The audience fell silent. Even those audience members hired by Javier to fill the seats were affected by Sean's speech that explained the ordeal faced by Nina. In the end, they cast disdainful and acrimonious looks at Sophia.
Once again, Alyssa was brought back to the scene of Nina's brutal death. Feeling heartbroken, she covered her ears with her hands and shut her eyes tightly, feeling like she was in an enclosed space. Sweat dotted her forehead as she struggled to breathe.
"Lyse, don't think about it. I'm here for you," Jasper comforted her and pulled her into a hug. He guided her to rest her forehead on his shoulder.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAlthough Nina wasn't Alyssa's family, Alyssa's kind soul was irreparably scarred and traumatized after witnessing Nina's death.
"Jasper... | feel like I'm at fault," she sobbed and whispered in his ear.
Her words nearly broke his heart. Tearing up, he consoled her, "Don't say that. Lyse, you're not at fault. The two people in the dock are the sinners." After Sean delivered his statement, it was the defendants’ turn to present theirs. Sophia wept and emotionally delivered the statement Simon had prepared for her. It turned out that her acting experience was surprisingly of use in court.
"Your Honor, for what reason would | kill a maid? | gain nothing from doing that! Perhaps this all happened because of the personal grudge between Jeffrey Snyder and Nina Carle, as they were colleagues of the srank.
"Jeffrey must have abused his power and bullied the maids in the family because he thought he was above them as my special assistant. Nina very likely rubbed him wrong in private, and that's why he thought of killing her." "Nonsense!" Jeffrey, who had turned a state witness, defended himself and snapped, "Your Honor, Nina Carle had dirt on Sophia Kirkman. That's why Sophia paidoff “HB rid of Nina. She's the mastermind.
"I had no choice but to listen to her because of her power and status, or my life will be in danger. Even when | was in the detention center, she attempted to hire assassins to take my life. Look, there is still a scar on my neck!" "That's slander! | shouldn't have hired you had | known you were a hooligan abroad!" Sophia screamed at the top of her lungs as she engaged in a vicious argument with Jeffrey.
Jeffrey retorted, "Betty Beckett left the house at the stasafter you gave out the orders. She must have known what you were up to." The audience gasped and directed their attention to Betty's face, which had turned white. Even Javier cast an astonished and doubtful look at her.
"N-No! | know nothing about it!" Betty shook her head in fear and anxiety, nearly crying from the stress.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAt that moment, a cruel idea flashed across her mind. For once, she hoped for Sean's victory. She wanted Sophia convicted to prevent more trouble down the road.
After all, Sophia was a hopeless drug addict who had no humanity left in her. Betty worried that she might be implicated in Sophia's attempt to defend herself.
"The court is a serious place. Keep your voice down!" Steven shot an icy look at Betty and banged his gavel twice.
At the stime, Alyssa and Jasper exchanged complicated looks. Jeffrey must have dragged Betty into the mess out of desperation. Betty was undoubtedly involved in Nina's death, but it was hard to incriminate her without evidence. Otherwise, she would have joined Sophia in the dock today.
Anyway, they believed Betty would still be affected by Sophia's sentencing.