October 4th.
The investigation concerning custody of Clara Hayes’s son was completed, and the case was accepted by the Greenwood City District Court under an expedited procedure.
Based on the schedule, the hearing was provisionally set for October 25th.
The attorney representing Clara had already begun preparing for the custody dispute.
On the day the court notice arrived, she abandoned the unusual bun and hairpin Adrian had seen when they first met, tied her hair into a simple ponytail, and settled seriously into her work.
It was Lena Quinn, the strange young woman Adrian had encountered in the alley.
The same self-proclaimed Nine Heavens Soaring Dragon, Jade-Faced Thunder Sovereign, Universal Salvation Demon-Subduing, Eternal Longevity True Monarch.
When Walter and Martha Pike learned about the custody proceedings, they were furious.
They rushed to the police station, where they happened to encounter Clara and her mother, Evelyn, who had come to visit Martin.
The moment Martha saw Clara, she planted her hands on her hips and began shouting.
“You ungrateful little bitch!
My son treated you well for all those years, and this is how you repay him?” Clara’s face immediately lost what little color it had regained.
Martha pointed directly at her.
“Just you wait.
That worthless father of yours killed my son, and I’ll make sure he pays for it with his life!” Clara lowered her head and stood silently beneath the barrage of insults, her thin shoulders tense while Evelyn remained beside her, unable to answer the woman even if she wanted to.
The officers eventually separated them, but the encounter left Clara shaken for the rest of the day.
October 6th.
Walter and Martha began looking for an attorney to represent them in the custody dispute.
After responding to an advertisement, they eventually found a small boutique law firm in Greenwood City that was willing to hear them out.
The attorney listened to their version of events, reviewed what little documentation they had brought, and was willing to take the case despite its obvious difficulties.
Everything proceeded normally until the attorney placed the representation agreement on the table and explained the fee.
Martha stared at him.
“Fee?” “Yes, Mrs.
Pike.” Her voice immediately rose.
“Why do you want money?” The attorney paused, wondering whether he had somehow misunderstood the question.
Martha stood from her chair and pointed at him.
“That woman gets a lawyer without paying anything, so why do we have to pay?
Is that supposed to be fair?” The attorney patiently explained that Clara had qualified for legal assistance under entirely different circumstances and that his firm was a private practice.
Walter’s eyes shifted toward the contract.
“We don’t know how to read or write properly, so we won’t sign anything.
You handle the lawsuit first, and once we win, we’ll pay you.” “That isn’t how this works,” the attorney replied.
“If you can’t sign your names, fingerprints can be used where appropriate, but I still need a representation agreement before I can formally act for you.” Walter’s expression became noticeably less friendly.
After thinking for a moment, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a hundred-dollar bill, and tried to force it into the attorney’s hand.
“What, you think we’ll run away without paying you?
Take this as a deposit.
Once the case is finished, we’ll give you the rest.” The attorney looked down at the single bill with an expression that was becoming increasingly difficult to control.
The conversation deteriorated from there.
When neither side was willing to accept the other’s terms, Walter and Martha stormed out of the office while loudly accusing the firm of greed, corruption, and taking advantage of ordinary people.
The attorney watched them leave and quietly decided that losing the case was probably not the worst possible outcome he had just avoided.
October 9th.
The police completed the investigation into Ethan Pike’s death, and the case was transferred to the prosecutor’s office for further review.
At the same time, Martin Hayes was moved from temporary police detention to a detention center, where he would remain while awaiting trial.
The prosecution was expected to file formal charges after completing its review, after which the case would be heard by the Greenwood City Intermediate Court.
Based on the evidence currently available, Martin’s situation was far from optimistic.
If the court rejected the strongest defense arguments and treated the death as the result of an intentional assault, he could face a sentence of at least ten years.
When Walter and Martha heard that news, they were almost cheerful.
As far as they were concerned, it was proof that Martin would eventually pay for Ethan’s death.
October 17th.
Martin’s legal-aid application was finally completed.
Several days later, a representative from the legal-aid office arrived at Blackwood & Reed Law Firm carrying an official assignment notice.
That alone was not unusual.
What caught the attention of the firm’s management was that the notice did not merely request that the firm provide an attorney.
It specifically named one.
Adrian Cole.
The executives were somewhat surprised.
Adrian was still relatively unknown within the firm, and while he had recently completed a difficult consultation successfully, there was nothing in his résumé that would normally explain why a defendant in a major criminal case would specifically request him.
Marcus Hale was called into the office to discuss it.
