Filed to story: The CEO’s Wife Is a Secret Boss Novel (Allison & Jeremy) Free Online
In court, Sean transformed from a secretary to a professional attorney and effectively summarized the case in his opening statement. Then, he presented the plaintiff’s claims, demanding justice for the victim.
The audience fell silent. Even those audience members hired by Javier to fill the seats were affected by Sean’s speech that explained the ordeal faced by Nina. In the end, they cast disdainful and acrimonious looks at Sophia.
Once again, Alyssa was brought back to the scene of Nina’s brutal death. Feeling heartbroken, she covered her ears with her hands and shut her eyes tightly, feeling like she was in an enclosed space. Sweat dotted her forehead as she struggled to breathe.
“Lyse, don’t think about it. I’m here for you,” Jeremy comforted her and pulled her into a hug. He guided her to rest her forehead on his shoulder.
Although Nina wasn’t Alyssa’s family, Alyssa’s kind soul was irreparably scarred and traumatized after witnessing Nina’s death.
“Jeremy… I feel like I’m at fault,” she sobbed and whispered in his ear.
Her words nearly broke his heart. Tearing up, he consoled her, “Don’t say that. Lyse, you’re not at fault. The two people in the dock are the sinners.”
After Sean delivered his statement, it was the defendants’ turn to present theirs. Sophia wept and emotionally delivered the statement Simon had prepared for her. It turned out that her acting experience was surprisingly of use in court.
“Your Honor, for what reason would I kill a maid? I gain nothing from doing that! Perhaps this all happened because of the personal grudge between Jeffrey Snyder and Nina Carle, as they were colleagues of the same rank.
“Jeffrey must have abused his power and bullied the maids in the family because he thought he was above them as my special assistant. Nina very likely rubbed him wrong in private, and that’s why he thought of killing her.”
“Nonsense!” Jeffrey, who had turned a state witness, defended himself and snapped, “Your Honor, Nina Carle had dirt on Sophia Kirkman. That’s why Sophia paid me off to get rid of Nina. She’s the mastermind.
“I had no choice but to listen to her because of her power and status, or my life will be in danger. Even when I was in the detention center, she attempted to hire assassins to take my life. Look, there is still a scar on my neck!”
“That’s slander! I shouldn’t have hired you had I known you were a hooligan abroad!” Sophia screamed at the top of her lungs as she engaged in a vicious argument with Jeffrey.
Jeffrey retorted, “Betty Walsh left the house at the same time as me after you gave out the orders. She must have known what you were up to.”
The audience gasped and directed their attention to Betty’s face, which had turned white. Even Javier cast an astonished and doubtful look at her.
“N-No! I know nothing about it!” Betty shook her head in fear and anxiety, nearly crying from the stress.
At that moment, a cruel idea flashed across her mind. For once, she hoped for Sean’s victory. She wanted Sophia convicted to prevent more trouble down the road.
After all, Sophia was a hopeless drug addict who had no humanity left in her. Betty worried that she might be implicated in Sophia’s attempt to defend herself.
“The court is a serious place. Keep your voice down!” Steven shot an icy look at Betty and banged his gavel twice.
At the same time, Alyssa and Jeremy exchanged complicated looks. Jeffrey must have dragged Betty into the mess out of desperation. Betty was undoubtedly involved in Nina’s death, but it was hard to incriminate her without evidence. Otherwise, she would have joined Sophia in the dock today.
Anyway, they believed Betty would still be affected by Sophia’s sentencing.
Without Sophia’s strategies, Betty could not survive, like a parasite who had left its host.
Meanwhile, Sophia and Jeffrey were attacking each other in court, bringing Javier so much shame that he wanted to leave the scene.
After the plaintiff and the defendant delivered their opening statements, the trial entered the most crucial round of witness examination and questioning.
It was Simon’s time to spring into action. Chuckling, he stretched and stood up relaxedly. “Mr. Snyder, you claimed that the defendant paid you off to get rid of Ms. Carle, but there’s no evidence to back up your claim. I have a reason to suspect that you’re lying and framing my client to get away from your crime.”
“I did not lie! I told the truth. I never had any exchange with the maid at all. Why would I kill her for no reason?” Jeffrey nervously defended himself.
Sean fixed a stern gaze on Simon’s animated face and silently clenched his fist. The secret recordings by Nina were in Sean’s possession. She had lost her life precisely over the recordings.
Simon must have been aware of the fact as well, but he remained unfazed because he knew that Nina’s stealth recordings did not qualify as evidence.
Simon continued his attacks. “You claimed that my client paid a huge sum to you. May I know the whereabouts of the payment?”
Jeffrey could not come up with an answer. He had requested cash from Sophia and later kept the money in the basement of his home in Tsulu. Therefore, there weren’t any transaction records to prove his claim.
At this point, Sophia’s men had probably moved the cash away from his house in Tsulu under her command.
“My client’s transaction records displayed a large transfer after the incident, but it was due to a property purchase in Mosgravia.” With that, Simon handed the judge a document and explained, “This is the record of the property transaction. The amount matches the outflow of funds from my client’s account.”
Steven accepted the document and examined it. Just as Simon claimed, the purchase amount matched the figure on Sophia’s bank transfer record.
Sophia frowned as she maintained an innocent expression, but she was secretly snickering at Simon’s maneuver.
