Because the hotel is located in the busiest comrcial center of Los Angeles, primarily catering to business people, many successful business elites from Los Angeles prefer to choose this place for negotiations. Thus, the hotel is concerned about leaking guests’ whereabouts and has not installed surveillance in certain areas.
Sienna Thornton and her group successfully entered the hotel, only to get stuck in the elevator.
The floor Zane Forrester was staying on was the executive level, and without a special access card, you couldn’t even access the elevator. The male lawyer devised a plan to disguise himself as a tenant and book a room on the sa floor.
The room Zane Forrester stayed in that night, after the police finished their investigation and collected evidence, was tidied up by the hotel and continued to be used by other guests. Right now, soone else is staying there, and they boldly went to knock on the door, explaining their purpose to the occupant before taking a quick look inside.
The scene had already been destroyed, and nothing could be found from it anymore. Sienna Thornton ca here to simulate the situation from the night of the incident at the cri scene, constructing a spatial understanding of the cri scene in her mind.
Back at the law firm, investigators had also found so information.
The key witness in the case, on the surface, was the victim’s roommate, but secretly she was also a rival in love, because she quickly hooked up with the victim’s boyfriend after the victim fell into a coma.
The lawyers believed this kind of situation is very common; young girls are indeed easily caught up in rivalries and take a fancy to their friend’s male companions.
Sienna Thornton didn’t want to overlook even the slightest possibility, so she instructed the investigators to continue digging.
...
After several days of investigation and evidence collection, because the defense did not have direct and strong evidence to convince the prosecution to drop charges, Zane Forrester had to continue being held in custody.
A preliminary hearing was scheduled at the beginning of February, and Zane Forrester’s lead attorney was the only one required to attend; Sienna Thornton and Simon Forrester prepared to return to their ho country and co back for the formal trial in mid-February.
Before they left the country, they visited Zane Forrester one last ti in holding.
Zane Forrester wore a short-sleeved prison uniform, with a purple mark on his arm, clearly from being beaten, looking much more miserable than when they last saw him before his pre-trial examination.
Sienna Thornton felt a bit distressed, but was more worried about Simon Forrester.
Simon Forrester did not show any emotion, his face was calm, but she knew that Simon Forrester, in this state, was more pained than anyone else inside.
Sienna Thornton didn’t have ti to think more, she cherished the limited visitation ti.
However, when it ca to discussing the case with Zane Forrester, she found herself unable to speak... After all, Zane Forrester was her father-in-law.
She summoned her courage and was about to speak when Simon Forrester spoke first: "The police found a safety bag in your room, there were victim’s hairs on the sofa, and..."
His face flushed as he talked about these matters with his father, it was genuinely awkward and humiliating. He paused for a mont, then looked up at Zane Forrester, his gaze sharp: "And there were the victim’s skin flakes under your fingernails! How do you explain that?"
Zane Forrester was shocked, his eyes widening as he looked at Simon Forrester: "Impossible! I don’t know that woman at all, how could there be such things?!"
Simon Forrester averted his eyes, not wanting to even look at Zane Forrester. Throughout his stay in Los Angeles, this was the first ti he exhibited such extre annoyance.
Zane Forrester’s expression was indignant, and he said little.
Seeing that ti was running short, Sienna Thornton went for broke, asking, "Are you sure the victim did not enter your room that night?"
Zane Forrester stated firmly: "Absolutely! If that woman ever entered my room, I would be struck dead by lightning at night!"
Simon Forrester snorted coldly, looking out the window. His deanor clearly expressed disbelief.
Sienna Thornton felt awkward.
She pressed her lips together, saying, "Then could you think carefully again, is there any possibility you interacted with the victim anywhere else? Also, you ntioned that a friend was in your room from 10 PM until 2 AM, which coincides with the victim’s ti of harm. If you can provide us the contact information for this friend, we can get her to testify to your alibi, and this case has great hope of winning."
Zane Forrester remained silent for a mont, his head down.
Simon Forrester glanced at him, coldly stating, "The safety bag was used together with that person, wasn’t it?"
Sienna Thornton: "..."
Simon Forrester: "Given this close relationship, she should be willing to testify for your alibi, right?"
Zane Forrester remained silent. Minutes slipped by, until the detention officer ca to escort him away, he still refused to divulge any information about the other person.
