"W-What? I want to see him."
The detective looked at me with a mixture of suspicion and concern. My reaction to hearing the victim's name set off a few more alarm bells in his mind.
"You want to see him? Why?"
I stuttered, the stress making it hard to speak.
"T-That's my boyfriend's name."
The detective's eyebrows shot up. This was new information for him. After exchanging another glance with the police officer, he turned back to me.
"Your boyfriend? So, were you telling the truth about meeting your boyfriend that night?"
I furrowed my brows. My eyes were beginning to tear up.
"Why would I lie?"
Seeing the tears in my eyes, his expression softened for a moment, but he quickly regained his stern composure. He sighed.
"You can't blame me for being suspicious. You were at the scene, your story didn't quite add up, and now you're telling me the victim is your boyfriend. It all looks very suspicious."
"I don't care about your suspicions. You said my boyfriend's name, and I want to see him."
After the conversation in the interrogation room, they actually let me see him. Even though the body was badly burned, I knew it was Evan. Everything moved very fast after I identified the body. With a death added to the news of the burning house, the story leaked directly to the media.
The public was furious and demanded a culprit be found. Despite having insufficient evidence, the police bowed to public pressure, decided to make me the scapegoat, and arrested me. I tried to resist as two officers dragged me away to take me to prison.
The detective watched me with a mix of disappointment and pity as the officers led me away. He knew the evidence against me was circumstantial at best, but with public opinion turning against me so rapidly, there wasn't much he could do.
I spent two days in solitary confinement before being transferred to the prison. Those two days in that silent cell were hell, filled with the grief of my boyfriend's death and the rage of being declared guilty when I was innocent. My thoughts wouldn't silence, and I was slowly tearing myself apart.
Later, they dressed me in an orange prison jumpsuit and threw me into a cell with violent criminals.
The moment I was thrown into the cell, the other prisoners began to gather around, scanning me like a pack of wolves. They had probably heard I was coming and knew exactly who I was.
The first thought that crossed my mind when I saw them was that I didn't belong here. They would break and crush me like a cheap toy. Their stares were so threatening that I knew I was in for a nightmare. If I had encountered any one of them on the outside, I would have crossed the street just to avoid them.
Suddenly, a tall, muscular man with a face covered in scars approached me, a cruel smile curling on his lips.