Ye Fei: I became an accomplice?

That ominous feeling vanished in an instant.

It was just my imagination. Nothing should go wrong with this lawsuit.

No, nothing would go wrong. Absolutely nothing!

Ye Fei repeated those words to herself.

The stated grounds for the lawsuit were fraud, but it was really just a marital dispute.

She had almost never lost a marital case, and this one would be no exception.

How could I possibly lose?

I must be overthinking it!

Ye Fei reassured herself.

At that moment.

Everyone in the courtroom focused their attention on Su Bai, waiting to see what crucial answers and evidence he could draw out through his questions.

After all...

Although the court had accepted the case, no one thought the plaintiff had much chance of winning.

Generally, marriage scams qualified as fraud when someone used the promise of marriage to extract money or property, then ran off without getting married.

The plaintiff and defendant in this case had been married for three years. Their chances of winning were not merely slim-they were remote.

They might not even be able to present a decisive argument.

In the courtroom.

Su Bai's gaze settled on Xie Jing.

He asked his first question.

"I would like to ask the defendant, Xie Jing: what was your purpose in marrying my client?"

Xie Jing hesitantly looked toward Ye Fei.

Su Bai's question puzzled Ye Fei too, but whatever his purpose was, it certainly could not benefit their side. She immediately interrupted.

"Presiding Judge, I request that this questioning be stopped."

"The plaintiff's question has no relevance to this case and cannot contribute to the court's ruling. Presumably, the next few questions will be much the same, so I request that the presiding judge stop opposing counsel from questioning my client."

Bang, bang, bang!

Yang Yu looked at Ye Fei at the defense counsel's table and struck his gavel.

"Defense counsel must not interrupt questioning during the hearing!"

"This is your first warning!"

Yang Yu turned his gaze to Su Bai.

"Counsel for the plaintiff, explain the purpose of this question and its relevance to the case."

Ye Fei breathed a long sigh of relief when she heard the presiding judge question Su Bai.

She had been prepared to receive a warning.

Her purpose had been to interrupt Su Bai's questioning and alert Xie Jing, even at the cost of a warning.

Su Bai looked at Ye Fei at the defense table and smiled slightly, revealing two white teeth.

She interrupted my questioning even knowing she would get a warning. That means she's panicking.

Good. She should panic.

The more frightened his opponent was, the more the hearing would favor him.

He refocused.

"Presiding Judge, this question is highly relevant to the case. Its purpose is to establish the defendant's subjective intent at the time."

"I am asking whether the defendant, Xie Jing, had fraudulent intent when she married my client, Zhang Tongwei."

Su Bai finished speaking.

Bang, bang.

Yang Yu struck his gavel.

"The question complies with the requirements of this hearing. Proceed."

At the same time, Yang Yu warned Ye Fei, "Defense counsel must not interrupt the questioning again, or you will receive a severe warning."

"Yes, Presiding Judge."

Having achieved her purpose, Ye Fei could hardly interrupt again.

Thanks to Ye Fei's reminder, Xie Jing was now mentally prepared. She answered:

"It was because of our feelings for each other. We got together and married out of love."

Su Bai continued questioning her:

"According to my client, you had two boyfriends before marrying him.

When you met my client, you were still dating one of them.

After learning that my client owned property slated for demolition compensation in the Southern Capital, you promptly dumped your boyfriend and got together with my client.

Was that out of love? Wasn't it because of my client's assets?"

Xie Jing panicked a little, unsure how to answer.

Ye Fei gave her a reassuring look, signaling for her to answer as she should.

Xie Jing steadied herself and blurted out, "How can you conclude that I wasn't with Tongwei out of love?!"

"I would like to ask the defendant: if you say it was out of love, why did you dump the boyfriend you were dating then? Wasn't my client's eligibility for demolition compensation in the Southern Capital even a small part of the reason?"

"Furthermore, according to our information, you badly wanted to settle in the Southern Capital, but lacked the means. Your former boyfriend lacked the means as well. Wasn't that why you chose my client?"

"No. I chose to be with Tongwei out of love!"

Xie Jing was adamant!

Those words nearly made Zhang Tongwei, the man involved, throw up.

Love?!

Love, my ass!

That's disgusting!

Zhang Tongwei was on the verge of exploding right there in the courtroom. He nearly threw up yesterday's dinner!

If Su Bai had not stopped him, he might have flown into a rage on the spot.

Just then, Ye Fei raised her hand.

Bang!

The gavel came down.

Yang Yu looked toward the defense table.

"Does defense counsel have an issue to raise?"

Ye Fei straightened her documents. "Presiding Judge, counsel for the plaintiff has already asked my client several questions. If he continues like this, he will simply be prolonging the hearing. I request that the plaintiff's questioning of my client be stopped."

Bang, bang, bang!

Yang Yu struck his gavel.

"Does counsel for the plaintiff have anything to say?"

"Presiding Judge, we have no further questions."

After hearing Su Bai's reply, Yang Yu said:

"Then counsel for the plaintiff should now present the factual basis or legal arguments concerning the defendant's alleged fraud."

"Yes, Presiding Judge."

Su Bai took a stack of spending records from his organized documents.

"These are records of spending during my client Zhang Tongwei's relationship with the defendant, Xie Jing, and after their marriage.

The spending records show that before the marriage, the defendant's financial

dealings with my client were on an equal-split basis.

After the marriage, however, her attitude became entirely one of taking."

"Furthermore, she provided financial support to her two younger brothers and her parents, infringing on my client's rights to their jointly owned assets."

Su Bai handed the spending records to the court staff member beside him.

The staff member passed them to Presiding Judge Yang Yu.

Yang Yu briefly looked through the spending records. As a man, he frowned slightly at the large sums recorded there.

Although he sympathized with Zhang Tongwei as a fellow man, these records did not constitute legal proof of Xie Jing's fraud.

"These are merely records of spending. They provide no evidence that the defendant defrauded the plaintiff.

Does counsel for the plaintiff have direct evidence of the defendant's fraudulent conduct?"

"Yes, Presiding Judge."

Su Bai had arranged everything beforehand, having Li Xuezhen print out the chat logs from Ye Fei's fan group, the videos posted on her short-video account, and the comments beneath them. Once organized, these materials were handed to the staff member beside him.

"Presiding Judge, this is the evidence that Xie Jing defrauded my client!"

"Xie Jing colluded with her retained attorney, Ye Fei, to defraud my client!"

Ye Fei: ????

I fucking became an accomplice to fraud?!

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(End of chapter)