28: COURTROOM (PART 2)

[INDICTMENT]

Ms. Bao Hwei Ru stood up from the table, inhaling deeply and lifting her chest to give herself confidence. It's not her first time at the court and she's not afraid to fight the stare the woman sitting on the plaintiff's box is giving. What makes her knees tremble is Long Li Jun gazing at her with low eyes of dismay.

Her heart throbs like a little devil in a cage, wildly fighting the temptation to run towards Li Jun and wrap her arms around his broad shoulders. She took a glance at the man's face and saw his thin cheeks from the stress of staying in jail. The sight smashes her heart into pieces as she realizes how greatly the situation affected the man she loves.

Yet, Hwei Ru reminds herself, this is to make Wang Xiu look like a fool like the way the woman did while kissing Li Jun in front of her. She begins to question the woman with the intent to destroy the executive's reputation.

"Ms. Zhang, are you sure you didn't invite Director Lim inside your room that night?" Ms. Bao asks, standing in front of the plaintiff's box where the woman sits looking unguarded with her misty eyes. 

"Yes," Wang Xiu answers.

"And yet in this video," Hwei Ru points at the monitor with the remote control and playback a scene, "You opened the door before you slammed it hard towards the director. Why?" The female counselor raises a question with a stern and dominant voice.

"I plan to go out and call my cousin who is in the room adjacent to mine." The victim stares at the female lawyer from head to feet, studying every corner of the woman's appearance.

Ms. Bao Hwei Ru came to the court to compete, not for his client's innocence but for Long Li Jun's affection. The black tailored feminine suit and skirt with a cream white shirt underneath that has a deep V-neckline enhances the woman's elegance. The additional confidence for standing with her chin high and giving Wang Xiu a blank expression is adding a sense of authority to her charm. A trait that Li Jun is most attracted to. And the woman wants to flaunt that it is not only Wang Xiu who can look powerful.

"Why didn't you call him on your mobile phone?" The counselor begins to inquire again.

"It was my immediate reaction from fear." Wang Xiu replies.

"Or maybe that wasn't your plan at all and you DID invite him inside." Ms. Bao struts and turns to face the jury then paces back towards the victim.

"I wouldn't resist if I invited him inside." Wang Xiu explains.

"If you didn't push the door close, do you think the director will push it back towards you?" The defense counselor interrogates the plaintiff.

"Objection your honor!" Ms. Tang exclaims, "The counselor is suggesting a manner that will happen otherwise to blame the plaintiff for the director's action when the issue here is the consent." 

"Sustained." The arbiter ruled.

"You said you have a headache, how sure are you that you said no to the director and didn't hallucinate the attempt." Ms. Bao stopped pacing and stood glaring with her narrow eyes at the plaintiff.

"Objection your honor. The plaintiff suffered a bruise on the shoulder. If there was consent there shouldn't be any need to force my client." The plaintiff's counselor argues her motion.

"Sustained." The judge decree.

Mr. Yang watches the woman questioning the plaintiff, gradually losing confidence at each turn when every question they prepared is deflected by Ms. Zhang's lawyer. The defense counselor purses his lips and realizes he should have prepared Hwei Ru with their tactics.

Ms. Bao Hwei Ru is good but Ms. Tang is better and when it comes to Ms. Zhang, they two become formidable.

Hwei Ru starts her interrogation at a fast pace. A way to catch liars with their deception is to get them confused with their fib. She stands in front of Wang Xiu to engage in a battle of wit. All she has to do is confuse the woman and let the jury discover the woman's pretentious nature.

"Before going back to your hotel room, didn't you and Director Lim go to a bar?" 

"A karaoke bar with crews and employees of the company."

"Did you drink beer?"

"I drank a couple."

"Can you remember specifically, how many?"

"Two."

Wang Xiu let out a quick smile. Honey has warned her about the kind of tactic that the defense will be using to gain an upper hand. They will ask fast questions, catch her in a lie and challenge her sanity at the time of the attempt. They suspect Ms. Bao will be the one to test her since the woman has prior knowledge of the events at the karaoke bar where they confronted each other.

"And you said you have a headache at that time of the attempt?"

"I had a headache because I hit my head against the cubicle door in the lady's room at the karaoke bar."

"And you are still certain you didn't hallucinate saying no to my client."

"The director knows I drank beer, he knows I hit my head. He has full knowledge of my vulnerability and he used it to take advantage of me. He thinks if he keeps on insisting I would gradually say yes or I wouldn't remember saying no, but I do."

The long speech stunned Hwei Ru. The woman has a good point, they can't argue about the woman's sanity because that is the reason the director behaved badly. Wang Xiu was vulnerable that night, not only was the woman drunk, she hit her head.

'Did I involuntarily participate in Wang Xiu's assault?' Hwei Ru asks herself.

