My husband forced me to carry his mother uphill in a sedan chair while I was seven months pregnant and wearing a brace on one leg. My own mother walked beside us, repeating that I could rest after agreeing to end the pregnancy. Blood soaked the brace before we reached the wedding garden. Then my mother-in-law’s handbag fell open, scattering four different clinic receipts…

Two months later.

The High Court of Jing City was packed to maximum capacity. Hundreds of reporters stood outside the stone steps, their cameras flashing like lightning against the gray autumn sky.

Inside the courtroom, Julian Han and Beatrice Han sat in the wooden dock, wearing gray prison uniforms, guarded by four armed bailiffs.

Beatrice Han had aged twenty years in sixty days. Her once-impeccable silver hair was thin and matted, her face sunken, her posture stooped as if her own osteoporosis was finally crushing her spine from within.

Julian sat beside her, trembling violently, his hands tightly bound in leather restraint gloves.

Judge Harold Vance—Vance Zhao’s uncle and the most respected criminal judge in the state—gavelled the court to order.

"In the matter of the State versus Julian Han and Beatrice Han," Judge Vance declared, his voice booming across the silent courtroom. "The court has reviewed eighty-four pieces of physical evidence, including hospital server audit logs, illegal chemical import receipts, recorded wiretaps, and eyewitness testimony from ninety-two guests present at Mount Jing."

The prosecutor stood up. "Your Honor, the state requests maximum sentencing without the possibility of early parole. The defendants engaged in a calculated, long-term conspiracy to poison a pregnant woman and harvest human tissue for personal medical gain."

Beatrice Han suddenly burst into hysterical shrieks, grabbing the wooden railing of the dock. "He’s lying! I am an aristocrat! I was trying to save my family’s bloodline! That girl was nothing! She was just a surrogate we brought into our house!"

"Silence in the court!" Judge Vance slammed his gavel hard.

Julian pulled away from his mother, screaming at her through his tears, "Shut up, Mother! Just shut up! You ruined my life! You made me do this!"

"You cowardly foolish boy!" Beatrice shrieked back, trying to claw at Julian's face with her cuffed fingers. "I did it for your inheritance! You were weak!"

The courtroom watched in absolute disgust as mother and son turned on each other like rabid dogs in a cage, screaming slurs and shifting blame back and forth until the bailiffs physically separated them.

I sat in the front row of the gallery, wearing a soft cream cashmere sweater, holding a warm cup of herbal tea.

I didn't utter a single word. I didn't need to.

Judge Vance slammed his gavel three times, silencing the chaotic shouting.

"Beatrice Han," the judge declared cold and firm. "For the charges of illegal human tissue trafficking, criminal conspiracy, and reckless endangerment of human life, you are sentenced to thirty-five years in the Northern Women's Maximum Security Penitentiary."

Beatrice let out a strangled gasp, her eyes rolling back into her head as she fainted onto the concrete floor of the dock.

"Julian Han," Judge Vance continued, looking down at my ex-husband with utter disdain. "For the charges of attempted murder, spousal abuse, forced pharmaceutical poisoning, and corporate fraud, you are sentenced to twenty-eight years in state prison."

Julian fell to his knees, sobbing hysterically, beating his forehead against the wooden floorboards. "Mabel... Mabel, save me! MABEL!"

I stood up slowly from my seat, assisted gently by Vance Zhao.