Chapter 3

I looked at him, my voice soft.

"Ethan, you didn't used to say things like this."

His fingers holding the documents paused.

Just for an instant.

The next second, he pulled out a file.

*Psychiatric Intervention Records.*

My heart plummeted.

Those were my psychological treatment records from seven years ago.

The wound I least wanted anyone to see.

Those nights when I trembled, screamed, bathed repeatedly, scrubbing my skin until it bled.

I couldn't let men near me, couldn't enter any enclosed space.

It was Ethan who took me to see a psychologist.

Every time we left the therapy room, he would hold me in his arms, kissing my forehead again and again.

"Don't be afraid, Clara."

"I'll protect you for the rest of my life."

Back then, I had entrusted him with my most raw, most broken self.

But now, he was tearing open my scars and displaying them before everyone.

Ethan opened the file, his voice devastatingly calm.

"Your Honor, Ms. Hart underwent long-term psychiatric intervention seven years ago."

"This included stress reactions to male contact and severe victim tendencies."

My blood instantly ran cold.

"You're lying..."

My voice trembled.

"Those are my private records. How could you..."

Ethan didn't look at me.

"She repeatedly described in her sessions how she would mistake normal male contact for assault even when there was no actual danger."

"Therefore, we have reason to suspect that on the night of the incident, influenced by alcohol, past trauma, and marital stress, she experienced cognitive distortion."

The gallery exploded.

"Cognitive distortion? So she has mental problems?"

"Oh my god, she's had this kind of case before."

"Isn't this just victim delusion?"

My body began to shake.

Ethan finally looked up at me.

His fingers gripped the case file so tightly his knuckles turned white.

But the next second, Lily sobbed softly.

He turned back to the judge.

"Furthermore, we have evidence that Ms. Hart has had long-standing conflicts with Ms. Lily."

He pulled out another set of materials.

"Ms. Lily was repeatedly verbally attacked by Ms. Hart. Ms. Hart believed that Ms. Smith was destroying her marriage."

"Especially after learning of Ms. Smith's pregnancy, Ms. Hart's emotional instability became even more severe."

The big screen displayed several screenshots of conversations between Lily and me.

Context removed, only my seemingly harsh words remained.

[Stay away from Ethan.]

[You know he's married.]

[Lily, what exactly do you want?]

Ethan read them out coldly.

"This is sufficient proof that Ms. Hart harbors intense hostility toward Ms. Lily."

I looked at those screenshots, my whole body going cold.

"It wasn't like that..."

"She was the one who sent me photos of her and Ethan watching fireworks together in the middle of the night."

"She told me children can't grow up without fathers."

"She said Ethan would eventually come back to her."

Lily immediately shook her head, crying.

"I never said that! Clara, why are you slandering me like this?"

She covered her belly with one hand, tears streaming down her face.

"I only told you that children are innocent. I never thought about taking Ethan away!"

"Jason and I lost our parents when we were young. He's my only family."

"Now I'm pregnant and have no other relatives to depend on. I'm just so scared."

Ethan continued his questioning:

"Did you publicly insult the child in Ms. Lily's womb at the hospital prenatal examination area?"

I clenched my hands.

That time, Lily had told me Ethan was in trouble.

When I arrived at the hospital, I discovered Ethan was accompanying her for a prenatal checkup.

She leaned on Ethan's shoulder, gently touching her belly.

"Ethan, do you think the baby will look more like you or more like me?"

I stood there like a joke.

I only asked her, "Lily, is this really necessary?"

But now, all of this had become evidence of my jealousy.

I looked toward the gallery. My mother sat there.

Her face was frighteningly pale, her eyes terribly red.

She, such a strong woman, had held me and cried until she couldn't stand after that case seven years ago.

Later, when Ethan appeared, he knelt before my mother and promised.

"Ma'am, I will protect Clara. I won't let anyone hurt her again."

But today, she watched as the man who had promised to protect me personally stripped me bare for everyone to see.

My mother suddenly stood up.

"Ethan, are you even human?"

"Seven years ago, how did you promise me?"

"Now you're using her medical records, using her wounds, using her inability to have children, to exonerate someone else?"

"Ethan, how can you do this?"

Ethan's face instantly went white.

He stood there, unable to say a word.

I looked at my mother's back, my heart aching in waves.