Chapter 3
The phone crashed onto the table.
The loud noise made everyone look at him.
Patrick frowned. "Adrian, what's wrong? Is that ungrateful daughter causing more trouble?"
Adrian's face had gone deathly pale. "The police said... they found a female body, possibly Nora."
The courtroom fell eerily silent.
Then Yara, covering her bandaged right eye, let out a derisive laugh.
"Nora is dead? Impossible!"
"She was still texting me yesterday, cursing at me, saying she'd gouge out my other eye!"
She trembled all over, shrinking into Rachel's arms.
"Mom, is Nora trying to scare us? Is she using death to escape legal responsibility?"
Rachel immediately caught on.
Disgust flashed across her face.
"It must be fake! This wretched girl is the best actress around!"
"Last time, to avoid a blind date, she pretended to faint—turned out it was just low blood sugar!"
"Now to avoid prison, she's stooped to this cheap trick of playing dead!"
Patrick was even more furious, pounding the table.
"Officers, don't let her fool you!"
"She's a menace with the devil's own luck! How could she possibly be dead?"
"She's just trying to blackmail us into dropping the case! Let me tell you—not a chance!"
Hearing all this, Adrian's deathly pale face gradually regained some color.
Right—how could Nora be dead?
She was like a cockroach that couldn't be killed.
When Patrick broke her leg, she crawled to the hospital without a sound.
When Rachel locked her in the basement for three days and nights, she came out and still cooked for them with a smile.
Even on the day she was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer...
Wait.
I floated in the air, watching Adrian suddenly freeze.
Did he remember?
Three months ago, I came to him with my diagnosis, hoping for a hug.
Yara snatched it away and tore it to shreds.
Yara had laughed and said, "Sister, you're really going all out for sympathy, aren't you? You'd even fake a medical report like this?"
What had Adrian said then?
He'd said, "Nora, are you ever going to stop? To compete for attention, you'd even lie about something this unlucky?"
At this moment, Adrian took a breath and spoke into the phone:
"Officer, please verify thoroughly."
"Nora is a habitual offender who'll do anything to evade responsibility."
"If she's faking death, please arrest her immediately."
Hanging up, he straightened his tie again.
"Your Honor, my apologies. This is the defendant's delaying tactic. Let's continue."
I floated above his head, smiling bitterly.
Adrian, you'll never know—in my final moment, I was waiting for you to come get me.
I waited until my body went cold. Until my blood ran dry.
And you never came.
The trial continued.
With the defendant absent and given the "ironclad evidence" provided by the plaintiff, judgment came quickly.
[Defendant Nora, guilty of intentional assault, sentenced to ten years imprisonment, and ordered to compensate victim Yara Pennington a total of eight hundred thousand dollars in damages.]
[Further, given the severity of the victim's injuries, the defendant is advised to fulfill her cornea donation commitment.]
The gavel fell. The matter was settled.
Yara threw her arms around Adrian in excitement.
"Adrian, this is wonderful! Justice has finally triumphed over evil!"
"When sister reforms properly in prison, she'll come out a better person."
Rachel patted Adrian's shoulder with satisfaction.
"Adrian, we really owe you for this."
"Once we catch that wretched girl, we'll transplant the cornea into Yara right away."
Only Adrian, though he'd won the case, never relaxed his furrowed brow.
He unconsciously rubbed his ring finger.
It had once worn the simple band I'd given him.
But now it bore the diamond ring Yara had chosen.
"Let's go to the slums."
Walking out of the courthouse, Adrian suddenly spoke.
Yara stiffened. "Go there? Why? It's filthy and disgusting."
Adrian pulled open the car door. "If she's alive, I want to see her. If she's dead, I want to see the body."
"Besides..."
He paused, his eyes dark.
"Since judgment has been rendered, we need to bring her back to serve her sentence."