"Arjun?" I ask, as we wait in the area near the courtroom.

He looks at me, with a curious look on his face. "Yes, Ashmita?"

I gulp, and say, "Tell me a story to calm me down."

Arjun thinks for a second, then his eyes light up with a story in mind. "So, back when your mom and I were still together, and we had found out that she was pregnant with you, we had already started deciding names, because we were so excited. If you were a boy, we would have named you Kartik or Siddharth. For girls' names, I suggested your name, Ashmita, and she suggested Bhoomi. Of course, I left before you were born, but she kept my wishes in mind when naming you, and she named you Ashmita Bhoomi Patel."

I smile a little bit, thinking of how great my mom was to honor his wishes. Arjun smiles at my smile, and says, "There's that smile. Don't worry. After all of this, everything will be back to normal. I just hope that she confesses and I can get my name cleared."

I nod my head, then look at Nathan, who looks pretty dressed up, considering that he's been spending most of his time at home lounging around in sweats. He himself looks scared, and I can't blame him. I'd be terrified if I saw one of my parents go to jail for murdering someone. It's sickening to see that the person whom you once looked up to, loved, and admired is now known as a cold blooded murderer and will have to face the consequences.

"You doing okay, Nathan? You'll be okay?"

Nathan gulps a little bit, which doesn't help his face that lacks any color, due to fear. He adjusts his shirt a little bit, and then shrugs. "I have to face the reality. It wouldn't be fair to completely ignore the fact that Mom is a killer."

I look at Mason, who himself looks a little bit scared. Guilt starts to sting me from inside, as I realize how none of us have won in this. I grew up in a life that was plagued with lies from all sides of my family. Because of these lies, I lived with my mom's killer for over 15 years and falsely misjudged my real dad, which caused us to lose 16 years of time that could've been used to form a strong bond. I had to go through the pain of realizing that I've treated an innocent man like garbage, and see other people go through the pain of realizing that a seemingly innocent woman was not what they seemed.

Mason has had to go through the pain of losing his best friend, thanks his wife, and was blinded by his false hatred of my real dad to realize that his wife was the true villain. Arjun has lost 16 years of his life due to a false conviction, met his daughter only when she was an adult, only to be cussed out and ostracized, and didn't utter a word or complain when he was looked down upon by everyone around him. Nathan has to watch his mom go to prison, has to watch his dad's heart break, and has to adjust to another person coming into his life. My mom got justice, but we all had to make personal sacrifices for it.

They let us all into the courtroom eventually so that we can watch the pain of everything. My heart is like a horse inside of my ribcage. It keeps on galloping and galloping, with no sign of stopping anytime soon. At any point, I'm going to explode. I head on over to sit down, with Mason on my right, and Nathan on my left. Arjun sits in the row ahead of us, because he's got to be there just in case anything happens.

After the judge comes in and beckons for all of us to sit down, I sit down along with them and just watch as everyone is staring at everyone else. This is it. This is the day in which Arjun's fate is decided. Is he a guilty man, who is cold and cruel, or an innocent guy, caught in a bad situation. I let out a huge sigh, and look at Mason, who looks just as terrified as I am, if not a little bit more. Nathan himself looks as pale as a ghost, and to be honest, nobody is prepared for this.

If you told me this last year, I wouldn't have believed it. Now, I have to face the woman whom I considered a mother figure for the past 16 years go to prison for depriving me of my biological mother. It's a scary situation. But, I hope that my own mother is watching us right now, and smiling at the justice that she has finally received.

Finally, after waiting forever, the judge finally comes and starts the trial. He's dressed in a large black cloak and looks like he's ready to kill anyone at a certain moment. He strikes his gavel against the desk, and we all settle down to listen to him. "Good morning, all. Thank you for being here this morning. I know it's cold and early, and nobody wants to be here, but you made it."

I let out a slight chuckle, as the judge orders his papers around. Soon afterwards, the doors fling open, and the guards bring in Sarah for sentencing. I can see the prison uniform on Sarah's body, along with the fear on her face. My heart starts to beat erratically, and I try to make sure that I don't faint and miss the trial in its entirety. Sarah faces the judge, and the judge gives her a stern look back.

"Miss Sarah Carter. From what you agreed to back in the police room, you plead guilty to the charges of second degree murder and frameup?"

With a slight look of guilt on her face, she nods, and says, "Yes, your honor."

The judge gives a slight nod, and says, "And you acted alone. Mr. Arjun Patel, or anyone else, never acted with you to kill Ms. Jyoti Patel."

Sarah shakes her head, and then says, "No sir." The judge gives her another nod, and then thinks for a second on how to punish her. He thinks, and thinks, and then finally comes up with a sentence.

"Very well. You will serve 30 years in prison, with no possibility of parole for 10 years. It will be effective immediately." He slams his gavel yet again on the desk, and then the guards lead Sarah out of the room.

