章節 22: Psycho
Thinking it was all over, that was when from the very back seat, Feng Duan and his girlfriend got up from where they sat, hand in hand, walking all the way to the front to take a seat at the witness stand by the opposition camp across from where the Zhang heiress sat.
All these happened within minutes, leaving very little time to get over one shock before the other. Deeply grieved and upset by what was going on, Zhang Mi clenched onto the sides of her gown, her bony fingers becoming paler and paler as time passed.
Although, the courtroom appeared cool, but for some reason, beads of sweat began forming on her forehead and underarm, as she kept on trying to fight the urge to lash out at the people who gathered across from her, incensed that they could be so inhumane as to bring her to court, not satisfied with taking her position from her, but also colluding together with her trusted aide and ex to bring her to her knees!
Red eyed from unshed tears, morosely looking most especially at Yang Lin, who at the moment could not face the Zhang heiress, his head turned in the other direction. He felt as though she was sending daggers his way, not having the heart to look her in the eyes.
"Now!Now! has all the witnesses been called up to the stand?!"
Judge Yao turned from one end to the other end of both sides, it was their legal representative that answered back, in affirmation that there was no one else waiting to be called to the stand.
Initially, Yang Lin was supposed to be on the witness stand by Zhang Mi, but defected by choosing to sit by the opposing side. None from the Zhang Corporation was willing to take a stand in court by the Zhang heiress. Her lawyer Shao Nianzu, went into the Jingchu store during the time they were both working together to build their defense in court, going through the surveillance tapes to see if any of the shoppers at the time of the incident could serve as witnesses, but on contacting them none was willing to stick their neck out.
Therefore, they chose to solely bank on Yang Lin, only to get the disappointment of their life, when the time came, for him to be of help to the young miss and he was nowhere to be found. The initial reaction to seeing her driver walk to the other side was shock, but as a lawyer who had handled so many cases. Having witnessed family turn against each other in court, what more could he expect from a mere aide to a former rich woman?! Shao Nianzu had to brush himself up, so as to stay strong for the sake of his client.
Prosecutor Yu had a black gown on, as he started the proceedings by asking both sides rounds of questions, beginning with Zhang Mi, despite all the preparations she had gone through in the last couple of days, it was as though her tongue became too weighty to lift, almost as if an invisible hand had sealed her mouth. He kept questioning her, but she didn't respond.
The lawyer nudged her with his knee, still nothing, even going as far as to shake her shoulder firmly and asking that she speak up, still no words came out.
"Miss Zhang! You need to say something! I can't win this case, if you don't open your mouth to answer the prosecutor!"
Feeling upset by the unusual behavior of the Zhang heiress, the lawyer kept on urging her to speak in her defense, looking at her closely for any sign that she had made up her mind to speak, but there was no change in her countenance. The look of utter devastation could be seen on her pale drawn face, as though at the slightly offense she will shatter completely.
Zhang Tianyu looked at his niece, he couldn't believe the heavens had chosen to give him an easy win in court. Try as he could, his face beamed with a smile of victory, as though the judge had awarded the case in his favor. It took quite some time to bring his emotions and facial expression under control.
The judge demanded the Zhang heiress answer what was asked, but the same old silence was the response. By then her lawyer had reached his wit end, he just sat by her with arms folded to his chest as though he had given up on his client, with a resigned look on his face. The prosecutor went into silence, when he saw that not even the judge could get the defendant to speak.
Wearing a look of indifference, and ignoring the defense team to face the prosecuting side. Judge Yao asked that evidence regarding the lawsuit and other supplemental materials be brought forward. Zhou Yunxiang stood up from where he sat, in his hands was all the evidence needed for the lawsuit that Zhang Corporation was filing against the Zhang heiress, on getting to the high seat where the Presiding judge, associate judge and other judges all in black gown, individually seated on a high bench behind raised desk.
The courtroom was packed with people sitting on rows of wooden benches who were either spectators or had a keen interest in matters relating to the law and court proceedings. When they saw how the Zhang heiress was behaving in court, whispering began to spread across the room, usually such behavior was not permissible in court, but Judge Yao allowed them to do as they pleased, instead going through the documents in his hand, one at a time.
The rest of the court was mystified by what was happening, some wondered if the judge should just close the case and let the prosecuting side win, others felt that the judge should have slapped the Zhang heiress with contempt of court. There was one thing they all agreed to, which was that the judge was going too easy on her.
"Miss Zhang, the charges brought against you are, that you are not mentally competent to carryout your role as the head of your company, because of misappropriation of company funds and charges of battery filed against you?! Are any of these true?!"
The Judge asked the defendant with an impassive expression on, by this time without being told to, the court fell silent. They all waited to hear her response to the judge's question. Inside, Zhang Mi's head was madly spinning, she couldn't believe that she was being falsely accused about handling of Zhang Corporation while she was president. Battery?! Did they even understand the concept of defending oneself from unsuspecting attacks?! This is a joke! somebody please wake me up from this nightmare! As the thought crossed her mind, a more powerful one rose up, a part of her knew that she was about to make the worst mistake of her life. Deep within her, she knew her lawyer had already washed his hands off her case. One thought resonated loud and clear within her "I cannot go down without a fight!"
Holding on to the leftover courage she had, taking a pen from her handbag, Zhang Mi suddenly rose up from where she sat, surprising all that were in court, as she made her way to where Yang Lin was. He saw her approaching, but thought the very worst she would do was to slap him for betraying her.
None predicted what was to come. With the pen firmly in hand away from sight, the Zhang heiress with a quick motion, raised her hand and aimed straight for his neck! It happened all too fast and there was no way they could have stopped her. Pulling back, as blood gushed from the stab region. Surprised, but with it came calm acceptance on his face, before he staggered and slumped to the floor in the courtroom. It took a while for her action to register as the pen dropped from her bloodied hand, she was numb to what was going on, as officers from outside rushed into the courtroom on receiving a phone call from the Judge. In less than ten minutes paramedics had walked in to wheel out the unconscious body of Yang Lin covered in so much blood.
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