“You accused my client of instructing you to kill the victim, but it did not make any sense. My client is Mrs. Walsh of the Walsh Group. Given her wealth, she had no motive to kill a maid who had served the family for five years.
“Before Nina Carle worked for the Walsh’s, she had served as an HR department employee in my company. She had no connections to the Walsh Group at all.”
Simon confronted Jeffrey with hostility. “On the other hand, Mr. Snyder, you were involved in illegal activities in Tsulu before you were hired as a special assistant to my client. Not only that, you were involved in murders. The Tsulian police had your criminal records, which we can get our hands on at any time.”
“I told you I had never spoken to Nina before the murder. I wouldn’t have killed her if Sophia hadn’t instructed me to!” Jeffrey was nearly driven mad by Simon. As a rough hooligan, he was no match for a slick attorney.
“That is your one-sided claim without any evidence. Even if you were not acquainted with Nina Carle, you might have killed her in the heat of the moment. A man like you will not bat an eye at the loss of life,” Simon argued, trying his best to paint Jeffrey as a vicious serial murderer.
The judges’ negative impression of Jeffrey would play to Sophia’s advantage.
“Your Honor,” Sean interrupted, “I have a question regarding the defense attorney’s argument.”
Sean had kept his silence during Simon’s animated cross-examination, which made him appear like he was at a disadvantage.
Seated in the public gallery, Tatiana felt her heart leaping into her throat. Her eyes were sore from focusing on Sean throughout the proceeding.
Worried about Sean, she hated that she couldn’t be of help to him. All she could do was to silently cheer him on.
“We’ll pass the floor to the plaintiff’s defense,” Steven announced and gave Sean a look of affirmation.
The Lynch brothers rarely interacted with each other as adults. They were not as close as other siblings, and on top of that, they were active in different professional fields. Still, Steven and Sean were at least upright, never once acting against their principles compared to the corrupted Simon.
Meanwhile, Simon had always looked down on Sean and repeatedly described Steven as a strait- laced, puritanical goody-two-shoes. Simon perceived himself as the pillar of the family, staunchly believing that he, the eldest son who had carried his mom’s expectations, was the only source of pride for the family after Spencer Lynch’s retirement.
Little did Simon know that he would pay a steep price for what he was after. In the near future, he would pay a dear price for his lack of morals.
Sean brandished a document with a twinkle in his eyes. “It is public knowledge that the defendant Sophia Kirkman is not as innocent as her attorney has claimed. Even before this arrest, she had been summoned by the prosecution multiple times.”
Sean took a jab at Simon’s bluff by describing the fact as public knowledge.
“She wasn’t arrested solely on suspicion of contract killing. She has also been charged with drug use in public and possession of drugs, among many other offenses.”
The screen in the courtroom displayed the humiliating video of Sophia getting high after taking drugs at the horseracing event. The indecent scene of Sophia touching herself had been pixelated, but the judges and the audience were disturbed by her moans.
Simon sent a glare in Sean’s direction after he figured out Sean’s strategy.
“Turn it off! Turn it off now! Stop it,” Sophia yelled as she blushed in shame.
She finally felt shame at this moment. Sean had submitted the video as evidence to humiliate Sophia in court.
Alyssa stared coldly at the screen with a smirk. “It’ll be intriguing if they play this video at Sophia’s funeral. Wouldn’t it be an exciting closure to her evil and sinful life?”
“A funeral?” Jeremy clasped her hand with a snicker. “After this trial, Javier will never accord her a respectable funeral. I bet he wouldn’t even make arrangements for a service.”
Betty had sneaked to the restroom to escape from the embarrassment, leaving behind Javier, who shut his eyes in resentment. He would have left the public gallery without looking back if it were not for his status and relationship with Sophia. His departure would destroy the morale of those he had hired to fill up the seats, which would be much more humiliating for the Walsh’s.
Sean argued with an impassive look, “Don’t you think a drug addict who succumbs to her addiction regardless of time and place will be more emotionally volatile than Jeffrey Snyder?
“I have witnessed drug addicts who were off their heads¡ªthey would do anything just to fuel their addiction, even losing control of their speech and behavior. Hence, it is highly likely that Sophia
Kirkman would think of murdering Nina Carle.”
Sophia glowered at Sean, her face turning red in anger.
“Objection, Your Honor! The plaintiff’s defense argument is purely hearsay and irrelevant to the case!” Simon jumped up from his seat, his hand shooting into the air.
After a pause, Steven turned to Sean. “The plaintiff’s defense, please raise questions pertinent to the case.”
“Of course, Your Honor.” Sean regained his composure and cast a loaded look at Alyssa and Jeremy’s direction.
The couple gave him a stern nod, after which he proceeded to land a sharp gaze on Sophia, “Sophia Kirkman, you claim that you have never committed murder. I will repeat my question to you. Are you telling the truth? This is your last chance at coming clean.”
Simon nearly burst out laughing at Sean’s crude tactics. He glanced disdainfully at his silly brother, thinking, “Sean, you are too inexperienced to take me down. How dare you think of winning against me in court by asking that stupid question? Only a fool would admit to murder.”
“No! I can’t even hurt a fly. I would never murder a human being,” Sophia confirmed while her mind whirled.
Thinking back about the past, she had always instructed others to do the dirty work for her. Given her stature, she would never dirty her hands. Therefore, she announced confidently, “Ask me as many times as you want. My answer remains the same¡ªI have never killed!”