The courtroom stirred once again. The atmosphere seemed to shift in an instant.
It was a highly dramatic moment when Paul’s innocence was confirmed and the real culprit revealed. A moment that would be permanently etched in people’s minds.
Christoph stared at the judge with a relaxed demeanor.
“I will submit an additional expert opinion on the weapon and Nina Keller’s wound later.”
“Very well.”
The judge nodded quietly. Christoph, who had given his final glance to Kline, spoke nonchalantly.
“Mr. Kline. When examining Nina’s shoe soles, I found something unusual.”
The audience was focused on his every move. Kline couldn’t hide his perplexity, and Michael couldn’t hide his dismay.
The judge asked on behalf of Kline,
“What is it, Attorney Schneider?”
“Instead of mud stains, there were traces of crushed raspberries. In fact, raspberry juice was found on her nails as well. And the only house where raspberries were planted near there was Sevan Kline’s. So, the crime scene was not the backyard of Ms. Keller, but rather the backyard of Mr. Sevan Kline.”
Kline’s face turned pale. A light of despair flashed over his eyes. All eyes were on him.
Suspicious gazes pricked him like thorns from all directions. Kline instinctively clenched his eyes shut. His body was soaked with sweat.
“I object. The attorney is leading the witness! This is not a place to question Sevan Kline, but to discuss the guilt or innocence of Paul Keller!”
Michael shouted as he stood up abruptly. But his outcry was futile. The atmosphere in the courtroom had already tilted in Christoph’s favor. Just as Michael’s forehead furrowed deeply.
“Overruled.”
The judge sided with Christoph. Michael’s lips twisted.
“How do you feel about being acquitted?”
“Did you expect Sevan Kline to confess his crime in court?”
“Do you have anything to say to the brutal murderer, Sevan Kline, who killed your daughter?”
“How do you know Attorney Christoph Schneider? Why did Schneider become Paul Keller’s lawyer?”
Reporters swarmed around Mrs. Keller and Paul. Marianne watched them from a distance.
Sevan Kline, overwhelmed by the immense pressure, eventually collapsed on the spot. What happened that day was unclear, since Michael informed him that he didn’t have to say anything without a lawyer.
However, it was clear that Kline had moved Nina’s body into his house to cover up his crime. Paul was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Kline, who had been on the witness stand, was taken away by the guards. A trial for him would take place on another day.
On the contrary, Paul was released immediately. The boy looked around with a bewildered face before rushing to Mrs. Keller. Even now, Paul looked terrified as he held onto Mrs. Keller’s hand, facing the swarm of reporters.
“Good work, Christoph.”
Marianne heard footsteps approaching from behind and discreetly licked her lips. Christoph stopped beside her with a raised eyebrow.
He cast his gaze toward Paul in the distance.
“You’re welcome. It’s all thanks to you for appearing at just the right time.”
It was an arrogant voice. A voice not at all elated by victory, as if it were a given. Marianne couldn’t help but look at him with softened eyes without even realizing it.
“……”
Christoph looked at Paul with unreadable eyes. His sharp eyes then shifted to Mrs. Keller. She was holding Paul, tears of relief and sorrow streaming down her face.
Christoph’s eyes darkened slightly. Sensing Marianne’s gaze fixed intently on him, he slowly licked his lips.
“First time.”
“What is?”
“A client shedding tears over my defense.”
Marianne slowly turned her head. The reporters were still bombarding Mrs. Keller with questions, and she tightly hugged her newly recovered son. It was a highly dramatic scene.
“It’s only natural to offer a large sum to secure a lawyer with a 100% success rate. And to expect corresponding results. Truth didn’t matter to me, Marianne. What mattered was winning. That was all. However.”
Christoph paused, briefly furrowing his brows. Mrs. Keller, supported by her neighbors, stood up, hugging Paul’s shoulders, and left.
Marianne waited for him to continue, but Christoph said no more. She quietly licked her lips.
“Christoph, you saved two lives. …No, three.”
Slowly, Christoph shifted his gaze. His eyes, black as pitch, reflected Marianne’s face.
The corners of her mouth faintly lifted—a very subtle change, but one Christoph didn’t miss.
“Mrs. Keller, Paul, and Nina as well. Thanks to you, Nina will sleep peacefully too.”
“More accurately, thanks to you, Marianne.”
Upon hearing this, Marianne’s eyes widened. Christoph added nonchalantly,
“Without you, there would’ve been no reason for me to defend them in the first place.”
His flickering gaze stared intently at her.
Her heart flinched under the heated stare. Heat and itchiness spread wherever his gaze landed. Marianne hastily composed her face. Otherwise, she felt as if her knees would give way.
Just when an uneasy silence seemed to stretch indefinitely,
“Congratulations, Christoph.”
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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