As soon as I finished speaking, Jake erupted.
He shouted, “Shut up! What truth? You’re full of lies.
“Get down, your wretch!”
His outburst only confirmed his guilty conscience.§
The audience began to murmur, unsure of what was coming next.
I ignored them, signaling the staff to continue extracting my memories.
The scene shifted back to our wedding day to moments before what had been shown earlier.>
Everyone in the courtroom followed along, drawn into the unfolding story.
I overheard the conversation between Jake and Dana and couldn’t help but sneak closer to listen.
That was when I saw it unfold.
Dana held up a gold bracelet and said, “Look at this, doesn’t it seem real?}
“It’s nothing but a chunk of iron that I had plated. Looks like gold, but it’s worthless.“>
“I knew it,” Jake said. “You’d never trade two pigs for a bracelet for that wretch.“>
Dana spat in disgust. “She doesn’t deserve it. If it weren’t for her family having a bit of money, I would’ve never let you marry her.
“Now that her parents are dead, we’ll take everything. Her whole family’s wealth will be ours.“}
The image trembled.
That wasn’t from them. My body was shaking with anger.
Below, the audience gasped.}
Murmurs quickly escalated into outrage.§
“No way. This is beyond belief.”
“Giving her an iron bracelet? That’s messed up, old lady.“}
“Jake’s a real scumbag. Badmouthing his wife behind her back like that?”
Jake and Dana could hear the whispers, their faces immediately darkening.”
Dana jabbed a finger at the judge and snapped, “That’s all lies. She’s making this up. Investigate, now.”
But no one stood up for her.}
This was a moral court–a place where justice was served with complete transparency.
Among the spectators, many had undergone moral trials themselves. They understood its fairness.
Jake stopped his mother.
He muttered defensively, “It’s not like I treated her badly at first. Elena was the one who made things difficult. She demanded an insane bride price.”
I laughed bitterly.”
I said, “I asked for 300 thousand dollars, but I brought my entire fortune into the marriage.\
“That’s two rnillion dollars. Three hundred thousand for two million. I didn’t even complain about you getting a deal. But do you know what’s really interesting? After we got married, I never saw a penny.”
Jake’s face paled.
As the trial continued, another memory played out for the audience.
After the wedding, Jake refused to lift a finger around the house, ordering me around like a servant.!!
Even when I injured my back in an accident, the pain was excruciating. I couldn’t even bend down to clean the floor.
One day, the pain was unbearable, but Jake was just playing with his phone on the sofa.
Enduring the pain, I asked, “Can you go downstairs and get me some painkillers? Just the kind that costs ten dollars a bottle.”
It was the cheapest option available.
But Jake exploded.”
He snapped, “Go get your damn pills yourself. Can’t you see I’m in the middle of a ranked game? Are you blind?@
“Stop bothering me, or go die already.”
The audience gasped.”
“What kind of man is this? His wife’s injured, and he’s still making her work?”
“He wouldn’t even buy a ten–dollar bottle of painkillers. Can you imagine him buying luxury goods for his wife?“}}
“What a scumbag. Total garbage.“}
“And he tried to play the devoted husband earlier. But at home, he treats her like trash.”
Jake turned crimson with rage.
He gritted his teeth and spat out, “You’re all hypocrites. I work my ass off all day. What’s wrong with playing some games when I’m home?”
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3:40 PM
Dana chimed in with her loud, grating voice, “Women are supposed to do the housework and serve their men. I was back to work right after giving birth to Jake. Why’s she being so dramatic?”
But before they could finish, another memory flashed before everyone’s eyes.
That evening, Jake claimed he had to work late. Suspicious, I followed him to a restaurant, where I saw him meeting with a woman.>
Nicole and Dana were there too.
I hid in the shadows and eavesdropped on their conversation.
Thanks to the bug I’d planted on Jake’s phone, I heard everything.
The woman was none other than Jake’s first love, Isobel Rogers.§
He had taken out a loan to buy her luxury goods while giving me counterfeit versions of the same items.}
Isobel snuggled into Jake’s arms.
She cooed, “Jake, thank you for the gifts. I love them.“}]
Dana grinned at Isobel. “You deserve it, dear. I’ve always thought you’d make a perfect daughter–in–law, so much better than that Elena.”
Nicole eagerly added, “Isobel, I can’t wait for you to join our family. Elena disgusts me. She’s not good enough for my brother. You two are perfect for each other.“}
I felt a chill run down my spine.
Dana and Nicole were wearing clothes I had bought for them.
Feigning concern, Isobel asked, “Jake, how are you going to repay the loan?“>
Jake sneered, “That bitch will pay it off. The house is in her name, but once she’s out of the picture, it’ll be mine.“}
Isobel giggled, “You’re amazing, Jake. Love you.”
