If the truth is how you see it on Cruel Summer, then what does it mean that Kate went to her kidnapper Martin's house willingly? When it comes to the legal implications of it all well, that's not up for Cruel Summer fans to decide. However, this small fact might change everything for Jeanette's lawsuit against Kate.

On Cruel Summer's seventh episode "Happy Birthday Kate Wallis," we finally learned exactly what happened that led to Kate and Martin colliding, to tragic consequences. Kate had confided in Martin about the secret she was holding in: That her mother, Joy, was cheating on her stepfather Roy. Martin encouraged Kate to share the secret and lift the weight off her shoulders, but when she did, it led to an explosive fight with her mom — one in which her mom got mean. Lost and alone, Kate ran away to the one place she didn't think her mom would look for her: Martin's house. And that's where she remained, held against her will, for nearly a year.

Jeanette learns the truth from her brother Derek, who finds the chat room conversation between Kate and her stepsister Ashley on Ashley's computer after they hooked up one night in her dorm. Derek thinks that the fact that Kate went to Martin's house by her own volition could be the lynchpin in winning Jeanette's libel lawsuit against Kate. And he might be right.