My So-Called Family

At the Court of Judgment…

I walked up to the bench with a numb face.

Everyone stared at me, their faces full of different emotions. Anger, resentment, contempt, disgust, mockery…

But there was no sympathy.

"I heard she was still struggling before coming up here. Clearly, she didn't want to face the court. She must feel guilty."

"Hmph! She abused her parents, cheated on her fiance, stole her adopted sister's assets, and even tried to kill her own older brother... Any one of those charges would be enough to put her away!"

"Yeah! Vicious people like her are better off dead."

"If you ask me, there's no need for a trial at all. Just euthanize her and be done with it."

Hearing their comments, I gave a bitter smile.

In their eyes, I was a vicious woman who had done nothing but evil. They all wished I would just die here and now.

I was a little over a month pregnant. Just when I was looking forward to my wedding, my fiance dragged me before the Court of Judgment along with my parents and brothers. They piled charge after charge on me, trying to make sure I would be put to death in the name of justice.

If the judge found me guilty, I would be executed on the spot.

After I died, my cornea would be transplanted into my adopted sister, Sandy. My assets and my insurance money would go to them as well.

I never thought that one day, I would be betrayed by both love and family.

It was a fatal blow!

I touched my stomach. Even though I had a new life growing inside me, I felt like a broken, lifeless doll. Unbearable pain spread through every part of me, and tears quickly welled in my eyes.

Even though my fiance knew I was carrying his child, he didn't care about the baby or us. He still chose to hurt me.

When I saw him with my adopted sister in his arms, I finally realized… He had fallen for her.

He betrayed me and abandoned our love.

My parents and brothers hated me, too. They had always favored my adopted sister. For eight years, they had made my life miserable. All along, I was just supposed to pave a path for her.

When she lost vision in one eye, they wanted me to donate my cornea. My refusal was the reason my fiance, my parents, and my brothers staged this trial. They accused me of every crime they could imagine.

At times, I even wondered if Sandy was the real daughter and I was just an unloved orphan.

I used to yearn for love, craved it desperately.

I had always humbled myself and tried to please them, just to get even the tiniest bit of affection. It wasn't until I entered the Court of Judgment that I finally saw through it all.

They had never loved me.

No… They weren't worth loving. The so-called love and family were nothing but a joke!

And so, when my fiance and my family stabbed me in the back… I decided to retaliate. I asked the judge to use the latest medical technology to extract my memories and project them on the big screen, so he and hundreds of jurors could see everything for themselves.

"Lauren Baker, are you sure you're ready to face the consequences if you lose this trial?" the judge asked with a cold and stern expression.

"If I lose, I die," I answered nonchalantly.

Death didn't scare me—but I wasn't going to let them have their way.

The judge turned to my parents and my brothers, and raised his voice. "If you lose this case, then…"

Before he could finish, my father, Arnold, cut the judge off impatiently. "We're not going to lose! This witch has committed so many crimes. Any one of them is enough to execute her."

My mother, Miranda, agreed. "That's right! There's no way we'll lose."

My oldest brother, Carl, urged irritably, "Let's just get started! The sooner she's dead, the less trouble for everyone."