"Counselor???"

"Counselor???"

"Ms. Bao???"

"Yes???" Hwei Ru startles as her mind flies back to her present.

"Are you alright, Ms. Bao???" The arbiter yells, he hits his gavel on the board to make the whispers in the room stop, "Counselor, approach the bench, please."

The counselor steps towards the wooden podium where the judge sits. She scans the room and watches the people in the courtroom murmurs about her sudden mindlessness.

"Do you want to rest???" The judge asks with his worried face, leaning his face closer to the young lawyer.

"Yes, your honor." Ms. Bao shakes her head to comply with the arbiter's advice.

"We'll have a one-hour recess." The judge ruled and hit his gavel hard on the board to let everyone in the courtroom hear his motion.

Hwei Ru glances at the man sitting at the chair behind the table, waiting for her explanation when her mind suddenly runs blank in the middle of the examination. Their plan to make Ms. Zhang looks like a manipulative woman who preys on men and blackmails them with an attack is a tactic she doubts will succeed. 

Is she feeling guilty? Hwei Ru questions her conscience.

The young counselor walks out of the courtroom and goes straight to the lady's room, passing by the photographers and journalists in the hallway.

The chilling feeling of the water against Hwei Ru's face relaxes the nerves quivering underneath her skin. The realization of her participation that propels a criminal act is appalling to her mind. She became a lawyer because of her great belief in justice and truth. Defending the director is against all that and it became a matter of pride to defeat Ms. Zhang Wang Xiu.

Is this the right thing to do?

Hwei Ru scoops the cold water falling from the faucet and splashes it on her face. Her waterproof makeup remained perfectly intact on her cheeks. She stares at the mirror ahead and sees the "Tiger Empress" gazing at her perfectly polished earth tone nails that make the woman's fingers look long and elegant.

Ms. Tang Hiu Ying is her brother's ex-girlfriend and one of the women that influenced her to be a lawyer. She remembers looking up to the woman as an older sister but when her brother broke up with the counselor, their relationship also became bitter.

"Wang Xiu doesn't love Li Jun, she's only making you jealous," Honey divulges leaning her body against the wall that separates the cubicles behind her.

"Why would she make me jealous?" Hwei Ru replies, reaching for the napkins near the washbasin and softly dabs her cheeks with the thin sheets of paper to dry her skin.

"So you'll fight for what you want." Ms. Tang took a few steps forward, "You're a good lawyer, you have a choice to be what you want and get what you want."

"What do you mean?" The young counselor's brows furrowed over her narrow eyes.

"You see Li Jun with her mother? She would want to match his son to someone loyal to their family." Honey turns and walks towards the door, "You should meet her."

The lawyer left the loo leaving Hwei Ru to contemplate her decision. Honey 

Bao Hwei Ru gazes at the mirror and recalls the words of the man she years to hold in her arms.

I like you.

Ethically, she should have declined to join the defense as she was also a witness to the crime but her boss Mr. Yang insists she remains as part of the team of lawyers working on one of the big cases of the firm. A woman on their side who is also at the scene can help their client tell his interpretation of the story, making Wang Xiu look like the liar between them.

But doing so, she looks like a tyrant against Li Jun's family.

"I have a choice to be what I want and get what I want," Hwei Ru mumbles.

She closes her eyes and inhales the cold air of the room exhaling loudly as her body expels the element that her body doesn't require to have in her system. When she opens her view, she gazes at herself in the mirror and smiles. Hwei Ru goes out of the lady's room and struts back to the courtroom where the lawyers and visitors wait for the judge to arrive.

"Are you alright?" Mr. Yang turns to his co-counselor sitting beside him with a wide smile on the woman's face.

"I'm good," Hwei Ru answers, she turns her face towards Li Jun's direction and catches the man staring at her with his longing eyes.

When the judges arrived, all of them stood up to give respect to the law that the arbiter signifies. After the judges sat on the bench of the courtroom, all of the lawyers sat down except Ms. Bao Hwei Ru.

"Your honor, I would like to recuse myself from this court." Ms. Bao confidently declares.

"MS. BAO???" Mr. Yang exclaims with his eyes wide from the unexpected announcement of his co-counselor.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Yang…" The young counselor mutters, she stares at the man beside her and nods her head to show respect and gratitude to the senior and managing partner of the firm that she works for.

Ms. Bao knows her decision can make the firm terminate her contract but she's not afraid. She did the right thing for herself and believed in the truth that she knows.

This is the smartest thing she could do to her career. Show the people that she has dignity and at the same time, stand beside the person she loves.

"Order in the court!!!" The judge strikes his gavel as the noise of whispering journalists fills the courtroom.

"We will continue this trial tomorrow. I hope Mr. Yang will be able to pull through with this alone and have a better argument," The judge announces, "The court is adjourned."