Before she is completely led out of the room, she makes eye contact with Mason, Nathan, and I. The look in her eyes haunts me down to the bones, while I gulp to ease my nerves. I look at Nathan, who himself doesn't look any less mortified, and then my eyes dart to Mason. The only emotion that's heavily present in his eyes is sadness. He's lost another woman whom he's loved in his life. I can almost see his heart breaking with each step that Sarah takes towards the courtroom exit.

I let out a sigh, and then pray that Arjun's name is cleared sometime this week. "May I have Mr. Arjun Patel come to the stand, please?"

Arjun stands up, looking as scared as I've never seen him before, then makes his way to the stand to face the judge. The judge looks at him, with all the regret that I've ever seen in someone's eyes.

The judge takes a long hard look at him, then starts. "Mr. Arjun Patel, most of us learned something new today. You are a man who was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Judging from Ms. Carter's testimony, you were not involved in any way with the brutal murder of your wife and the mother of your daughter."

Arjun shakes his head, and says, "No, your honor."

The judge looks down a little bit, then right back at Arjun. "We, as a judicial system, have failed you. We punished you for a crime you did not commit. We apologize for that. Today, I rule you a free man. You are hereby acquitted of all charges against you."

My jaw drops in pure joy. I look at Mason, who just gives me a warm smile in satisfaction, and Nathan, who just smiles when he sees me so joyous. Arjun gives the purest smile that I've ever seen on him or anybody. Chatter continues to go on in the crowd surrounding us, to which the judge hits the gavel on the desk again.

The judge looks back at Arjun, and says, "Because of our ignorance, and as an act of compensation, we will pay you for the 15 years that you spent in prison. More information will come on that later. Case dismissed."

He hits the gavel on the desk one last time, and that's when everyone gets up and starts to dissimilate. I get up, with pure shock flooding me, and I start to walk over to where Arjun is standing. He himself gets up and looks over at me, with a big old smile on his face.

Once I'm over to where he's standing, he just engulfs me into this big hug. I hug him back, even if I feel like my ribs are about to shatter in a million pieces. "You did it. You did it. You proved me innocent."

I can't help but continue to smile, but when Arjun notices that I'm getting dizzy, he puts me down. He looks into my eyes, and then smiles at Mason, who's standing behind me. "Mason, you raised someone special. I have to give props to her. Without her, I'd still be labelled as a murderer."

Mason gives him a smile back, and says, "I'm so proud of her. She's a warrior." I smile, and then they both take my hands so that we can go get some ice cream.

It feels wonderful. I had always kind of wondered what would have happened if I had crossed paths with my real dad in real life. But, with all the bias that I carried, I didn't see it happening.

But, in the end, I finally am forming a relationship with him, while shedding him of any bad light. I was able to prove that he was a great guy who had terrible things happening to him. In the end, it taught me one thing; to not jump to conclusions. You never know the circumstances of something, and sometimes it's valuable to listen.

And thanks to listening, I've formed a relationship with a great person, and mended a few around me.

Another thing that feels wonderful is the fact that my mom got justice. We spent so many years blinded by false information and viewing Arjun as a cold hearted criminal who left his pregnant wife and came back to kill her years later.

Now, and I never thought I'd be saying this, but I'm glad that I broke the rules. I'm glad that I was able to put my biases to the side and finally discover what really happened on that terrible night. My 5 year old ears and eyes weren't reliable receptors, and the fact that I was hidden underneath the sink made things a lot less reliable.

But finding the truth wouldn't have been possible had I not questioned things.

The biggest thing that I'm happy about, though? We made it. I've reunited with my father, mended the broken relationship between my two dads, and cleared the name of one of them.

My heart pains at the fact that my mom isn't here right now to cheer us on, or to give me a hug to congratulate me on solving the case, but I know she's watching and cheering from above. But, even without her, she's still supporting Arjun, Mason, and I. We've all got each other's backs.

And I wouldn't change it for anything.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aw, the ending. I can't imagine the amount of relief that Arjun must have felt knowing that his name is finally cleared, and it's all thanks to his daughter. So, going back to what the judge said, do you guys think the judicial system failed him? Let me know in the comments.

Hey everyone! I'm proud to announce it. The Secrets of Confessions is officially complete. I'm so thrilled to announce this, because this is something that I've been longing to do for so long, and we've done it!

Honestly, thank you guys so much for your support. This has been one of the works where I've struggled the most, and yet you guys made me never lose motivation to give up. I don't think I would've completed the book without you guys. You're all amazing.

Oh, and like I said in the last episode, if you guys want me to write some bonus chapters, then I'd be happy to do that! Just tell me what you want me to write.  (Within reason of course)

So, what was your favorite part? Let me know, please!

Oh, and this isn't my last work. I'm working on several, and I'm not understating that, works, and I'm trying to perfect them. My schedule's kinda wacky, so I don't know when any of them are going to be released, but I hope it's worth it.

Other than that, that's all I got. (other than the meme chapter next). As always, please vote/comment/share/follow/message if you like my work! I'll see you guys soon with a new work of mine! Stay safe while I'm writing, and have a great time.

Love you guys, always,

Shree.