Attorney Ai Li Ke’s objection was sustained.

Mai Er Si seemed slightly disappointed.

However, he had achieved his purpose. As Li Sa’s witness, he knew exactly what Mrs. Wilson would say.

A trial wasn’t a debate competition where victory went to whoever had the most dazzling arguments or endless rhetoric.

Speaking the most accurate words, asking the most effective questions, and destroying the plaintiff’s chain of evidence were the best ways to prove the defendant’s innocence. In this regard, Mai Er Si was excelling as the defendant’s lawyer.

What would Mrs. Wilson say?

Would she claim that Ji Xin Ge had required her to designate Xia Xiao Lan as the lead for the theater renovation project?

No, no, no. Xia Xiao Lan felt she wouldn’t answer that way—

It wasn’t logically sound. Mrs. Wilson was the client, and Ji Xin Ge was GMP’s partner. GMP wanted to retain this client; they would fulfill the client’s needs, not force demands upon them.

This logic wouldn’t convince the judge, let alone fool the jury.

Besides, when Mrs. Wilson signed the agreement at the firm that day, she wasn’t alone – Tang Yuan Yue was there too!

Mrs. Wilson had insisted on Xia Xiao Lan leading the theater renovation, and due to being stretched thin, Xia Xiao Lan had to decline Tang Yuan Yue’s commission. Surely Mrs. Wilson wasn’t naive enough to think Tang Yuan Yue couldn’t be called to testify?

Perhaps news of the Tang family’s chaos had reached Peng Cheng, and Mrs. Wilson was taking a gamble…

“No, that’s not how it was.”

Mrs. Wilson didn’t shift responsibility to Ji Xin Ge.

As Xia Xiao Lan had predicted, she skipped over this easily disprovable false testimony and offered another explanation, one that once again threw the courtroom into an uproar.

“Ji Xin Ge didn’t require me to choose the plaintiff as project lead. I chose her myself. I demanded the plaintiff handle this project – it was my primary condition for approaching GMP.”

Huh?

Had Mrs. Wilson suddenly found her conscience and decided to be honest?

Xia Xiao Lan felt things weren’t that simple.

She noticed Li Sa leaning forward slightly in the defendant’s seat – body language indicating “anticipation.” Li Sa wasn’t afraid; she was eagerly awaiting Mrs. Wilson’s next words!

Mai Er Si’s voice rose:

“Could you tell us why? Why did you insist on having the plaintiff, an ungraduated Chinese intern, as project lead? Was it because you trusted her abilities, were moved by her talent?”

Mrs. Wilson shook her head. “No, that’s not it. I didn’t know the plaintiff’s professional level. I insisted on her leading the project for personal reasons. Due to certain private matters inappropriate to discuss in court, I needed to curry favor with the plaintiff. She was interning at GMP, so I brought her business – it was a means of winning her favor—”

Wow.

A client trying to curry favor with an intern!

The client chose the intern not because of her talent, but to “curry favor” – this commission was purely a personal favor from start to finish!

Li Sa hadn’t been wrong in her TV interviews – women indeed faced unfair treatment in the workplace.

Without connections, being bullied by GMP was quite normal.

After all, they were dealing with an intern who needed clients to curry favor with her… This left too much to the imagination. If Xia Xiao Lan needed the clients’ favor, it made sense that GMP’s partners would favor her, make Li Sa complete the designs, and let Xia Xiao Lan take credit for Li Sa’s work.

Mai Er Si pressed on: “Let me confirm – before choosing the plaintiff, you weren’t clear about her professional abilities, you didn’t care if she could produce designs or who completed them, you just wanted to extend this personal favor—”

“Objection! Leading question!”

“Sustained. The witness need not answer that question.”

The objection didn’t matter; Mai Er Si was already confident of victory.

“Your Honor, the case is now clear. The plaintiff entered GMP due to her deep connections, and partner Ji Xin Ge was aware of her background. I note that of the two interns who entered GMP together – the plaintiff and Matthew Carlton – setting aside any personal feelings between them, the plaintiff received preferential treatment during her internship. All GMP employees can confirm this. Mr. Ji Xin Ge didn’t just let an unqualified intern lead this project because of client demands – they had other ‘dealings,’ transactions more valuable than the theater renovation commission. The plaintiff helped GMP win certain project bids, and in return, GMP’s partners helped her achieve certain ‘accomplishments’ or promised to make her a famous new architect… The existence of such dealings is the fundamental reason Ji Xin Ge and the plaintiff could trample my client’s interests and appropriate her work!”

What a logical genius.

This “conspiracy” was so reasonable that Xia Xiao Lan wanted to applaud Li Sa’s lawyer.

She almost believed it herself.

Who knew how much the judge believed?

The jury was already whispering among themselves.

The judge asked Mai Er Si to provide evidence, otherwise, these were just unreasonable speculations.

Mai Er Si played a videotape in court.

It was testimony collection.

“GMP’s methods of obtaining the Wilson Hotel project are questionable.”

“Yes, that female intern was involved throughout the bidding process, including the day the bid was announced.”

“Don’t know her, she has Asian features.”

“I know her, she previously won the C.W. Architectural Design Competition, sponsored by Wilson Hotels. Yes, the prize was an internship at a major firm.”

“Rumors? Indeed, we heard some unfavorable rumors. A friend at GMP – oh, I can’t say which friend. There were internal discussions at GMP that with the Chinese intern there, GMP would win the bid. This bidding was just to fool the shareholders; the real purpose was to let her… Sorry, I can’t continue. I fear being sued for defamation. They still haven’t announced their relationship.”

“This is Ji Xin Ge’s usual method.”

The tape showed Mai Er Si interviewing employees from the other two firms that participated in last year’s Wilson Hotel bidding.

The interviewees weren’t partners, just regular employees.

But the rumors they spoke of were the “personal reasons” Mrs. Wilson didn’t want to discuss in court.

Mai Er Si wanted to piece together the complete logic of this case.

He not only wanted to exonerate Li Sa but also prove that Xia Xiao Lan had violated Li Sa’s rights.

Every crime has a motive – why could an intern handle such a commission? Such an unreasonable situation must have special reasons!

Mai Er Si wanted to prove that although Xia Xiao Lan was just an intern, she had the power to appropriate Li Sa’s work because she had connections and had some kind of “deal” with GMP partner Ji Xin Ge, who would help her – this deal didn’t start after Xia Xiao Lan entered GMP, it existed before she even joined!

Xia Xiao Lan looked down at the diamond ring on her hand.

Was this a copyright lawsuit?

Why did she feel like it was turning into a thorough exposé of her love life?

After that idiot Matthew’s courtroom confession, were they about to uncover her affair with Ha Luo De?

— When did this affair happen? She didn’t even know about it.