Chapter 3

I pressed a hand to my chest and forced myself to breathe evenly as my memories were extracted.

By then, the large screen had already begun playing Hazel's memories.

"Now playing selected memory segments from the defendant, Hazel Cooper," the court staff said.

Onscreen, a younger Hazel leaned shyly against me, beautiful and gentle, her arms wrapped around my waist. "Dear, you're going on a business trip tomorrow. The baby and I will miss you. Come back quickly."

My response was flat, almost distracted. "Okay. Go to bed early. If you stay up too late, the baby will start acting up in your belly and hurting you again."

After that, it was shown that I was almost never home.

Hazel was left to hold the household together—cleaning, cooking, doing laundry—her belly heavy with pregnancy.

She went to every prenatal checkup alone and cared for my frail, ailing mother by herself.

All that exhaustion never earned her a single kind word from me. Instead, she learned to read my moods, to tread carefully around my temper.

Even when she was close to giving birth, I left her at home and went on another business trip. I only rushed to the hospital after she'd already delivered.

However, I only glanced at the baby once before stepping out of the ward. I never even held him.

Throughout it all, I remained distant and indifferent—without a trace of joy or excitement. At one point, I even wandered off to chat with another expectant father in the neighboring room.

The memories sped by in rapid succession. Frame after frame showed my cold expression and Hazel's ingratiating smile.

In the courtroom, Hazel was already in tears, murmuring to herself, "So much time has passed. I've become so old…"

Alex clutched his head and broke down sobbing. "So that's what it took to give birth to me. You must've been in so much pain, Mom. You're not old. And no matter what, I'll take care of you."

The gallery erupted in angry voices.

"So he was irresponsible from the very beginning. What did she ever see in him?"

"She was pregnant and still had to wait on his mother—and tiptoe around his moods."

"How is a piece of trash like him still breathing? Your Honor, hurry up and deliver the sentence!"

"Sentence him now! Death penalty!"

The memory playback was cut off abruptly as fists were raised and voices merged into a single roar demanding my execution.

I pushed myself upright and straightened my back. My conscience was clear.

The judge brought the gavel down. "Order! All memory extraction has been completed. After deliberation by eighteen judges present, a unanimous decision has been reached. The defendant, Hazel Cooper, has lost the trial."

"What? How is that possible?" Hazel stared at the judge, disbelief written all over her face.

Then, she turned sharply toward me, yelling, "You won't stop until I'm completely crushed, will you? Am I really such an eyesore to you?"

Her expression made it look as though I had bribed the judges outright, painting me as ruthless and underhanded.

Alex glared at me with undisguised hatred. "Having money doesn't make you untouchable! I won't let you do this to Mom!"

The sight of the two of them standing together, clinging to each other, ignited the crowd all over again.

Angry shouts erupted from the gallery.

"This is rigged! It has to be!"

"We demand a retrial!"

A sharp pain stabbed through my chest. I quickly swallowed another of my heart pills, forced my expression back into indifference, and looked up at the judge. "I agree to a retrial. I'm willing to make all my memories public."

The judge said, "To ensure fairness, this case will be granted one retrial only. The extracted memories of the plaintiff, Bryan Zimmer, will now be made public!"

"The retrial begins now."

The screen lit up once more. This time, it was my memories that began to play.