Like a giant night elf, a wide black Mercedes Benz RV drove silently across the wide main road of Litchfield County, stopping in a small square around the bend of the street.

Bai Xinrui and Huang Yaqian walked out of the car accompanied by lawyers, assistants and others.

Huang Yaqian, who was wearing a black and white Chanel suit, walked at the front, and her oversized sunglasses covered all the expressions on her cheeks, only the red lips were extremely eye-catching.

She glanced up at the old Lichfield County Government building across the street, which looked more like a chapel or library, barely tall against the backdrop of the surrounding buildings.

may still be a very good scenery in the eyes of uninformed tourists, but in the eyes of Huang Yaqian, it is not as grand as the house that the child's father gave to the mistress.

She snorted from her nostrils in frustration, secretly wondering, how much the local government in the United States can't open the pot? I don't know if there is air conditioning in it.

If Bai Jiawei hadn't repeatedly emphasized the need to keep a low profile, how could she have asked her lawyer to prosecute the case in such a county court, and according to her own temperament, she would have been eager to take the matter to Boston or even Washington.

The shabby county government building in the eyes of the middle-aged lady is a brown-red four-story brick and stone Gothic building, on which a small Roman-style white bell tower is erected, and a rusty and green lightning rod is inserted into the top of the bell tower, like a spike reaching to the sky, destroying a certain tranquility and harmony.

If it weren't for the American flag fluttering from the stainless steel flagpole on the building's front, it could easily have been hidden among most of the town's older buildings.

When Huang Yaqian's gaze fell on the golden badge carved with the balance pattern above the portico of the county government*, the narrow beauty hidden behind the sunglasses jumped imperceptibly. Nothing can stop her from continuing to hold her head high, swaying forward, and walking the red carpet with the momentum of the film festival.

Bai Xinrui, dressed in a long black dress, followed her mother, wearing a pair of black soft sheepskin flats, her slender ankles inadvertently peeking out from under the wind-blown skirt.

Except for the white gold bracelet with a pendant on her wrist, she had no other frills on her body, and her makeup was so light that it was almost invisible, which was a rarity for her.

At this moment, her delicate and enchanting face was devoid of the usual tension, and her empty eyes were unrelenting, making her look like she was going to a funeral.

Walking through the small square in front of the courthouse, she saw the white marble statue of Goddess Giustitia beside the fountain facing the county government gate, the goddess of justice in Greek mythology, who presided over the law.

She wears a crown on her head, holds a balance in her left hand, and holds a long sword in her right hand, even though she has experienced hundreds of years of sunshine and wind and rain, her white robe is still spotless, but a pair of affectionate doves have fallen on the balance that symbolizes order and fairness, and at this moment, they are cooing and cooing to each other as if no one is around.

"Things have come to this point, tomorrow, you can't drop the chain for me in court! Otherwise, it's all over! Yesterday at home, the scene of Huang Yaqian giving her a lecture, together with those unearmarked words, lingered in Bai Xinrui's mind vividly.

Her feet moved a few steps forward mechanically, and her gaze rose from the pair of doves to the resolute chin and stubborn lips of the goddess, whose eyes were covered with a white cloth, and she did not know what it meant, but she was glad that she did not have to look at her at this moment.

Looking up at the sky, then, closing her eyes, Huang Yaqian's glass-like sharp voice rang in her ears: "...... It turns out that no matter how many boyfriends you have, I don't care about you, as long as you don't have such a shameful thing, you can mess around as much as you like! Unexpectedly, you let this poor boy take advantage of it. Although the wealthy families in the United States have always had an unrestrained style, and if you marry in the future, those people may not seriously care about your past, but the value will always fall! The old one is worth more, you know it yourself, right? ”

"Tick-" The car whistle and she realized she was standing in the middle of the intersection.

Walking with difficulty to the feet of the goddess, she felt more and more of her own humility and insignificance, and she breathed a sigh of relief in her chest, holding her breath so hard that her fingers involuntarily clenched the star pendant on the bracelet.

Bai Xinrui walked like a corpse through the wide street and up the stone steps in front of the county government building, still feeling the goddess next to the fountain watching her from behind through the white cloth on her eyes, her burning gaze on her back.

To get to the county high court on the second floor, you have to pass through the noisy and dayless office of the county government on the first floor, which Bai Xinrui guessed should be the county tax office, the industrial and commercial office, and the estate review committee...... and so on.

At this moment, in front of each coupon-shaped arch on the first floor, there were some people standing or sitting on the ground, and the low-decibel hum was noisy, and through one thick wall after another, Bai Xinrui seemed to be able to see that a group of pale little clerks were burying their heads in the red seals on those old files.

