Filed to story: The CEO’s Wife Is a Secret Boss Novel (Allison & Jeremy) Free Online
Simon slammed the table, making Tessa jump. “There will be a sound whenever objects knock into one another. People outside could have heard me slamming the table. Would they also assume that I am committing a murder?”
Sean lifted his hand and interrupted in a deep voice, “Judge Lynch, I object! The defense just made a call for speculation using the straw man fallacy!”
Steven responded, “Defense, please refrain from speculative questions.
Simon scoffed. He then continued, “In other words, the witness never actually saw my client commit any so-called murder. Her statement can only prove that my client was the last person to see the deceased. She may be a suspect, but she cannot assume that my client is the murderer.
“Furthermore, you said that my client plotted to poison the deceased. You also said that the poison used was fentanyl. However, fentanyl isn’t poison at all. It is a common analgesic. This drug can even be obtained in clinics overseas. It is a completely legal drug.”
“Even though fentanyl is an analgesic, it is common knowledge that a slight increase in dosage would be sufficient to cause death.”
Sean thought that he was simply quibbling. Immediately, he argued back angrily, “This drug is highly dangerous as long as it can cause death. Defense, you should be speaking facts. You shouldn’t be twisting other people’s words!”
“It’s fine if you say that. The deceased fell to her death. Even though my client was at the scene, there is no one who can prove that my client has anything to do with the victim’s death.”
Upon saying that, Simon looked at Steven with a serious look. “Judge Lynch, the witness whom the plaintiff’s attorney summoned, is in no way a direct witness in this case.
“Moreover, the witness vanished for 20 years before coming out to give her statement. It has been 20 years. Wouldn’t her memory already be fuzzy? Might she have colluded with someone else in secret? Her statement is unreliable!”
There was pin-drop silence in the room. Furious, everyone looked toward Simon’s despicable-looking side profile.
Sophia hung her head low. She was trying her best to control her facial expressions, so much so that the muscles on her face were beginning to spasm.
She was terrified. She was worried that she’d suddenly lose control and burst out laughing.
She thought to herself, “Anne, you bitch! You couldn’t even beat me while you were alive. Did you think that you’d be able to win after you died? What a joke!”
They had come to a dead end. Sean’s eyes were bloodshot with fury. He sat back down, albeit feeling dissatisfied. The Taylors really felt like ripping Sophia apart.
“Damn it! Why do we have to go through all this trouble? We should’ve sent someone to the detention center in the first place. Then, have them strangle her in there, just like how David was dealt with. Or, they should just dunk her head in the toilet bowl and make her drown!”
Colene was up in arms. “Not only that, Simon’s breath stinks like shit! I wasn’t cruel enough. I should cut off his tongue so that he can no longer speak!”
Mandy’s heart ached over what Anne went through. She shook her head and sighed, “It is too easy to get rid of someone. If this continues, no one in the world would ever know the truth behind Jeremy’s mother’s death. Then, he wouldn’t be able to seek justice for his mother, who had died unjustly.”
“Not just that, Javier would also never regret his heartlessness and foolishness,” Lyla said coldly.
Mandy raised the corner of her lip in disdain. She said frigidly, “Now that it has come to this, Jeremy no longer cares what Javier thinks. Javier didn’t even bother to ensure that his beloved wife’s cause of death was properly investigated.
“He then blindly became married to a murderer for 20 years. What do you think he’d do even if he knew the truth? He’s such an arrogant man. I don’t think that he’d feel much regret.
“If I were Ms. Bartley, I couldn’t care less even if Javier came to my grave to beg for forgiveness! He’d just be a nuisance to me!”
Even at this critical juncture, Jeremy maintained a calm expression. He looked so calm that it was so nerve-racking to watch.
Then, he turned his gaze slowly toward Silas, the prosecutor.
The direct examination and cross-examination segments were over.
Initially, Sean thought that he had turned the tide. Contrary to his expectation, Simon had pushed back.
“If the plaintiff’s attorney has no new evidence to share, the prosecution may proceed with their questioning.” As the judge, Steven could only proceed accordingly.
Bright-eyed, Silas rose to his feet. He gave a nod of acknowledgment to the judge and the people in the public gallery.
He then sat back in his seat. Subconsciously, he directed his fiery gaze toward Rose, sitting in the gallery’s last row.
Rose pursed her pink lips slightly. She was wearing a pair of sunglasses, which were covering her eyes. Her heart raced.