The moment Marcus learned that Martin Hayes had personally requested Adrian for a serious criminal case, he could barely hide his delight.
A difficult criminal case was precisely what he had wanted Adrian to encounter.
Handling one successfully could build a career, but mishandling one could damage a young attorney’s reputation for years.
Marcus immediately adopted an expression of complete confidence.
“You don’t need to worry.
Attorney Cole is one of the strongest young attorneys on my team and a potential future star of the firm.
If the client specifically requested him, I’m sure Adrian is capable of accepting the responsibility.” The executive raised an eyebrow.
“A future star?” “Absolutely.” Marcus said it with such confidence that the executive had little reason to doubt him.
Adrian was therefore called in to complete the internal handover.
He had spent most of the previous ten days doing routine work and waiting for something interesting to happen, so when the assignment notice was placed in front of him and he saw Martin Hayes’s name, a faint smile appeared on his face.
The case had finally come back to him.
October 25th.
At two in the afternoon, the first hearing in the custody dispute involving Clara Hayes’s son concluded at the Greenwood City District Court.
The result had hardly been surprising.
After reviewing the circumstances surrounding Clara’s abduction, the environment in which the child had been raised, the death of Ethan Pike, and the backgrounds of both sides, the court awarded custody to Clara.
The judge did not need long to reach the decision.
Walter and Martha were furious.
Rather than leave, they waited outside the courthouse until Clara, Evelyn, and Lena Quinn emerged.
The moment they appeared, Walter rose from a bench beside the entrance and began shouting.
“You ungrateful woman!
We gave you food and a roof over your head for ten years, and now you’re trying to take our grandson away too?” Clara stopped.
Walter continued pointing at her.
“That boy is our grandson.
What makes you think you can just take him?
Ethan hasn’t even been dead a month, and you’re already doing this.
Even as a ghost, he won’t forgive you!” Clara’s lips trembled, but she did not answer.
Evelyn stood anxiously beside her, making frustrated sounds in her throat while trying to pull her daughter away from the confrontation.
Walter took another step forward.
“Once you enter the Pike family, you belong to the Pike family.
Running away doesn’t change that.” Martha hurried over to join him, but instead of focusing on Clara, her attention shifted to Lena.
She looked the young attorney up and down, apparently remembering that Lena was the one who had just defeated them in court.
“And you!” Lena stopped.
Martha’s expression twisted.
“You heartless little witch.
Aren’t you afraid God will punish you?
Dressing yourself up like that and standing beside judges all day, who knows what you did to win the case?” Lena was wearing a fitted black business suit, her hair tied neatly behind her head, and there was none of the playful strangeness Adrian had encountered in the alley.
In court, she looked every bit the composed professional.
She gave Martha a cold look.
“Mrs.
Pike, I suggest you choose your next words carefully.” Martha faltered.
Lena stepped toward her.
“Making false public accusations about an attorney’s professional conduct can have legal consequences.
If you continue making defamatory statements about me, I can pursue the matter and seek damages.” “Damages?” Walter reacted faster than his wife.
He immediately grabbed Martha by the arm and pulled her backward.
“Enough.” Martha was obviously furious, but the moment money entered the conversation, her courage diminished considerably.
She glared at Lena but kept her mouth shut.
After a few seconds, however, she turned back toward Clara.
“Fine.
You found yourself a lawyer.
Anyone can find a lawyer.” Clara’s expression changed.
Martha smiled maliciously.
“You think winning custody means you’ve won everything?
Your useless father is still sitting in detention for killing my son.” Clara went pale.
Martha continued, clearly pleased that she had finally found something capable of frightening her.
“You just wait.
I’ll find a lawyer too, and I’ll make sure that father of yours spends the rest of his life behind bars.” That threat struck exactly where Martha intended it to.
Clara had endured everything else in silence because Martin’s situation was what frightened her most.
She knew she had been abducted and that everything done to her in Pine Hollow had been wrong, but she also knew Ethan had died during the confrontation with her father.
Worse, Martin had been the first one to physically attack when Ethan tried to drag her from the minibus, which complicated what might otherwise have been a straightforward claim of self-defense or defense of another.
Depending on how the case was characterized, the consequences could be severe.
“No…” Clara’s breathing became shallow.
“Please don’t.” Martha sneered.
“You’d better start thinking about how you’re going to pay for a good coffin for him.” With that, she grabbed Walter and stormed away, apparently still determined to find an attorney willing to pursue every possible claim against Martin and Clara.
Once they disappeared down the street, the strength seemed to leave Clara’s legs.
