Chapter 2466: Chapter 1828: Situation Reversal (Part 2)

Fiewood’s lawyer immediately petitioned to have the witnesses enter the court, and the judge nodded in assent.

Two figures appeared at the entrance.

"It’s him!" When Cilio saw one of them clearly, his eyes went wide in shock.

He even forgot the gag order the judge had given him earlier.

One of the witnesses was none other than one of Cilio’s most trusted secretaries; many of his past decisions had been made after taking this man’s advice, and many matters had been entrusted to him.

He never imagined that at this moment, the one coming out to testify and accuse him would be this very person!

From afar, the man spotted Cilio and immediately shifted his gaze away, not daring to meet his eyes.

Cilio’s body swayed; he grabbed the stand with his hand, feeling a bout of dizziness.

The man’s appearance dealt him an enormous shock. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

From the time he graduated university and started at the bottom up until now, regardless of whether his career had gone smoothly or not, no one had ever dared play dirty tricks on him. After all, he had entered the Zhenbei Group system, and his father was the top person in charge of this major region. In the workplace, what Cilio saw was people’s capability and drive; he had rarely seen the ugliness in human nature.

So he had no ability to read people’s hearts; the ones around him were not truly "his people."

And so many things took place right under his nose, yet he knew nothing of them.

"Your Honor, this is my assistant, and that is Mr. Cilio’s secretary. The two of them had a phone call the other day that was in fact a conversation between me and Cilio—in precise terms, it was Mr. Cilio issuing orders to me. This attack was premeditated, and Mr. Cilio decided to frame someone else for it..." Fiewood spoke with righteous indignation. "It’s just that none of us expected the matter to blow up to this extent. From the moment the highest-level investigator from Lekram appeared before me and tried to persuade me with reason and emotion, I suddenly repented and decided to reveal the truth!"

Fiewood sounded utterly sincere, every detail vivid.

As for the so-called "persuasion" he had received, everyone present knew perfectly well that it must have been a pressure Fiewood could not bear.

The printed call records were handed directly to the judge.

After browsing them, the judge passed them to the person beside him, then looked sternly at Cilio. "Mr. Cilio, do you have anything to say to this?!"

Between the lines, he was already asking Cilio whether he would plead guilty.

In the gallery, Hou Yuncheng, having watched up to this point, couldn’t help leaning toward Bai Xiaosheng and whispering, "This is the ’show’ you wanted me to see? We’ve reached this stage already; it seems your earlier request had me running around for nothing?"

"Just keep watching. Right now, the outcome is far from decided." Bai Xiaosheng glanced that way, a faint, ambiguous smile on his lips.

Hou Yuncheng unconsciously shifted closer to Bai Xiaosheng to better read his expression. "Why do I feel like you’re completely calm, strategizing in your tent, as if you’re very sure of how this will end?"

Anything more would be inappropriate to say at this moment.

Bai Xiaosheng chuckled and jerked his chin toward the front. "Director Hou, watch."

Hou Yuncheng gave Bai Xiaosheng an extra look, then turned his head back.

While they muttered briefly on their side, on the other, Tike also spoke up beside Brown.

"Mr. Brown, the evidence this time is conclusive. Together with those earlier corroborating testimonies, I’m afraid our Mr. Cilio really is going to face the punishment he deserves." Tike said with a faint, mocking smile, and he actually said this directly to Brown.

His words were clearly meant to provoke Brown, to make this old man’s heart give out ahead of time.

Brown turned his head to look at Tike, his gaze deep and heavy.

On any other day, Tike would surely have shown a fearful demeanor, but today he met Brown’s eyes head-on, his gaze steady and unflinching, with a hint of pride and a touch of cold sneer deep within.

"I once thought..." Brown said to Tike, "that you were someone who could really keep his composure."

"Oh, not at all, not at all. Compared to you, I’m nothing. Wouldn’t you say so, godfather?" Tike replied cheerfully.

Many things did not need to be spelled out; the clues were already obvious.

That final form of address from Tike was also meant to needle Brown.

Brown ignored Tike and turned his gaze forward.

Old man, let’s see if you can still keep your composure once the verdict comes down!

By then, Wen Yan from the supervisory department will be kicking you and your son while you’re down. You’ll be finished!

Tike sneered to himself.

Originally, he could have continued to hide his intentions; that would have been safer. But as events unfolded, it became extremely difficult to conceal anything from Brown, and Tike himself could no longer suppress the urge to express his true feelings.

All these years, his "repression," his "grievances," had been far too great!

Wen Yan glanced back, her expression blank, looking at Brown and then at Tike, before turning back again.

The judge had already instructed someone to set up the projector and play the call recording, then had the two witnesses take the stand.

Fiewood’s assistant spoke first, and what he said was exactly the same as Fiewood’s account, without the slightest discrepancy.

Cilio listened, his face turning a sickly green.

Then Cilio’s secretary took the stand. Cilio stared straight at him, eyes nearly splitting; if looks could kill, he would have stabbed the man seven or eight times over.

The judge motioned for the secretary to give his statement.

"At the time, it was my phone that was connected on that call, and I was also present at the scene..." the secretary said.

If the call record counted as physical evidence, then he was the witness; with both witness and physical evidence in place, no one could deny the facts.

Cilio’s face was filled with despair.

In the gallery, Tike couldn’t help breaking into a knowing smile, feeling as if the dawn of victory was right before his eyes.

"However, that call was about me privately arranging a meal with Mr. Fiewood’s secretary; Mr. Cilio had no idea about it."