Chapter 235 It Really Is Her
Time ticked by, and the plaintiff walked into the courtroom just as the session was about to start, heading straight to the plaintiff's seat.
Aurelia glanced at the other party, a stranger to her.
After reviewing the documents for a few minutes, the judge asked, "Miss Aurelia Semona, are you and Anne the same person?"
Aurelia nodded in acknowledgment. She had changed her name in her personal life, but her original name remained on government records, making it impossible to hide in such a setting.
The judge then asked, "Miss Semona, the plaintiff's representative, Lolly, is accusing you of plagiarizing her work. Do you have anything to say?"
Hearing that name, Aurelia froze on the spot. She had considered countless possibilities, but never a scenario wherein the other party would represent Lolly in suing her.
The plaintiff's lawyer had already begun submitting evidence; several of her old design drafts, including one she had recently lost and searched for extensively, along with a professional appraisal directly proving that these drafts were created by the same person.
Aurelia sat in the defendant's chair, cold sweat trickling down her back in panic.
Regarding the recently lost draft, she suspected it had been stolen by Elara, as surveillance footage showed that only Elara had entered her office.
As for the old drafts submitted by the opposing lawyer, only Nathaniel had them.
Putting it all together, the person suing her could only be him.
Thinking of that, Aurelia's mind was in chaos, wanting to escape. She regretted not hiring a lawyer and attending the trial herself was akin to walking into a trap.
She had been hiding for four years, never expecting to be exposed by her own drafts. How could she prove she wasn't plagiarizing while also proving she wasn't Lolly?
At that moment, Nathaniel's car was parked outside the courthouse.He rested his arm on the car window, holding a cigarette, his expression solemn.
The trial had been going on for half an hour, and he held his phone in his other hand, waiting for news.
Finally, the phone rang, and he answered the call immediately.
A voice came from the other end of the call, "Mr. Heilbronn, the other party has confessed to plagiarism and is willing to pay ten million in compensation."
The trial's outcome was as Nathaniel had expected, but monetary compensation wasn't enough. He wanted to see who was bold enough to profit from Aurelia's drafts and designs.
He wasn't sure of the other party's identity but believed they must possess a large number of Aurelia's drafts. He wanted to reclaim all her belongings.
"Did the person come, or just the lawyer?" he asked.
The lawyer replied, "The person came."
Hearing that, Nathaniel paused, hung up the phone, and strode into the courthouse.
The old office building was dimly lit, and his footsteps echoed in the hallway. He looked at the numbers on the doors, step by step approaching the courtroom where the trial was being held.
Inside the courtroom, Aurelia was signing her name.
There was no other way but to claim that she was guilty of plagiarism. She was in a hurry, wanting to sign quickly and escape.
"Has Anne left?" a familiar, cold male voice came from the doorway.
Upon hearing the voice, Aurelia's hand holding the pen stiffened, and her mind exploded like thunder.
This voice had been in her dreams many times. Every time she woke up from a nightmare in the middle of the night, she would anxiously stay awake until dawn. She had lived in fear for the past four years, constantly worried that he would reappear in her life, flaunting his love with Chelsea and fighting her for custody of their child.
Aurelia wanted to run, but her legs felt like jelly, unable to move.
She thought that as long as she stayed far away from him and lived quietly, she could live out her life in peace.
Outside the door, the lawyer replied, "Anne is inside, signing."
Nathaniel walked to the door, exuding an aura of menace. He was here to confront the person who had stolen the drafts.
However, when he saw that familiar figure, his pupils dilated in shock and disbelief, and he froze in place.
Over the years, he had often suffered from insomnia and hallucinations, seeing her lying beside him, wearing an apron in the kitchen, or throwing discarded drafts all over his study.
The hardest fact for him to accept was that she was gone, and those harmonious scenes were all a figment of his imagination.
At this moment, seeing a person's figure so much like hers, he momentarily forgot he was there to seek justice, even doubting whether it was a dream or reality.
Voices from outside indicated that people for the next case were entering the room, and the judge collected the signed documents and adjourned the session.
Aurelia stood still, feeling completely paralyzed.
Her life had been full of surprises, and every surprise in adulthood was related to him, just like now.
At that moment, she knew she couldn't escape him.
"Aurelia!"Nathaniel's throat tightened as he struggled to utter her name.
Aurelia kept her head down, her slender arm tensed with bulging veins from clenching her fist too tightly.
Nathaniel's lips trembled, his heart pounding as he dared not step forward to confirm her identity, fearing the result wouldn't be what he hoped for.
The feeling of hope followed by disappointment would be as painful as losing her all over again.
People for the next trial were already entering, and Aurelia quickly grabbed her bag and brushed past him, running out without daring to look at him.
Nathaniel stood there in a daze for a few seconds, watching her turn and disappear from his sight. He saw that familiar, delicate face, overlapping with the one in his dreams.
It was really her!
He stood there, smiling through his tears. It was really her.
He had thought the best outcome of this trip to Coral Bay would be finding her grave, never imagining that the reason he couldn't find her resting place all these years was that she was still alive and well.
God had truly favored him, giving him a chance to atone for his mistakes.
Seeing her turn around, he felt a warmth spreading in his heart, like a withered tree coming back to life in spring.
Nathaniel quickly snapped out of it and chased after her. Aurelia had already run out of the building, and before she could get into her car, Nathaniel rushed over and tightly grabbed her arm.
"Aurelia, it's really you!" he called out.
Nathaniel's eyes were bloodshot red from holding back his tears, his voice hoarse, as if a lump formed in his throat.
He cautiously asked, "Aurelia, can you look at me?"
Aurelia couldn't stop trembling, her mind filled with painful memories from the past. Even after four years, recalling them still felt like a knife pierced her heart.
For the past years, she had focused all her energy on her two children and work, keeping herself so busy that she had no time to think about anything else. She thought she no longer cared about him.
However, the memory of him registering his marriage with Chelsea in front of her was a deep wound, stabbing the softest part of her heart. It wasn't that she didn't feel the pain; she had just become numb to it.
The psychological pain was far more unbearable than any physical pain, which was why she ended up in a coma in the ICU four years ago, feeling utterly hopeless.
Living was too painful for her at that time.
Fortunately, her two babies were safe, giving her a reason to live.
Nathaniel held her wrist, which seemed even more delicate than before, but the familiar touch was real.
Choking up, he asked again, "Aurelia, say something to me, please? I've been looking for your grave, searching all over Coral Bay these past few days."
Nathaniel was now terrified that this might be a beautiful dream, and waking up would mean facing an empty house alone again. He was so nervous that he held onto her tightly, even if it was a dream, he wanted to follow her.
He prayed she would say something to confirm that all of this was real.
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