She sank to the pavement.
For a long moment she simply stared at the ground, until tears finally began running down her face.
“Why is this happening?” Her voice cracked.
“Why does everything keep happening?” The emotions she had been suppressing since leaving Pine Hollow finally broke through.
She had escaped.
She had regained her freedom.
She had been reunited with the parents who had searched for her for ten years.
And today, she had even won custody of her son.
Yet none of it felt like victory.
Her son had been born from circumstances she had never chosen, but he was still her child.
He was young enough that the cruelty surrounding him had not yet become his own, and during the years she had been imprisoned, he had often tried to help her in the only ways a child could.
He had secretly brought her food and water, sometimes tried to loosen the door when no one was watching, and cried whenever he saw his father or grandparents mistreat her.
Clara could never abandon him.
But her father mattered just as much.
Martin had searched for her for ten years.
Ten years had turned his hair gray, hollowed out his face, worn down his body, and consumed whatever money he and Evelyn had possessed.
He had crossed more than a thousand miles chasing rumors and false leads, and when he had finally found Clara, he had thrown himself at Ethan without hesitation when he saw her being dragged away.
Now he might spend the rest of his useful years in prison because of it.
Clara covered her face and cried.
Beside her, Evelyn made soft, broken sounds as she crouched down and stroked her daughter’s hair, desperately trying to comfort her despite being unable to speak.
Lena watched them in silence.
Eventually, Evelyn looked toward her with desperate hope and gestured toward the courthouse.
Lena understood what she was asking.
She sighed.
“Your husband’s case isn’t hopeless, but it is difficult.” Clara slowly looked up.
Lena chose her words carefully.
“There are facts that support self-defense or defense of another person, especially considering Ethan was attempting to forcibly remove you from police custody and later introduced a weapon into the confrontation.
The problem is that Martin initiated the first physical confrontation inside the bus.” Clara’s fingers tightened around the fabric of her clothes.
“That doesn’t automatically determine the entire case, but once a death occurs, the sequence of events becomes extremely important.
Depending on how the prosecution characterizes what happened, they may argue intentional injury or something even more serious.” Evelyn’s expression collapsed.
Lena continued reluctantly.
“There are things that could help.
Witness testimony from the officers will matter, the circumstances surrounding your rescue will matter, and any evidence showing the immediate threat Ethan posed to you will matter.
Reconciliation or a statement from the deceased’s family could also affect certain aspects of the case, but considering Walter and Martha’s attitude…” She did not finish.
There was no need.
Walter and Martha would never willingly provide anything that helped Martin unless Clara surrendered custody of her son, returned to Pine Hollow, and effectively placed herself under their control again.
That was not a meaningful option.
Unfortunately, directly prosecuting Walter and Martha for Clara’s original purchase was also complicated.
The evidence collected so far indicated that Ethan had been the primary purchaser, while establishing the parents’ independent criminal responsibility for related conduct would require a separate investigation and prosecution.
Those proceedings could take months or longer.
Martin’s case would not simply wait until everything else was resolved.
Lena did not explain all of that aloud.
Clara had already endured enough.
For a while, none of the three women spoke.
Evelyn looked at her daughter and seemed to remember the years that had brought them here.
She had never been powerful or wealthy.
She and Martin had simply been ordinary people trying to survive, and after years of struggling to build a modest life, their fourteen-year-old daughter had disappeared in the time it took Martin to turn away inside a shop.
More than a thousand miles had separated them.
They had spent ten years trying to cross that distance.
Shoes had worn through.
Savings had disappeared.
Their hair had turned gray.
Evelyn had cried until eventually even her voice had failed her.
After all of that, they had finally found Clara, only for Martin to be taken away almost immediately afterward.
Evelyn’s eyes filled again.
She crouched beside Clara and stroked her hair, forcing the corners of her mouth upward into a reassuring smile that she clearly did not feel.
The three remained there outside the courthouse, surrounded by the afternoon movement of Greenwood City while an almost suffocating silence settled over them.
Then someone stopped in front of them.
A shadow fell across Clara and Evelyn.
Both women instinctively looked up.
A young man in a suit stood there, looking down at them through a pair of glasses.
Clara recognized him immediately.
So did Evelyn.
Adrian Cole had arrived.
His gaze moved from Clara’s tear-streaked face to Evelyn’s exhausted expression before finally settling on Lena Quinn.
Lena’s eyes widened slightly when she recognized the strange lawyer from the alley.
Adrian pushed his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose and smiled.
“Judging by the situation, it looks like you could use some special help.”