Chapter 7
1092words
Catherine Anderson's request for a public hearing exploded across the entire city. Media swarmed in, and the courthouse entrance was completely blocked by broadcast vans. Everyone was waiting for this trial of the century.
On the day of the hearing, the entire courtroom was packed without a single empty seat.
Mother wore a well-tailored black suit, her hair meticulously pinned up, her face showing no expression whatsoever. She sat at the plaintiff's bench, her spine perfectly straight, like a cold yet elegant statue.
I sat in the gallery behind her, clenching my fists.
Damian arrived fashionably late, wearing an expensive suit and a confident smile, as if he wasn't there to face judgment.
The trial began.
Mother's attorney, Elaine, remained calm. She didn't immediately throw out the bombshells about infidelity, but instead let the numbers speak first—tens of millions in irregular expenditures, suspicious fund transfers, and evidence of extensive "public relations expenses."
Damian's face grew increasingly grim.
Just as he thought it would be no big deal, Elaine stepped forward and handed a new document to the judge.
"Your Honor," her voice sounded particularly loud in the silent courtroom, "we request to submit a crucial piece of evidence."
As she spoke, she took out a small black USB drive from the document folder and placed it on the evidence submission desk.
In that moment, all color drained from Damian's face as if the tide had suddenly receded.
He stared fixedly at the USB drive with an expression as if he were looking at a messenger from hell.
The screen lit up, displaying not a video, but black text on a white background.
The title read: "Lover Evaluation Notes—D.A. Private Records."
"Scarlett: Absolutely obedient, very cheap. Just needs a few bags and some inexpensive promises to make her completely devoted to me. Not very bright, but that's actually an advantage—easy to control."
"Emily: Mature, knows how to please men, and also knows how to pave the way for me in business. The transactional nature is obvious, use and discard."
"Sophia: A stupid political ornament, sleeping with her is merely to get closer to her father's power center."
Those words, in the most caustic and filthy manner, evaluated every woman he had been involved with. In his eyes, they were not people, but quantifiable items.
In the audience section, there was first a deathly silence, followed by an eruption of commotion. People whispered to each other, their faces filled with shock, contempt, and disgust. Those men who had once been friendly with Damian now wanted nothing more than to keep ten meters away from him. And those women who had once thrown themselves at him were now pale-faced, overwhelmed with shame and anger.
This was a precise, public spiritual torture.
Damian slumped in his chair, his shirt soaked with sweat, looking at his mother with devastated eyes.
But his mother didn't spare him even a glance.
Elaine pressed the next button on the remote control.
"Next is an audio recording."
A crystal-clear conversation spread through every corner of the courtroom via the sound system. It was unmistakably Damian's voice, full of arrogance and contempt.
"Catherine? That woman? She's been useless for a long time. The value of her twenty-some years of life was just to give birth to my daughter, and then to guard that empty house like some high-class nanny. What could possibly be in her head besides afternoon tea and flower arranging?"
"Assets? Hahaha... She can't even count how many bathrooms we have in our house, and she wants to investigate my assets? I could casually register a few offshore companies in the Cayman Islands, transfer funds a few times, and neither she nor even God could trace it! Those few tens of millions in 'PR fees' are just the tip of the iceberg, bait that I deliberately left for her to see."
"She thought she could threaten me by catching a few of my women on the side? How naive! I'm making her leave with nothing, and she'll have to get out obediently! A middle-aged woman who knows nothing - without me, she'll even have to relearn how to use a credit card!"
The audio playback ended.
The entire courtroom fell into dead silence.
This voice was sharper than those written words. Like a poisoned dagger, it precisely cut open Damian's successful businessman facade, revealing his most despicable, shameless, and malicious soul within.
"No... no... this isn't real! It's fabricated! It's synthesized!"
Damian finally erupted. He let out an inhuman, beast-like howl, violently pushed away the table in front of him, and tried to charge like a madman toward the area where his mother was sitting.
"Catherine! You vicious woman! I'll kill you!!"
Two tall bailiffs instantly rushed forward and pinned him firmly to the ground. He struggled violently, his face distorted with anger and despair, uttering indistinct curses and roars from his mouth.
The judge's gavel came down heavily, with a voice carrying unquestionable authority.
"Order! Order!"
"After deliberation, the defendant Damian Anderson has been found to have committed serious marital misconduct during the marriage, and is suspected of maliciously transferring large amounts of community property, actions which have caused enormous economic loss and emotional distress to the plaintiff!"
"This court hereby rules to immediately freeze all known assets under the name of the defendant Damian Anderson and his affiliated companies, pending subsequent property identification and division! Remove the defendant from the court!"
The ruling fell like a giant axe, cutting off all his hopes.
Damian was held up on either side by two bailiffs, being dragged out like a dead dog. He was still howling madly, cursing, but his voice contained nothing but desperate trembling.
The moment he was dragged through the courthouse doors, the flashes that had been waiting outside instantly converged into a blinding sea of light, forever capturing his utterly defeated, maniacal face.
This trial of the century was broadcast to the entire world in the most thorough and devastating manner.
The final verdict came down without suspense. Damian was awarded only a small portion of the assets, while his mother Catherine gained control of the vast majority of wealth created during the marriage, as well as absolute control of the company.
He was left with nothing.
When my mother and I walked out of the courtroom, her phone vibrated once.
The message was from the private detective she had hired.
"Madam, Scarlett started packing her luggage immediately after the trial livestream ended. It looks like... she's planning to run away."
