Chapter 023
HANNAH
You must have figured out that my life is pretty chaotic and none of my plans are ever executed the way I want it to go. If you haven’t, then you’re probably a little bit slow.
Now, imagine you’re a little squirrel in the middle of a rainforest, surrounded by angry grizzly bears. You’re lost, lonely, frightened and you have absolutely no idea how you got there. But you’re sure of one thing: you shouldn’t be there.
That’s how I felt as the security personnels surrounded I and Willa. I knew the alarm wasn’t supposed to go off but it did. I knew it only went off if we were carrying tagged items and we weren’t. However, I could not tell why we were being surrounded by four angry looking men.
"We need to check your bags," one of them demanded, motioning for us to extend our arms. I immediately complied, fearing the consequences of not obeying, but Willa stood her ground.
"We haven't taken anything. We've paid for everything," she insisted.
"If that's the case, you won't mind us checking your bags," one of the men retorted.
Without waiting for Willa's response, they snatched our bags and proceeded to search through our belongings, their hands rummaging our items. I couldn't fathom what they were searching for or why this was happening.
While they dug through our things, a small crowd gathered, watching the scene before them. My cheeks burned with embarrassment, and I couldn’t meet anyone’s gaze. Part of me wanted to run and hide, but another part knew I would be caught in seconds.
As the security personnel's search became more thorough, they resorted to emptying our bags onto the ground. Amid the chaos, a silver necklace fell out. Before I could process what was happening, one of them picked up the silver necklace that had fallen from my purse.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" he announced, holding it up for all to see, and a sinking feeling gripped my stomach as I realized a tag was still on it, and that could only mean one thing—it wasn’t paid for.
“What do we have here?” He drawled, lifting it in the air for everyone to see and immediately, my stomach sank. The necklace still had a price tag on it
I started to panic as I tried to imagine how the necklace had gotten into my purse. My throat felt tight and it was as if I couldn’t get enough air no matter how fast I breathed.
Although my mind was a blur of fear and confusion, I managed to hear one of the security personnel ask, “Which one of you owns this purse?”
The purse belonged to me. There was no escape even though I wished the ground would open and swallow me whole.
Willa shook her head, indicating it wasn’t hers. At this moment, everyone’s gaze turned to me. I had to say something.
But my heart was hammering in my chest and I was about to have a panic attack. I tried to steady my hands, but they wouldn’t stop shaking.
I opened my mouth and the only words that fell out were, “I didn’t steal it.”
That wasn’t enough. With the way I was trembling, I was sure they already assumed I stole the necklace. But I didn’t. I didn’t even admire it when I was scanning the shelves and had only picked a pair of earrings. How did the necklace get into my purse?
“I don’t think the necklace grew legs and crawled into your purse,” one of the men remarked and the others chuckled. “I say you stole it and tried to leave.”
I shook my head desperately. “I didn’t touch that necklace. Please, you have to believe me.”
My words fell on deaf ears and the man who seemed in charge motioned to one of his colleagues. “Cuff her.”
Cuff me? No, this wasn’t happening. How had everything spiraled out of control so quickly? One moment I was enjoying myself, and the next, I was accused of stealing a necklace I hadn’t even seen.
“Please, you have to listen to me!” I pleaded, my voice breaking as the security personnel with the cuff inched closer to me. “I didn’t take the necklace. I don’t even know how this happened. This is a mistake!”
Every plea felt like I was throwing out a lifeline, hoping one of them would catch it and pull me out of this mess. But their faces were stern and it was obvious my words were bouncing off a wall.
The man grabbed and roughly cuffed me, spewing insults that I could barely hear. I turned to Willa, desperation and fear flashing in my eyes.
“I didn’t do it. I didn’t take the necklace.” I cried, trying to get closer to her. Willa’s eyes were wide and she seemed to be trying to make sense of reality as her eyes darted around.
And then she snapped.
Willa charged toward the man dragging me away and halted in front of us, “You can’t arrest her. My father is—”
“We don’t care who your father is,” their leader spat, cutting her off before she finished. “If you’re not aware, this is an independent business, meaning we don’t give a crap about your father.” He turned to the man holding me. “Take her away!”
I was dragged away like a petty criminal as everyone watched. I couldn’t lift my head, my lips trembling with unshed tears.
Hannah, don’t cry. Don’t cry. I chanted.
But as they pushed me through the crowd, the detestable crowd slurring and mocking me, the tears streamed freely.
“I know a thief when I see one! Thief! Arrest her!” I heard Julia’s distinct voice amongst the crowd. It was hard to miss especially since she was screaming the loudest.
“I saw her take the necklace!” she continued. “She’s a petty thief!”
Even in my state of misery and confusion, it didn’t take more than thirty seconds after hearing those words from Julia to realize what she had done.
Everything started to replay in my head and suddenly, it wasn’t a mystery how the necklace had ended up in my purse.
She must have put it in during our exchange, possibly when she spat on my face. Julia had framed me, yet again.
“I know who did it!” I cried out with every breath in me. “I was framed, please!”
“Shut up, girl!” The man dragging me away yelled. “Or I will shut it for you!”
I heard Willa yelling that she would call the triplets right before I was pushed into a room and the door was shut behind me.
Still shaking, I backed away to the wall as the security personnel drew closer.
“Why are you shaking? You had the guts to steal so you should face the consequences boldly.” He smirked.
“I didn’t steal it,” I cried, wiping my tears. “Someone put it in my bag to frame me. I would never steal the necklace.”
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