Chapter 342 Profligate Lifestyle
The hearing continued after the court’s recess ended. The judge directly asked Charlotte who she’d like to live with.
However, before Charlotte could give her answer, Hernandez suddenly stood up. “Your Honor, before we ask the child who she’d like to live with, I’d like to present a new reference material for the case. I think you, the jury present, and the child herself have the right to see it.”
The judge nodded slightly.
Hernandez whispered something to the projectionist at the scene. Soon after that, a few photos appeared on the LED screen.
At the sight of the photos, Justin turned pale at once.
The photos were selfies taken on a large hotel bed by a woman resting her head on Justin’s arm—the woman who had turned up next to him the morning before yesterday.
Frankie hurriedly covered Charlotte’s eyes, but it was too late.
Charlotte was stunned for a while with her eyes covered. Then, she mumbled quietly, “Does Daddy have another new girlfriend?”
Rachel was startled for a moment before she clenched her fists.
Hernandez exchanged a brief look with Jolly in the public gallery. Then, he stood up and explained, “The woman in the photos is a sex worker, or, in layman’s terms, a hooker!”
In an instant, Justin’s pupils shrank, and his temples throbbed. He had never been humiliated like this before.
The jury’s peculiar gazes were all focused on the man as they discussed the photos.
Just then, Hernandez continued, “The hiring of prostitutes is prohibited by law and by moral standards. My client didn’t want to bring this up at first, but as an attorney, I believe this is a key piece of information that can prove that the defendant has a profligate lifestyle. He’s simply a shameless man who lacked the morality necessary to raise a child!”
Justin’s attorney panicked. “Please watch your language, Mr. Hernandez! By accusing my client of having a profligate lifestyle based on a few photos alone, you and your client are essentially committing libel!”
“Silence!” The gavel struck. The judge said in a serious tone, “Mr. Hernandez, please don’t bring out materials irrelevant to the case for an argument.”
Hernandez nodded, accepting the judge’s words with an open mind. Naturally, as an attorney, he knew very well that these photos wouldn’t have any direct impact on the ruling; they would only make the jury take them into consideration at most. However, the usefulness of these photos lay in Charlotte.
As he had expected, when the judge asked Charlotte again who she’d like to live with, she answered, “I want to live with Mommy.”
The blood visibly drained from Justin’s face. He exclaimed in disbelief, “Charlotte!”
Charlotte turned around and hugged Jolly, her eyes reddened. She was still too little to know what the words “the hiring of prostitutes” meant, but in her view, Justin had found another new girlfriend, which was a huge blow to her. Kids were the most insecure, and yet Justin always had all kinds of women around him. Now that someone else had turned up after Amber was finally gone, how could she accept it?
With the trump card played, everything was decided. As Hernandez and the others had expected, the court ruled that Rachel would have Charlotte’s custody.
When Hernandez walked out of the court building with the written judgment in his hands, Rachel smiled the most relaxed smile she had had in recent days.
“Let’s go, Chris.” Jolly’s voice sounded from the entrance; she was holding Charlotte’s hand next to her.
Rachel immediately went over to Charlotte and scooped her up in her arms before giving her a kiss. “Charlotte, from now on, you’ll be staying with me, and we’ll never be separated from each other. Let me take you home.”
Charlotte seemed somewhat tired, though; she buried her head on Rachel’s shoulder without making a sound.
Suddenly, some quick footsteps came from behind. “Charlotte!”
It was Justin. With a stubbly chin, he looked a sorry sight and was no longer as high-spirited as he had been in the past; even his footsteps were weak.
Lifting her head from Rachel’s shoulder, Charlotte stared at Justin with glistening black eyes. Her eyes reddened slightly, and her lips quivered, but she didn’t make a sound. Instead, she merely mouthed the word “Daddy.”
“Charlotte, do you not want Daddy anymore?” Justin hurriedly walked over to Charlotte in an attempt to explain about the photos.
Hernandez stopped him, though. “I’m sorry, Mr. Burton. The court has stated in the written judgment that you may visit the child once a week, but today is not the day.”
“Step aside!” Justin’s eyes were bloodshot. He exuded chilliness from every pore of his body, as though he hated Hernandez’s guts.
“There’s no need to say anything else, Hernandez. Let’s go.” Rachel left with Charlotte in her arms without looking back.
Hernandez gave Justin a warning look before quickly catching up to her.
Justin stood frozen in place for quite a while before it occurred to him to go after them. He rushed after them, but he didn’t even manage to touch the trunk lid of their car. In the end, he could only watch helplessly as their car drove away from the court building’s entrance.
As the summer was transitioning to autumn, the autumn wind swept up fallen leaves in the glaring sunlight.
“President Burton!” Frankie hurried over to Justin. “That woman was a hooker, and she posted the photos on social media. Now the photos have been retweeted more than 10,000 times, and news reports of you hiring a prostitute are everywhere! The Burton Group’s share prices have started to drop!”
Justin looked expressionlessly in the direction the car had left as if he hadn’t heard Frankie’s words.
Just then, a ringtone played like the final nail in the coffin. Seeing the caller ID, Frankie blanched at once. “President Burton! It’s Old Mr. Burton calling!” Needless to say, Arthur was calling to ask about the rumors of Justin having “hired a prostitute.”
The phone kept ringing. After a long time, Justin answered the phone.
In an instant, questions came pelting down on the man from the other end of the line. “What have you done? What the hell’s going on with those news stories online? Come back now!”
“Grandpa, I can’t go back now.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ve lost the lawsuit. I’m gonna apply for a retrial.”
Upon hearing this, Arthur became even more furious. “You wrongheaded b*stard! Do you know you’ve been tricked by Rachel, that woman?”
“This is a matter between her and me, and I don’t need you to step in.”
Arthur could be heard banging his stick on the ground on the other end of the line. “Do you think that I want to step in? She’s set you up in such a despicable and shameless way, and you’re still unable to realize how sinister this woman is even now? She’s not only snatching the child from you; she’s also trying to bring down the Burton Group! She was up to no good from the very start!”
Justin frowned. “What do you mean, Grandpa?”
“You still don’t get it, huh? That woman was hired by her!”
Justin didn’t expect to hear such words from Arthur. The instant he heard these, his mind instantly went blank, as though it had exploded with a loud boom. Impossible!
“You don’t believe me, huh?” Arthur let out a snort. “If you don’t believe me, then look into it yourself! This woman has done lots of things behind your back, and this is only one of them!”
The speech on the other end continued, but Justin was no longer listening. “Cough, cough…!”
“President Burton!” Frankie cried out in alarm. With quick reflexes, he held onto Justin, preventing the latter from falling. “Are you alright?”
A pool of blood spewed out of Justin’s mouth and spread on the ground like the red blossoms of thorn apple flowers. He clutched his chest, which ached with acute, suffocating pain, as though it would explode at any minute.
