The Betrayed Son in Law Rise to Influence

Chapter 4

“So, what do you have to say in support of your client, the plaintiff, Mr. Henderson?” the judge inquired.

Henderson came forward with steady footsteps and said, “My lord, my client was out that night, chilling with his friends. As you know, youthful exuberance can lead to unfortunate situations. His friends laced his non-alcoholic cocktail with alcohol because they wanted him to be drunk, just like they were.

My client, unaware of this, continued to drive himself home. As he was on his way, he started to feel lightheaded and saw things in twos. He realized this and was about to park his car and order an Uber just before the unfortunate incident occurred, my lord. As my client is a law-abiding citizen, he decided to report himself to the police the next morning, once he was clear-headed.”

The judge nodded solemnly and asked, “Mr. Simon, do you plead guilty or innocent?”

Simon answered in a low, shaky voice, “I plead guilty, my lord.”

After hearing from the defendant's lawyer and the countless back-and-forth between the lawyers and the judge, the judge said, “Court, order!”

“My verdict hereby states that Mr. Simon is to be placed in prison for 12 months with intensive hard labor.”

Everyone was silent as they listened to the court’s verdict. After hearing the judge’s decision, Simon breathed a sigh of relief, as it was not as severe as he had expected.

When the police came to escort him back to his cell, he spotted Ash and her family members sitting in the third row. He hadn’t noticed them because of how tensed he was.

Ash smiled at him and whispered, “Thank you, and I’m sorry.” Simon couldn’t be sure, but he felt like the smile on Ash’s face looked more like relief than gratitude. He quickly dismissed the thought, attributing it to his paranoia.

As he changed into the orange prisoner uniform, he decided to try his best to survive just for Ash’s sake and their love. He was ushered into his prison room, where he met his roommate.

“Hi, man, I’m Mike. I’m here on charges of kidnapping, and I’ll be released this week. What’s your story? You don’t look like someone who needs to be here.”

Simon smiled and said, “You know what they say—looks can be deceiving. I’m here because I committed murder as a result of drunk driving. I’m here for 12 months with hard labor.”

“Nice to meet you, champ,” Mike said. “You should be careful in this place. It’s way easier to get killed here if you step on the wrong foot than it is to be killed outside.”

Simon said in an appreciative tone, “Thanks for the advice, Mike. I really appreciate it.”

The first time Simon witnessed the danger Mike had spoken of was when he was in line for the evening meal. A group of five bulky men with scorpion tattoos on their necks quickly shoved their way to the front. A man at the front was reluctant to give up his space, and they beat him mercilessly. For weeks, he couldn’t lift his fingers and later had to cut off one because it became useless.

Since then, Simon became extremely mindful of his speech and actions because he couldn’t afford to injure himself—Ash was still waiting for him.

But life doesn’t always go according to plan. One day, while Simon was in the skill workshop trying to finish a wooden chair he had been working on for a week, one of those burly men came up to him and said, “You, dumbo, come help massage my back.” Simon hurried over and started helping him. Suddenly, the man stood up, and the impact sent Simon falling on his back. The man began beating Simon, shouting, “Why are you so dumb? Why don’t you ever react to anything we do to you? Are you a robot? I’ll make sure to beat you up in a way that will make you fight back today.”

After the man was done with Simon, he ended up with a badly bruised eye, a broken arm, and fractured toes. He was in so much pain that he couldn’t leave his bed for 13 days.

Since then, he knew there was no avoiding these guys. He just prayed they would never notice him again. Ever since then, he had been so successful in avoiding them.

But the next time something similar happened, it was much more horrifying. He was mistaken for a rival of one of the biggest drug lords in prison. A gang of twelve people suddenly came to him and said, “You think we won’t ever find you again? We are now here for you, and we’re going to kill you.”

Simon quickly interjected in a scared tone, “Please, I’m not the one you’re looking for. I don’t know you guys from anywhere.”

The gang leader then said, “Pretend all you like,” and suddenly pounced on him while he was eating. They didn’t say anything but attacked him until he was unconscious. He was bedridden for a month after that. Since then, he had developed PTSD about leaving his cell and became emaciated and thin because he hardly went out for his meals.

His days continued like that, but before he knew it, it was his sixth month in prison. At this point, the only thing keeping him going was the picture of Ash he had sneaked into the prison with him, even though it was faded and almost torn. The fact that Ash and her family had never visited him in all these months made the situation worse.

Little did he know, the universe had a good plan in place for him. One afternoon, he was suddenly summoned by the inspector in charge. The inspector told him to sit down and asked, “How have you been so far?”

Simon replied, “As you can see, it has been a dangerous ride, but I’m here now, alive.”

The inspector then said, “The government has included you among the lucky ten people whose jail time has been pardoned.”