Stellerton, courtroom.
"Vixen! Shameless!"
"You killed my son, you deserve to die!"
Cecilia Vaughn sat in the defendant's seat, thinking she was just having a nightmare.
But why hasn't this nightmare ended?
Facing the sacred and solemn judge and the unfamiliar noblewoman shouting vixen at her, Cecilia Vaughn felt dizzy.
Who are they?
Wasn't she supposed to be getting engaged to Tyson? How did she end up here?
Why hasn't Tyson Law brought her to hold the engagement ceremony?
...
When the presiding judge coldly ordered silence, the noblewoman causing a scene in the courtroom was taken away, but the plaintiff's lawyer still looked at her with contempt, each word striking at her heart.
They said she killed someone.
They said she had a disgraceful relationship with Young Master Trent, whom she had never interacted with, who tried to insult her.
A confused Cecilia Vaughn suddenly awoke!
"No, I didn't! I don't even know him!"
"He tried to assault me! I was acting in self-defense!"
...
The judge knocked the gavel again, requiring the defendant to remain silent, otherwise, she would be removed from the courtroom.
As the defendant, Cecilia Vaughn could only stay silent, looking around yet not seeing her fiancé Tyson Law anywhere.
Her heart felt as if a large hole had been dug out, bleeding uncontrollably.
He... really didn't come.
Tyson, has he abandoned her?
...
The lawyers on both sides argued back and forth fiercely.
No one knew how much time had passed before a case that shouldn't have been sentenced in court was carelessly announced!
The presiding judge's voice was stern.
"Defendant Cecilia Vaughn's resistance to unlawful aggression constitutes self-defense, but her actions were excessive, exceeding the necessary limits, resulting in the victim's death, which constitutes excessive defense!"
"I now sentence the defendant Cecilia Vaughn guilty of intentional injury and sentence her to three years in prison!"
Imprisonment, three years?!
Cecilia Vaughn heard the verdict, feeling dizzy, her face turning pale.
"No, judge, according to the laws of Veridia, my actions were clearly self-defense, how is it excessive defense..."
If she hadn't struck the other with a floor lamp, she couldn't even imagine what would have happened next!
...
The judge gave Cecilia Vaughn a cold glance, and soon there were people maintaining order who came up to escort her out.
Dragged harshly out of the courtroom, Cecilia was drenched in cold sweat.
She wanted to resist, but couldn't move them an inch; just then, a graceful figure leisurely walked up to Cecilia.
"Oh, my dear sister, how pitiful you look right now?"
Cecilia Vaughn jerked her head up, seeing her stepsister Fiona Vaughn's face.
Recalling the events of the engagement day, Cecilia found it more and more suspicious.
How could it be so coincidental, the bastard had just arrived, and Fiona brought her father along!
Fiona even mentioned her lost cellphone, containing "affair" messages!
...
Thinking of this, Cecilia Vaughn's pupils contracted rapidly.
"Fiona Vaughn, was it you, did you plan all this meticulously?!"
"How could you set me up like this!"
Fiona heard that, her lips curling like a flower.
"Sister, don't say that, I totally didn't understand any setup."
Looking at the smiling face, Cecilia Vaughn was on the brink of despair, shouting and struggling vehemently.
"You won't admit it?! Where's Dad! Where's Tyson! Let Dad and Tyson Law come see me!"
"I want to appeal, I will find evidence to prove my innocence!"
...
Fiona got people to hold Cecilia back, even stepping forward to proudly look down at her.
"My dear sister, such a thing happened, Dad was so angered by his disgraceful daughter that he vomited blood, how could he come see you?"
"As for Tyson! Losing a fiancée, he's been heartbroken these past days, and I've been comforting him!"
While speaking, Fiona pretended to wipe a tear, but the mirth in her eyes was vicious to the extreme!
"Do you know how I comforted him?"
"With my body, gradually warming Tyson's heart!"
While speaking, Fiona deliberately bent over slightly!
From Cecilia Vaughn's angle, she could see Fiona's clothes covered in kiss marks!
...
Kisses, kiss marks?
Seeing those densely packed red marks, Cecilia Vaughn felt like she had been struck with a heavy blow!
Her heart, directly flayed!
At her most desperate and helpless moment, her fiancé was doing such shameless things with the stepsister who framed her into prison!
All the blood in her body froze at this moment!
And Fiona flicked her hair back, her voice full of disdain.
"Sister, you shouldn't feel that we've wronged you, after all, you're shameless, but our Vaughn Family and the Law Family still have dignity!"
"If it weren't for the Law Family hiring the most expensive lawyer and blocking the news saying you suddenly fell critically ill during your studies like your sickly brother, do you think it would be just a simple three-year imprisonment?"
Cecilia Vaughn's throat tightened, her gaze locked onto Fiona's face, with boundless hatred in her eyes!
"So, should I thank you?"
"I wish I could bite a piece of your flesh off!"
Facing Cecilia Vaughn's knife-like gaze, Fiona suddenly shivered for some reason.
This gaze is terrifying!
...
But Fiona reconsidered, it was too laughable; how could she be afraid of someone about to go to prison?
They say a fallen phoenix is worse than a chicken; Cecilia Vaughn was going to jail, and her brother wasn't going to live long, so the Vaughn family's wealth would all fall to her?!
Whether it's money or the fiancé, Cecilia Vaughn's former glory now belonged entirely to her!
"My dear sister, why bother putting on a brave front?"
"Don't worry, during your years in prison, I'll take good care of Tyson for you!"
Watching the other's increasingly pale face, Fiona was utterly satisfied before finally leaving with a victorious air.
...
Three years later.
Stellerton Prison, autumn wind bleak.
"Cecilia Vaughn, start anew after you get out, don't come back again."
After saying goodbye to the kind female prison guard who took good care of her, Cecilia changed into the prepared new clothes and left.
Nobody was waiting for her outside the prison.
Because of her early release by half a month, Cecilia Vaughn didn't tell anyone.
Upon stepping beyond the prison gates and seeing the hurried passersby across the street, Cecilia Vaughn nearly burst into tears.
It's been three years, she had spent three whole years in prison!
Who would have thought, the feeling of freedom was this precious!
...
When she was at her most destitute and helpless moment, Fiona and Tyson, those scoundrels might be madly in love?!
No life could possibly be more miserable than hers!
Tricked into an affair by her stepsister at her engagement banquet, yet her fiancé was sweet-talking with the stepsister!
Even her father coldly watched her unjustly imprisoned, conspiring with her stepmother to seize her deceased mother's inheritance!
...
Recalling the past, Cecilia Vaughn's eyes stung!
From today, she would no longer be the naïve Cecilia Vaughn of the past!
Those who hurt her will pay dearly, life is long, and she now fears nothing, let's see who will laugh last!
Cecilia Vaughn shook her head, finally determinedly hailing a taxi, her figure resolute.
She spoke softly to the taxi driver.
"Driver, to the Law Headquarters."
...
Today was a very important day.
Going to Law Headquarters not to see those scoundrels, but to persuade a person.
Adrian Law.
The current CEO of the Law Group, also her once fiancé's... brother.