The memory ended abruptly.
By now, everyone in the courtroom understood what was going on.
Jake had been cheating on me, using loans to buy his mistress luxury items.
What he gave me were knock–offs.”
They understood why I was so mad.}
The audience erupted into insults once more.
Jake’s face burned with shame.
Dana shrank in her seat, and Nicole covered her face.
Jake stammered, “Even if I failed her, she can’t deny mistreating our son.
“It’s the fact.“D
I let out a cold laugh.
I said, “Alright, let’s see the fact.”
I replayed yet another memory.
After giving birth, I went through a period of depression, but eventually, took the boy back into our home.
But I couldn’t shake the feeling that this child wasn’t mine.}
As the boy grew, it became more and more apparent. Finally, I secretly had a paternity test done.§
The results confirmed my suspicions. He wasn’t mine.
That was when Jake finally came clean.
He said, “Okay, yes, the baby didn’t make it when you gave birth.”
“I didn’t want you to be heartbroken, so I brought this kid from a nearby village. He’s the son of a widow, who didn’t want him. I thought he’d be a good fit for us.”
Jake stood at the plaintiff’s stand, trying to justify himself.”
He said, “Your Honor, I swear, I did it for her. I didn’t want Elena to suffer. And I even had to pay the widow 50 thousand dollars to take him.
“The doctors said Elena might never be able to have children again. I couldn’t bear to see her devastated.“}]
The audience began to murmur once more.
“So, the boy isn’t even hers?”
“Jake adopted him to spare her feelings?”
“Wow, maybe the family was just trying to protect her this whole time.”
Everyone turned to me, waiting for my reaction.
But I remained calm, almost amused.
I said, “I’ll let the judge decide. I have nothing more to say.”
Then, another memory began to play.”
Billy was never an obedient boy.@
All because I had asked him to eat more vegetables and cut down on soda, he bit my arm and dumped his entire soda onto my laptop.
41 PM & d
All because I had asked him to eat more vegetables and cut down on soda, he bit my arm and dumped his entire soda onto my laptop.
All my hard work was gone.
I hadn’t even had the chance to scold him before he ran to Jake, screaming that I had hit him.&
Jake slapped me without a second thought.\
The audience finally began to see it. Billy was a born troublemaker.
This went on for years.
When Billy had a fever, I was on a flight to another city.
It was a business trip.
He was born with a weak constitution, and every time he got sick, he needed expensive medication and hospital care.
Since our marriage, Jake hadn’t given me a single cent.
I called him, furious. “Billy is sick. Where are you?“>
I could hear the clattering of cards in the background.§
His voice was annoyed. “Stop bothering me, I’m busy.
*Just take him to the hospital. You’ve got your insurance card, right? Use it for him.“>
Then, he hung up.
I stared at my dwindling bank balance and sighed.
If
I didn’t complete this project, I wouldn’t get the bonus.
Jake’s gambling habit had drained my savings.
If I stayed home to care for Billy, I wouldn’t even be able to afford his hospital bills.
The audience began to understand my predicament.”
1 signaled for them to keep watching.
When I returned, the doctor had mistaken me for someone else’s mother.
That was because Billy and I didn’t resemble each other at all.”
I had large, expressive eyes, high cheekbones, and sharp features.
Billy, on the other hand, was dark–skinned, plain, and had flat features.
To be honest, he barely resembled Jake either.”
! hadn’t questioned it when Jake once said that Billy might’ve been the child of a widow.
But later, I ran a paternity test for both Jake and Billy.§
It turned out Billy was Jake’s biological son.}
I quickly hired a private investigator to look into it, and that’s when I discovered that Billy was Jake and Isobel’s son.
Back when I gave birth, they had switched the babies.}
I overheard this during a conversation between Dana and Isobel.
That day, Dana had given me a list of chores and then went out, dolled up.
I followed her discreetly and saw her meet Isobel at the mall.
Through the bug, I heard everything.
Isobel asked, “Mom, how’s Billy? Elena hasn’t been mistreating him, has she?“}
Dana sneered, “If that bitch ever dares mistreat Billy, I’ll skin her alive.
“Don’t worry, Isobel. You just hurry up and have that second baby. Once it’s born, I’ll kick that slut out of the house and make sure she leaves with nothing.”
Isobel still looked a bit concerned.
She said, “But Billy doesn’t even look like her. What if she finds out we swapped the babies? What if she goes after us?”
Dana scoffed, “So what? That sickly brat of hers is probably dead by now. We’ve got nothing to worry about.
