"And why should we believe you, traitor?" Immanu hissed.
"Because it is the truth," Gita said. "Shahla never told anyone she was pregnant until she grew so large her mother noticed she was with child. The only thing she wanted was for Jamin to marry her."
Needa stepped forward.
"Then why, child, did she accuse Mikhail of fathering her child?"
Gita swallowed. The truth. They wanted to know the truth.
"Jamin didn't want anything to do with Shahla until the day he was supposed to marry Ninsianna," Gita said. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "She loved him, but he wasn't the same man he'd been before. Every time he got angry, he took it out on her by beating her. I told her she deserved better, but she kept making excuses for him. So I told her a little lie. I told her -I- had a crush on M
