't be coming home in three months. There is nothing I can do, Lydia." He replied flatly.

Tears rolled down her face, and she hung up the call.

She was alone in the end.

Lydia didn't get much sleep. Not only did she get her heart broken at Hanna Chester's party last night, but she also got arrested for a crime she knew she didn't commit. She didn't steal the wristwatch or know how it got into her pocket, but her words didn't matter; her innocence didn't matter.

In the contest of misfortune, she would win in a heartbeat. Her eyes stayed open until the midnight bell went off, then she shut them to get a little rest. She woke up a few hours ago and realised she was still locked up.

She could no longer cry about her loss. There was no point in crying; it only made her head ache more, and it also would not offer a solution to her current predicament. She couldn't think of it, though—everything that happened at Hanna Chester's party. It was for the best that she didn't and only focused on the way ahead. She couldn't think about the many years she wasted trying to be the perfect girlfriend and win over Hanna's grace. Knowing she had given that affection to someone she met in seconds was crushing enough; she didn't have to relive it. No

Lydia's stomach grumbled, and she stared at the tray of dinner the officer brought her last night, which she ignored. She was too broken to eat then, but now she didn't want to add hunger to her pain. She picked up the tray and quickly ate the food, drinking the bottled water when she finished and exhaling in relief as her strength returned and the headache reduced.

She heard footsteps around the cell, so she ran to her feet and over to the bars, pushing her head between them to see who it was. She spotted a middle-aged police officer holding a baton in his right hand and a bunch of keys in his left.

"Please let me out of here; I didn't steal that wristwatch." She said this, slamming her hand against the bar. The officer approached her cell, and she backed away, not wanting to get into any more trouble than she already had.

"Ms. Mars, there's someone here to see you." The officer, wearing a badge bearing Jackson's name, spoke.

Her mind wandered for a long time about who could be waiting for her in the waiting room. No one came to mind. Anthony was living a happy life with his new fiancée Scarlet, and Kevin was three states away. She knew he wouldn't come for her, even if he could. No one should be here for her in a while.

She didn't debate and silently followed the officer to the waiting area with her head down.

They entered the waiting area of the police station, and the officer stepped away to reveal a man with curly brown hair in an expensive three-piece grey suit seated and waiting for her. His eyes fixed on the file before him, but he looked up almost immediately, noticing their presence. His beautiful amber eyes met hers, making her heart slow. They were the most alluring set of eyes she had ever seen. Chills went through her because beneath the allure was a coldness that shook her in the wrong way.

His gaze travelled to Officer Jackson, who had just brought her in, and he nodded at him in dismissal. Officer Jackson obediently walked away from the waiting room, leaving them alone.

Lydia felt worn but restless, so she didn't sit. She already knew nothing good would come from this. She didn't know him and felt a strange fear at his presence as if she should know him.

"Are you going to stand there all day?" he asked in a tone brittle with annoyance.

She swallowed nervously. She was already annoying this man she didn't know. Did that come naturally?

"Yes." She ignored the heat that engulfed her as his eyes hardened on her and shrugged. "I-I-don't mind standing." She replied, struggling to keep her voice.

"Even if you want to, you can't. So, sit." He instructed her.

She hesitated, which made anger flare in his gold-flacked eyes, but he pressed his full red lips together. "I will not speak to you while you remain standing, so I advise you to sit and understand why I am here."

Lydia didn't want to, but she had no choice, so she dragged herself over to the empty chair before her and took her seat. "Why are you here?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady and her head held high.

He placed his hand on the table between them and cleared his throat. "I'm Jayden White, the man whose wristwatch you stole." He replied.

Her eyes widened, knowing who he was. Yet his words weren't the truth. Perhaps she could plead her case with him and receive a pardon. "I didn't steal that wristwatch, sir."

He raised a brow. "The police found the wristwatch in your possession; that stealing."

She remained silent. Arguing would yield no result; he wouldn't believe her if she told him the truth judging by the tone of his voice; everyone around her had always thought the worst of her anyway. "You already got your wristwatch, and I'm in jail; why are you here?"

He sighed. "For the crime of theft, you are looking at nothing less than one year in the state's prison if the judge is lenient and five years if the judge isn't."

Lydia's eyes welled up at his words. She didn't steal anything; this was all a big misunderstanding, and if only someone would hear her out, they would realise she didn't do this. She had already had a bad day and wouldn't have added stealing.

She didn't deserve to go to prison for a crime she didn't commit; she would not survive prison.

"However," Jayden White continued, breaking her out of her defeated thought, "I am willing to drop the charges against you."

Lydia thought she heard wrong, but she didn't. He wanted to drop the charges against her, and her emotionally worn heart leapt for joy at this. She slowed her celebration because there seemed to be a price. "Why would you do that for me?"

"Because I want you to do something in return for me," he replied.

Was there anything she could do? Lydia wondered before asking, "What's that?"

"I want you to marry me."