The moment Silas looked away, she mouthed, “Good luck.”
“After our investigation, I’ve prepared a few questions for the defendant, Sophia Kirkman.”
Silas spoke with confidence. He watched Sophia with a piercingly sharp gaze. He looked as if he was able to see through her. His overbearance was not to be belittled.
Sophia’s heart was pounding. She felt a lump stuck in her throat. Even Simon felt his chest tighten.
He had heard that Silas was the top prosecutor in Solana City. He was a stubborn man and extremely difficult to handle.
The job of a prosecutor was very sensitive. They were people in a position of power. The powerful and wealthy often want a prosecutor or two on their side. This was so they could use the prosecutors at a crucial moment.
Many prosecutors looked righteous. However, they would work for the tycoons in secret, with both parties reaping mutual benefits.
As for Silas, he wasn’t just born with an overwhelming sense of justice. He was even the second generation of a plutocrat.
What would happen if anyone tried to bribe him?
Hah, his pockets were so deep that they’d be suffocated!
Silas presented new evidence.
An image of a plastic evidence bag appeared on the screen. In the bag was a white-colored medicine bottle.
Sophia glanced at the screen and frowned. Surprise was written all over her face.
“Ms. Kirkman, do you remember this medicine bottle?” Silas questioned as he looked at her with an icy gaze.
Sophia shook her head blankly. She replied, “I don’t. I don’t know what that is.”
Silas couldn’t help but scoff. He asked in a pressing tone, “You don’t know what that is? This was the vessel that you had used to commit murder. How could you be unaware of it?”
Simon’s heart began to race. He was a smart man. Yet, he couldn’t figure out what Silas had in his mind at this moment.
“What… What vessel? I have never killed anyone. How could there be a vessel used for murder? I don’t know anything about that!” Sophia was breaking out in cold sweat. But she could still remember Simon’s words.
It didn’t matter who questioned her or what questions were thrown at her. He reminded her to keep on denying everything thrown her way.
Other than that, she was to say that she didn’t know about it. She had to make sure that she wasn’t being led around by the nose.
“The witness didn’t actually witness your act of murder. But there are traces of you administering poison.”
Silas squinted. He cocked an eyebrow and stated, “Perhaps you think that there’s no longer any evidence to begin the re-investigation of this case with. After all, 20 years have already passed.
“But I want to let you know that you are too naive. A witness’s testimony may not be completely reliable. However, material evidence will always be there. So long as you don’t have them destroyed in time, they will always be there. Material evidence doesn’t lie.
“Even if you had intentionally destroyed evidence at that time, investigation technology has progressed rapidly since then. There may have been aspects that couldn’t be examined 20 years ago. It would be easy for us to look into them now.”
Sophia was so frightened that she had turned pale. Her mind replayed everything that had happened in Anne’s room 20 years ago.
Indeed, she had planned to poison her. Nonetheless, Anne had caught her in the act. So, she wasn’t able to go through with her plan to poison Anne.
After that, she and Anne had a heated argument. At that time, she had always felt that Anne was a pushover who could be trampled on. To her surprise, Anne was like a completely different person then. She had threatened to expose her evil deeds to the world.
Sophia was exasperated. Thus, amidst their fight, her hand slipped. She ended up pushing Anne down.
Coincidentally, there was no one in the back garden when Anne fell. She lay in the pool of her blood pitifully. Yet, she still looked as beautiful as a vibrant oil painting.
At that moment, Sophia panicked. Immediately after, she used her own clothing to wipe off her fingerprints on the balcony railing. She had also wiped her footprints cleanly off the floor. She then took the poison she brought with her and left the crime scene.
What other evidence could there be?
She couldn’t have left any other evidence at the scene.
“I… I didn’t. I didn’t poison her!” Sophia was essentially being put on the spot.
Silas disregarded her denial. He continued in a deep, cold voice, “At that time, you panicked. You fled from the crime scene. But you forgot to take this medicine bottle with you.
“That year, the victim’s death was determined to be a suicide. This made you let your guard down. You never went back to the scene to double-check.
“The Walsh family figured that it was bad luck that someone had died in that room. So, they ended up locking the room up. Unexpectedly, this unintentional decision has helped the police preserve the crime scene to this day.
“This medicine bottle used to contain the victim’s depression medication. It was placed by her bedside. Its contents were swapped out. But there was some drug residue in the bottle.
“We lifted samples for testing and found that it wasn’t fentanyl. It was cyanide.”
Cyanide?