Estre held Zoey’s hands tightly, nodding affirmatively, “That’s right.” She then said, “Zoey, I promise
I’ll uncover the truth behind your sister’s injuries.”
“Estre, thank you!”
“It’s what anyone would do.”
After spending some time with Zoey in the hospital room, Estre left. She had yet to see Nick show
up. Since taking on this case, Estre had visited the hospital five times and hadn’t bumped into Nick
even once.
Clearly, there was trouble in paradise. At the very least, Nick was a huge part of the problem. His
affection for Lexi seemed minimal, or else he wouldn’t have stayed away from the hospital for so long.
Gripping the steering wheel, Estre mulled over the case details until the car behind honked, pulling
her back to reality – the traffic light had turned green.
As she stepped on the gas to drive off, her gaze inadvertently fell on a ck Mercedes SUV across the
street. To her surprise, Nick was seated in the passenger seat.
The driver was a woman who appeared slightly older than Nick, not strikingly beautiful but exuding a
mature allure. Moreover, that Mercedes SUV was high-end, definitely out of Nick and Lexi’s price
range.
At this moment, Nick looked somber and lost while the woman casually held the steering wheel with
one hand. If Estre’s hunch was right, it looked like their hands were intertwined from a distance.
She kept her eyes on the Mercedes SUV until a horn honked behind her again, prompting her to pick
up speed. As the two cars crossed paths, Estre quickly dialed her colleague, “Keegan, can you help
me run a license te and find the car owner?”
“No problem, Estre. Shoot me the te number,” replied the assistant attorney back at
the office.
Estre ryed the te number she’d memorized to her colleague. Her instincts told her there was
more than meets the eye between Nick and this woman, which might be
N?velDrama.Org content.
connected to Lexi’s fall.
Three days after spotting Nick, Lexi’s case went to trial. The judge introduced the parties and their
lawyers and then announced the official start of the proceedings, allowing Estre to present the
intiff’s demands.
As Estre detailed the old injuries on Lexi, medical reports, and evidence of strangtion marks on
Lexi’s neck from the day she fell, Nick’s expression grew darker. His icy re at Zoey was downright
frightening as if he could devour her whole.
After outlining the intiff’s suspicions and demands, Estre nced at Nick and then turned to the
judge. “Your Honor, in light of the evidence presented and the defendant’s apparent apathy and failure
to fulfill his spousal duties, we are charging the defendant, Nick, with assault and attempted murder.”
Having stated her case, Estre saw Nick point usingly at Zoey. Assault. Murder. Zoey had the gall.
Nick’s gesture wasn’t missed by the judge, who warned, “Defendant, this is a courtroom. Mind your
behavior.”
That was when Nick’s mother burst out from the gallery. “Zoey, you viper! What have we ever done to
wrong you or your sister? Sure, my son might have been too busy with work to visit the hospital often,
but haven’t he and I visited? Your sister’s beenatose and hasn’t woken up once. Are we expected
to keep vigil by the bedside of someone who’s unconscious 24/7? You bitch. How dare you use my
son of assault and murder. You gonna pay for this!”
The judge had to bang the gavel to remind Nick’s mother to control her emotions, or she’d be asked to
leave.
After she reluctantly sat down, the judge asked Nick, “Defendant, do you have any response to the
intiff’s attorney’s statement?”
Nick rose from his seat, facing Estre. “Your Honor, thiswyer must be talking about someone else
because I haven’t done any of the things she’s using me of. I neverid a hand on my wife, and I
certainly didn’t push her off the third floor.”
Estre probed, “Are you aware that your wife Lexi frequently had injuries?”
Nick retorted, “No.”
Estre pressed, “With such a close rtionship, you never noticed her injuries?”
Nick scoffed, “Who has the time to inspect her all day? I believe Lexi might have been hurt, and I
ept that your reports are real. But I didn’t cause those injuries. If you want to seek justice for her,
find the real culprit instead of throwing around baseless suspicions.”
Zoey couldn’t hold back any longer. Standing up, she faced Nick, “You’re lying. My sister’s injuries were
obvious. You must have known. And the marks on her neck the day she fell
my mother even asked you about them.”
Nick shot a cold nce at Zoey. “If you want to know about your sister’s bruises, you should ask her.
Maybe she got them fooling around behind my back.”
Enraged by his insinuation, Zoey eximed, “How dare you use my sister like that?”
Nick retorted, “If you can suspect me of murder, why can’t I suspect her of infidelity? Who knows if her
guilt drove her to jump?”
In the gallery, Haley was wiping away tears at Nick’s words, and Jeffrey was shaking with
anger. How could he have been so blind to give his daughter away to such a man? Nick’s words and
demeanor that day only deepened Lexi’s family’s suspicion that her injuries and fall were no ident.
After his outburst, Nick smugly added, “Zoey, if you suspect I’m linked to your sister’s death, you better
come up with solid evidence instead of trying to convict me with empty usations.”
Zoey challenged him, “Then let us investigate your house. You better release your home surveince
footage.”
“With the way you’re grilling me, you think I’d just hand you the keys to my kingdom?” Nick chuckled,
shaking his head with a feigned pity that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Sorry, sweetheart. I’ve got ns
for at least a few more Thanksgivings, and I don’t intend to spend ’em pushing up daisies.”
“Nick,” Zoeyretorted, her voice dripping with an usation as pointed as the heels she refused to run
in, “you’re dodging the issue. Guilty conscience much?”