CHAPTER 85

The day for the court hearing commenced, the space was larger than Yoo Na had thought as she, Jisoo, Cha Eun, Min Hye and Dae Hyun walked into the courtroom. Cha Eun, Min Hye and Dae Hyun took their seats at the front row of the nicely furnished bench, near the podium.

Min Hye had agreed to escort him since after all, her maid of honor was the victim and Dae Hyun had asked her to come, to at least make a presence as the vice chairman's wife which she couldn't refuse.

There was a kind of a fence after the walkway with two tables at each side and two pairs of chair, facing the opposite of each other. Yoo Na and Jisoo occupied one of the table, taking a seat each with their lawyer standing beside them.

The man defending their case was a greatly renowned Lawyer which Dae Hyun had hired for them since they could not afford such an expensive Lawyer.

They saw the double doors open with In Ra walking into the courtroom with chin raised up high and proud shoulders like she hadn't committed any crime. She glanced at Cha Eun and then, her eyes moved to Dae Hyun's grey ones which she quickly averted with a frenzied movement as she gulped softly.

She walked to the dock opposite Yoo Na and Jisoo's and she gave them a sly smile before sitting down with legs crossed, her Lawyer following behind her in a confident way like they had won the case already.

Soon after, the two boys walked in, standing at the dock. Afterwards, reporters swarmed into the court house, sounds of cameras clicking could be heard but immediately the judge came in and sat on the bench situated in front of them, the whole place fell silent.

The judge cleared his throat before starting with the case. Everyone present stood up to show their respect before seating back down.

"Let's start the case being presented to the court of law." The judge said with an air of authority.

Yoo Na figured the judge must have been bribed by In Ra's family, but even though, the public had eyes and ears and it wouldn't be easy to get away with their crimes, moreover, Dae Hyun, the vice chairman of Apex and the son of the chairman were witnesses, so it wasn't over yet.

"Case 11502, we have the case of physical abuse, sexual assault, the violation of human rights and the abduction of two victims. We have three suspects in which two are male and one female and they were two witnesses respectively at the crime scene." The judge stated out while the spectators watched eagerly in anticipation of what would happen.

The victims and the suspects were all given a bible to swear upon to say nothing but the truth and they all did. But In Ra whose black eyes were full of deceit and lies couldn't care less if she was swearing in court, she'd do anything to save herself.

"Let the victims give their statements on the event that happened before we move on to the suspects." The Judge concluded and everyone kept silent as the girls narrated what they went through.

"I got abducted and in the next minute, I woke up in a deserted place, in a tunnel I think...I was tied to a chair and then...She made me watch as the boys stripped Jisoo's clothes off and not only that but they also took a video clip of it and they also cut off her hair...Afterwards, Mr Jang and Cha Eun found us..." Yoo Na narrated and the judge nodded his head.

His face had a slightly look of displeasure on it as he heard her speak and then when she was finally done, Jisoo's turn came up to speak.

She gulped nervously, linking her fingers together, sparing a glance at In Ra who was grinning like the devil's mistress herself. She had even dolled herself up like she was attending a famous event.

She seemed super confident that she wasn't going to be vindicated of any crime, which was obvious that she must have bribed the Judge.

"What Yoo Na said is true, she abducted us and then..she made Yoo Na watch as the boys cut off my hair, ripped off my shirt and took a clip of it...Afterwards, Mr Jang and Cha Eun our classmate rescued us."

Jisoo's voice was low as she was washed thoroughly with embarrassment, the Lawyer assigned to their case had to encourage her to speak louder and low murmurings erupted from the spectators which slightly increased as the clicking of their cameras were heard.

"Do you have any proof that In Ra is the culprit behind it? They might just be making up words because of jealousy, you know how poor kids are these days, so full of jealousy and hatred for the rich...." In Ra's Lawyer was cut short by the Judge's gavel slamming on the wooden disk.

"Silence! You only speak when you're asked to!" The Judge declared with an air of authority and In Ra's Lawyer kept shut immediately, knowing better than to anger the Judge.

"My apologies." The Lawyer said with slightly bowed head, making In Ra roll her black eyeball in exasperation.

Cha Eun and Dae Hyun stood at the witness box and after swearing, they gave their statements on the incident as it was, not a lie stated in it.

"So from your statements, none of you saw the culprits?" The Judge questioned and when they replied negatively, the Judge sighed heavily in silence before dismissing them back to their seats.

"Over to the suspects, let's hear their sides of the story and afterwards, the witnesses which will speculate the final verdict I'll be giving on the case." The Judge said, stating it was time for the suspects.

The boys were the first to speak and all attention and cameras faced them.

"Do you plead guilty or innocence of the crime being accused against the both of you as the doers of the action?" The Judge questioned and the courtroom fell silent for a second before they heard the boys speak in unison.

"Yes, we plead guilty."

Their replies made everyone's eyes go wide, including Yoo Na's as that was far from the answer she had expected from either party, which made her eyes narrow suspiciously towards In Ra who stared back at her defiantly with a devilish smirk on her face.

She knew she had something to do with the boys openly confessing in the court of law that they were guilty when they both had wealthy parents but still, none could compare to In Ra's, so it was quite understandable as her parents could easily threaten theirs but for what reason, she couldn't understand.

"Was In Ra the one who instructed the both of you to carry out with the assault?" The Judge questioned.

"No, we did it alone." Eyes shone in wonderment and bewilderment, Jisoo felt like they had wasted their time because it was obvious that In Ra had won the case even though the boys were getting punished.

It only meant that she could do it again as long as there was no strong evidence to incriminate her and it could be worse.

"For pleading guilty, your punishments may be reduced." They heard the Judge say before turning his attention to In Ra.

"In Ra, do you plead guilty or innocence of the crime you're being accused of?" The judge queried her and everyone waited in anticipation for her reply.

"I'm innocent, in fact I was present at home in the night of the incident, you can ask my caretaker." She replied with not a care in the world, as she rested fully laid back on the chair with arms crossed in boredom, as she gave Yoo Na and Jisoo a menacing side look.

The caretaker was brought to the witness box to speak and she did, her words matched with In Ra.

"She was at the house all through, she didn't go anyway because she caught the flu, so I had to watch over her."

Yoo Na scoffed in disbelief at how easily the caretaker in her sixties lied so effortlessly, but in all truth, it was the money speaking.

"According to the witnesses, In Ra wasn't found on the crime scene and the suspects had confessed to doing the deeds single handedly. After hearing the statements given by the victims, the witnesses and the suspects, I have come to a verdict!"

They all waited for the Judge's verdict but no one needed to tell Yoo Na what his verdict was, she always knew the law was useless on people like her, the law couldn't give her the punishment she deserved but karma would and she would become her greatest karma.