Climbing two wooden stairs that turn back, the group panted into the courtroom of the county courthouse. The tone of the entire courtroom was dark brown, old and dark, and the lights needed to be turned on even during the day. The air smelled of moldy old books, and it looked at least two hundred years old, and it certainly hadn't been renovated once in the last fifty years.

Bai Xinrui followed the footsteps of her mother and the entrusted agent all the way inside, and walked into the plaintiff's bench surrounded by a carved wooden fence.

She found it to be in an excellent position, with a view of all corners of the courtroom except for the auditorium behind her. However, even without looking back, she knew that the audience was empty, and her mother asked the lawyer to apply for a closed trial process in order to protect the privacy of her minor.

Bai Xinrui glanced longingly at the dock on the opposite side, which was enclosed by an oak fence, and the longing for William for days became especially strong at this moment before she was about to meet him.

The red-haired boy who once made her heart flutter, handsome and talented.

The thought of his handsome face, burning gaze, and wild quest made her body tremble.

Bai Xinrui had imagined what he looked like more than once, perhaps, he was wearing shabby and dirty prison uniforms, perhaps, his hair was messy like weeds, however, that would only make him look tougher and more manly, and at the same time, the demeanor of the male god with his own luminous body would jump out of the cruel and ruthless reality and shine more dazzlingly.

The sturdy wooden platform at the front of the courtroom was still empty, and on the large courtroom lay a very heavy book, wrapped in a dark brown gilded sheepskin cover, and a wooden gavel inlaid with a golden waistline lay quietly and peacefully on a small round wooden cushion.

Behind the courtroom was a high-backed dark green cowhide chair, and from the shiny gold rivets on it, it could be roughly judged that the county magistrate was a conscientious man.

Behind the chair, in the center of the cherry wood panelled wall, is a large round gold badge engraved with a scale, and above the badge is a golden eagle with outstretched wings, as if silently demonstrating the majesty of the law, and the American and Connecticut flags on either side of the chair become the official endorsement of this majesty.

The jury sat under the long window on the right, but the twelve members of the jury and one alternate member had already arrived, all of them with serious expressions and looking even more helpless than the plaintiffs themselves.

Huang Yaqian, who had already sat in the center of the plaintiff's seat, tugged her daughter's hand and motioned for her to sit down with a dissatisfied look.

Bai Xinrui bit her lip and returned to her mother's side with trepidation, and before she could sit down, she saw several prison guards escorting William, who was wearing orange prison clothes, to the dock.

Bai Xinrui quickly broke free of her mother's hand, leaned on the fence again, and clenched the star pendant on the bracelet with her fingers.

Is this still the same William she has in mind?

The man on the other side had a thin and almost sunken face, a glazed gaze, and his cheeks were covered with an old-fashioned green stubble. The skin exposed from the prison uniform was as white as a vampire, as fragile as if it could not withstand any outside light and air, and the whole person was haggard and tired, shrouded in a kind of mediocre and decadent lower class civic atmosphere.

It is not difficult for anyone to see that he has done his best to keep himself clean for this trial, however, the cold and heavy shackles on his hands and feet, and the overly brightly colored prison clothes on his body, stand out in the solemn and solemn courtroom, as if to remind everyone of his special status.

It's changed, it's all changed!

Bai Xinrui's heart was suddenly stabbed by a thick and hard thorn, and her eyes were suddenly filled with tears.

What about her William? That tall, handsome, noble and elegant boy, the most beautiful boy in her heart?

Tears swirled in circles in her eyes, and only by desperately keeping her eyes open could she control them from pouring out. She stubbornly tried, trying to see the familiar and strange man again through the hazy tears.

Suddenly, she saw the shocking scar on the other man's forehead, and even his untrimmed red hair could not hide it. The skin growth makes the healed wound slightly raised, and the newly arched pink flesh is intertwined with the putten wound and dark brown bruises, which is terrifying to look at.

Apparently, he was a hundred times worse than she thought!

At this time, even if this former model preppy student and student council president walked on the streets of the general public in normal clothes, no one would look at him more.

Gone are the fiery enthusiasm and youthful spirit, replaced by mortal souls who struggle with dust nets, are tormented by all kinds of anger, and finally see through everything.

Bai Xinrui began to curse in her heart the novelists who were good at writing romantic stories with the swing of the pen, and it was they who dressed her imagined down-and-out teenager in a tragic trench coat that was too flashy and full of end-of-life heroes.