[Ding! Ding!]
[Mission of the Week (1/1)]
[Mission: Laugh at Addison’s defeat!]
[Goal: Once the judge declares Addison guilty, you must laugh and clap your hands.]
[Reward: $510,000]
[Ti Limit: 7 days]
I twitched slightly when I saw Penny’s announcent. With a mission like that, it basically ant I had to win this hearing, sothing that I couldn’t control by myself.
First of all, the person speaking on my behalf in this hearing was my lawyer, Ethan, so I was completely entrusting my fate to him.
Second, that damn ti limit was stressing out even more.
If Penny had given only one day, at least I would know the hearing would end today. But seven days? Seven whole days?!
It felt like Penny was warning that today’s hearing might just be the beginning, and that there were more court sessions waiting for .
[Oh, you can’t be that pessimistic, Host!]
[Penny only put seven days because this is a weekly mission, not a random quest.]
I answered her in my mind, ’That’s exactly why! Why did you put it in a weekly mission? Normally you’d place sothing like this in a random quest.’
[It’s because this mission is too difficult to complete, so it’s more suitable as a weekly mission!]
[Besides, isn’t this better? You get a bigger reward, and if you finish the mission today, you can relax for the next six days!]
Penny had a point, but I still couldn’t wrap my head around why the hell Addison kept smiling like so creepy clown!
Was she planning sothing? Did she find a way to win this trial or what?
"What’s wrong?" Lando, who was sitting beside , suddenly wrapped his hand around mine. "You look nervous."
"This is my first trial, of course I’m nervous," I whispered.
It was a lie. I had actually been in court before, to be exact when I was accused of using drugs, and that was the scariest hearing I’d ever experienced because I had no one to comfort at all.
But at least I managed to prove to the judge that I wasn’t an addict and that it was my first offense. In the end, I only had to undergo two months of rehabilitation without going to jail.
Still... It was terrifying.
So having soone here to calm down now felt incredibly comforting.
"You just need to follow Mr. Rowell’s instructions, and you’ll be fine," Lando said. He squeezed my hand a little tighter, then patted it softly. "Don’t worry, Helcia. This ti, I’ll make sure you get justice."
In the middle of all my panic and uncertainty, his words brought back to myself.
I still didn’t know if I could win this hearing easily, but at least I wasn’t alone anymore.
I took a few deep breaths before smiling. "Thank you for being here," I said. "I’m really glad to have you with ."
"Of course." Lando smiled back. "I promised I would stay by your side, and I’m not breaking that promise."
Once Addison and her lawyer sat down in the defendant’s seat, Ethan and I also took our places, leaving Lando in the visitor’s section.
Even though I could no longer sit beside him, at least I could still see his face from afar.
"Helcia," Ethan whispered, leaning slightly toward . "Stay calm. Don’t react to anything she does. Just focus on and on the judge’s questions later."
I nodded, although a small part of still couldn’t stop glancing at Addison.
She kept smiling, calm and relaxed, as if she had nothing to lose, like this whole hearing was just a casual eting for her.
"Do you have any idea why she’s acting like that?" I asked Ethan.
While looking over so notes on the table, Ethan replied calmly, "She’s probably very confident that Mr. Tyler will help her. I heard she asked him for a favor, otherwise she would expose proof that he embezzled company funds."
I was speechless because I didn’t know anything about this, and even more speechless because Ethan said it so casually.
"Will he... actually help her?" I asked again, my voice barely above a whisper.
Still not looking at , Ethan replied, "If she really was going to get that help, do you think I would know about this information?"
I was about to say sothing, but closed my mouth again because I finally ca to one conclusion: Jeremy’s embezzlent case must have already been exposed, and he was the one who told Ethan about Addison’s threat.
Well... if that was true, then watching Addison stay confident a little longer, only to be crushed at the end, sounded strangely satisfying.
The judge finally settled into her seat, and the courtroom quieted almost instantly. I straightened my back, trying to look calm even though my heart was beating twice as fast.
"Court is now in session," the judge announced.
Ethan leaned slightly closer and whispered, "Focus. Don’t look at her unless I tell you to."
I only nod as the answer.
The first few questions were directed to Addison, and her lawyer imdiately jumped to his feet, answering almost everything before she could even open her mouth.
They tried to shape her into the image of a helpless woman who was still recovering, soone who had suffered so much that she couldn’t possibly do anything harmful.
"My client did act as a bridge to help her daughter, Miss Helcia, obtain a loan from the bank," Addison’s lawyer—Stephen John—said confidently. "But she only did that because her daughter begged her to help with the loan."
I almost rolled my eyes out of my skull.
Everything he said was pure nonsense, and he spoke with such confidence only because Addison had no idea that I had video recordings of all the abuse she had done to Helcia.
Not long after, Ethan finally got his turn to speak. "Your Honor," he said politely, "with your permission, I would like to present several videos that clearly show why it is highly possible that Mrs. Davenport forced my client to take that loan."
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