Jasmine opened her mouth, but no words came. Her jaw clenched as her eyes darted to the side, she was convinced but she wants to throw back.
The thought of giving up, of accepting that her best friend’s pain might be buried under legal loopholes, made her stomach turn.
"There has to be something! She was broken. She... she couldn’t even speak for hours," Jasmine stammered, her voice tight feeling vexed as she remembered the time she visited her in hospital.
"That should be enough, right? Her trauma alone..."
Before she could finish, Jeff raised a hand slightly, stopping her mid-sentence.
Of course, he didn’t do it rudely, but his expression was calm, a sign that he needed to explain further.
"Trauma is real. But trauma isn’t evidence," Jeff said, breathing deeply.
"During court, a judge doesn’t care how someone feels. They care about what you can prove, something that is beyond a reasonable doubt."
He paused for a moment, his gaze steady as he continued.
"And the defense will use that silence, that is her inability to speak labeling it as uncertainty. ’Maybe she was confused. Maybe it was regret. Maybe she agreed, then changed her mind.’ That’s the game they’ll play."
The way he spoke and delivered his understanding of the topic made him seem smarter than both of them.
But Jasmine couldn’t accept this, "Then what about her injuries? Can it be referred to as consensual? Even someone in their right mind knows it’s not," she blurted out.
Jeff paused for a moment, his expression hardening, "They’ll just say she liked it rough," he said, voicing what had first come to mind.
Jasmine eyes suddenly turned venomous as he looked at him, "Rough? What kind of girl love doing it rough? Stop making nonsense, no girl would want something like that."
Jeff glanced at him, noticing that beneath her cold look her mind was actually innocent.
He couldn’t quite tell if the rumor was true. The truth was, Jeff himself had no experience in that department, not in first life as well.
So, he had no idea, if what she said is true.
In his first life, he had respected his girlfriend at the time, and if she wanted it, of course, he wouldn’t have declined.
He was curious about it, but he also understood the importance of respect.
Also, he was at the legal age back then, and if he had just understood that she had given him over a hundred signals, he would have beaten himself up for not acting on them sooner.
"What are you looking at? Do you think I’m speaking nonsense? Also, you didn’t answer my question. Hmph," she harrumphed in the end, folding her arms.
Jeff simply responded, "I already answered your question. I believe they would just state that it was rough but consensual. They can claim the bruises or marks were part of a rough consensual encounter."
"If that will not work, they’ll say the bruises came from something else like a fall, a struggle after, or even self-inflicted. And if the defense is ruthless enough, they’ll question her mental state, twist her silence, and drag every detail of her life into the spotlight to discredit her."
Jasmine, hearing this, couldn’t find anything to counter.
She had finally accepted that the lawyer would just claim it was consensual, and if that thug admitted to sex but said it was consensual, the DNA alone wouldn’t be proof.
It would only be used as a sign of contact. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝗇𝗲𝘵
Clearly, the battle was on the losing side, which made her feel a bit unwilling to accept these results.
It was a harsh reality to face, and it weighed heavily on her.
"Then we are going to lose then, haha," she laughed bitterly at herself, feeling useless.
Over the past few days, she hadn’t even gone to school, pouring all her time and energy into gathering evidence.
Her mind had been consumed with finding the DNA that had been tampered with, thinking that was enough to prove her friend’s innocence. But now, she realized she was wrong.
Even with all her efforts, it still felt useless. She couldn’t help but feel despair slowly creeping in, and though she wanted to accept the scenario, her heart was unwilling.
Jeff, noticing her silence, spoke up again, "Why are you so sad? Didn’t you tell me you were looking for someone good with computers, so Andre referred you to me?"
Jasmine, feeling lifeless, let out a slow, resigned shake of her head.
"It’s useless. Even my father’s team can’t solve this case," she said, her voice heavy with frustration.
"The only reason I went to you was because Andre mentioned you’re good when it comes to programming."
"He stated that those people on my father’s side are nothing compared to you. My mind has just been so occupied these days, and I accepted his suggestions without even thinking about whether they’re real or fake," she admitted, feeling defeated.
"Oh, this is actually what happened? I though you blackmailed him or something earlier, this is actually not the case," Jeff said.
"Nope, why would I lower myself to that level? Also, I’ve already told Catherine about this, so he still has to prepare for her wrath," she said.
What she said made Andre, who had been listening like an observer, stunned and shocked.
"What? You told her? How did you betray me, after all the trouble I went through to help you?" Andre said, his voice filled with anger, as if he had been wronged.
"Hmph, it’s your fault for cheating on her so many times. She instructed me to watch you carefully, and as a friend, I would gladly help her," she responded to him with a nonchalant look.
Andre, hearing this, suddenly panicked. His phone rang, and when he pulled it out, he saw the profile picture of a girl and a name that read.
"Oh no, I’ll be leaving you two. Solve the problem by yourself, since a problem was coming towards me," as he sprinted towards the stairs leaving only the two of them.
Jasmine then glanced at him with a final look, "Thanks for the help and for opening up my eyes of course, I think theirs is really nothing you can do in this matter," she said and was about to walk and leaved away.
The moment Jasmine brushed her arm beside Jeff’s, a hand suddenly clutched her wrist, making her feel uncomfortable and filled with displeasure.
But that feeling quickly dissipated when she heard him speak.
"Who says I can’t do anything in this matter?" Jeff said.
His face facing forward as Jasmine looked at him from the side.
Special thanks to ’Meiwa_Blank👑’ – the GOAT for this month, for the Golden Tickets! Love you, brotha!
Special thanks to ’Devon1234👑’ – the GOAT for this month, for the Gifts! Love you, brotha!