Watching Zane Forrester’s back as he was escorted away, Simon Forrester shook his head, all anger on his face transford into sarcasm.
Back at the law firm, Sienna Thornton imdiately shifted the direction of discussion with other lawyers. They speculated that the woman who had been involved with Zane Forrester that night was either a woman Zane Forrester wanted to protect, unable to be exposed; or she was a call girl whose na and contact details were unknown...
Regarding Zane Forrester’s case, Simon Forrester beca more silent. Until he and Sienna Thornton returned to their ho country and each resud their work, temporarily distancing themselves from the oppressive atmosphere in Los Angeles, their mood improved sowhat.
...
Sienna Thornton returned to work at the Treaty and Law Departnt, coinciding with the long holiday after the Spring Festival, so everyone rely assud she had been busy before the holiday or had taken two days off due to pregnancy-related discomfort. However, during casual chats, so subordinates asked where she had gone for vacation during the New Year; she almost let it slip out but ended up saying she spent the holiday in Los Angeles with her husband, leading everyone to assu that it was because wealthy people prefer traveling abroad for leisure, unable to imagine it was because of troubles in her in-law family.
Mid-February, just as Sienna Thornton was going to request leave from Director-General Linton to head to Los Angeles, Director-General Linton first inford her that the departnt greatly appreciated her high efficiency in resolving one major case annually during her two-year tenure with the Treaty and Law Departnt. Her individual capability far surpassed that of another competitor, and considering her familial relationship with Quentin Thorne, the departnt had carefully decided on appointing her to the position of Deputy Director-General of the Treaty and Law Departnt, rely awaiting Director-General Linton’s resignation at the end of February, at which point she could imdiately assu the role.
After hearing Director-General Linton’s words, Sienna Thornton’s feelings turned from thrilled and excited to conflicted and regretful.
The end of February coincided with the trial for Zane Forrester’s case in Los Angeles, which would require several working days; it was uncertain how long she would need to stay in Los Angeles. If she temporarily left the Treaty and Law Departnt at this critical mont, then...
She fell into a dilemma, temporarily not ntioning to Director-General Linton her intention to request long leave, planning to carefully consider it once she returned ho this evening, before deciding how to proceed.
She didn’t want to discuss this matter with Simon Forrester. If Simon Forrester found out, he certainly would not agree to her attending Zane Forrester’s trial in Los Angeles.
The sa went for Quentin Thorne...
That evening, Sienna Thornton returned ho, locked herself in the study to ticulously review Zane Forrester’s case files again.
All evidence in this case was very direct and brutal, with the only sowhat flimsy aspect being the victim’s testimony.
After being rushed to the hospital for ergency treatnt, the victim briefly regained consciousness. At that ti, the police recorded her statent, and she personally confird that Zane Forrester was the perpetrator. Afterward, due to severe internal bleeding, the victim has remained comatose, making the turning point in this case reliant solely on one opportunity, that is summoning the victim to testify in court, using cross-examination to detect weaknesses in the victim’s testimony, breaking through the current fog-like case situation.
It’s just that, given the victim is still in a coma now, whether she can be called to court at that ti remains unknown. In such a scenario, Zane Forrester’s lead counsel would likely request a postponent, waiting for the victim to recover before resuming the trial proceedings. If so, then Sienna Thornton has little reason to return to Los Angeles this ti.
She was already inclined to remain ho for now.
But just the following morning, while still asleep, Simon Forrester received a call from Los Angeles saying the victim in Zane Forrester’s case had regained consciousness, and Zane Forrester’s lead attorney had decided to request the victim be summoned to testify in court.
Sienna Thornton imdiately decided to accompany Simon Forrester to Los Angeles three days later.
When she went to request leave from Director-General Linton, he was very surprised, asking if she could hold off on taking leave until her appointnt took place, she said no. Director-General Linton further inquired about her potential return date, suggesting perhaps he could negotiate with the departnt, trying to relax the tiline slightly for Sienna Thornton’s rise to Deputy Director-General.
Upon hearing Sienna Thornton’s indefinite leave request, potentially lasting several months, Director-General Linton regretfully shook his head.
Sienna Thornton left the Director-General’s office defeated, head in a daze as she returned to her own office. Once the door closed, her eyes brimd with tears...
She knew she truly missed out this ti; her good fortune seed to have nearly run dry...
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