They surrounded me right after the breakup.

It was exactly 9:00 AM.

The presiding judge struck the gavel.

"quiet!"

The noise in the courtroom instantly ceased.

The prosecutor stood up from the seat on the right.

"The prosecution requests that evidence number 1 be played."

After the presiding judge nodded, the large screen lit up.

The image shows the old archives of Rongbang Construction.

Evidence of Lao Jin and his men's night raid on Rongbang Construction, attempting arson, was examined one by one.

Zhao Xiulan gripped Liu Meng's hand tightly.

"mom!"

"Mom is fine."

Liu Meng turned her mother's hand over and held it in her palm.

Both of their hands were ice cold.

The prosecutor presented photos of the evidence in turn.

"Evidence item number 1: a gasoline can seized at the scene."

"Evidence item number 2: an iron crowbar."

……

Each photo remains on the screen for a few seconds.

The sound of the clerk in the front row typing on the keyboard could be clearly heard.

"The above evidence together proves that before the incident, the defendant Jiang Guangyao instructed Jin to sneak into the old archives of Rongbang Construction with the intention of setting fire to destroy key documents."

The presiding judge reviewed the case file: "Does the defense have any objections to the criminal evidence?"

The Jiang family's lawyer stood up: "The defense has no objection to the authenticity of the evidence."

The presiding judge announced that the presentation of criminal evidence was complete and that the civil litigation evidence presentation phase was about to begin.

Xia Yutong stood up from the plaintiff's seat and walked to the projection screen.

"The plaintiff submitted the first set of evidence."

The first application was submitted, but Liheng Real Estate withdrew its approval.

The date was exactly the same as the record in Zhao Xiulan's ledger.

The second document is the approval for Jiasheng Land to withdraw its application.

Xia Yutong circled two paragraphs with a laser pointer.

"Your Honor, please note that the wording of the reasons for the order cancellation by both Liheng and Gain Capital is exactly the same, down to the punctuation."

The red dot is on the words "the quality of the supplied goods is substandard".

The third document is the draft receipt from Rongbang Construction.

Xia Yutong projected the three approval documents side by side.

The official seals of the three companies are displayed side by side on the screen, with the cancellation date circled in red.

Xia Yutong turned off the laser pointer: "This is clearly malicious collusion."

The other party refuted this.

"Your Honor, the plaintiff's claims have exceeded the statutory limitation period for bringing a lawsuit."

"Order cancellation is a normal business practice in the performance of a contract, and there is no collusion involved."

After he finished speaking, Xia Yutong took out the objection application from that year from the case file.

"The date on the objection application clearly shows that the plaintiff has never given up asserting its rights."

"The statute of limitations has been legally interrupted!"

She then pulled out another document.

"This is a recording of threats against Ms. Zhao Xiulan, and the act of threatening constitutes a new infringement."

"The statute of limitations begins to run from the last infringing act, and this case is entirely within the statutory limitation period."

The lawyer from the Jiang family frowned as he listened.

The presiding judge cleared his throat: "The plaintiff may call witnesses."

Xia Yutong turned to the audience seats.

"The plaintiff requests that Ms. Zhao Xiulan be summoned as a witness."

Zhao Xiulan tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and walked into the witness stand.

He wore a Yuantao Building Materials employee badge on his chest.

Xia Yutong walked to the witness stand: "Ms. Zhao Xiulan, what position do you hold at Yuantao Building Materials?"

"The finance director serves from the third year after the company's founding until the company goes bankrupt."

"Please present the original ledgers you have preserved to the court."

Zhao Xiulan did as she was told.

"Please read out the names and salary amounts on the first page."

"Zhang Jianguo, fitter, salary 2300 yuan, paid two weeks before the company went bankrupt."

"Please continue."

Zhao Xiulan continued reading, pausing briefly when she reached the 47th person.

"The wages of the above 47 people have all been paid in full. The person who paid the wages was Jiang Yuantao, and he used his personal savings."

Xia Yutong waited for her to close the ledger. "Please show that pay slip to the court."

Zhao Xiulan reached for it slowly, her fingers gently tracing the yellowed paper. She held up the payslip; at the top were densely packed names and amounts. She looked up at the judge's bench.

"In the last column, the person who should receive payment is Jiang Yuantao. He paid all of us wages except for his own. He didn't receive a single penny."

Xia Yutong projected the payslip onto the large screen. Forty-seven names, forty-seven amounts, every single one was there. The last column was blank.

Xia Yutong turned to the judge's bench.

"Your Honor, the plaintiff requests that a second witness be summoned, Ms. Shan Yichun."

Shan Yichun stood up from the back row of the audience seats.

She was without makeup, her hair was tied in a low ponytail, and she wore a Star Moon Media employee badge on her collar.

He didn't glance at the defendant's dock once during the dozen or so steps he took to walk to the witness stand.

She raised her hand to take the oath.

Xia Yutong submitted video evidence to the court.

The technical team imported the video into the projection system.

The video has started playing.

The key areas have been digitally altered to protect privacy.

The hotel suite was dimly lit.

Jiang Guangyao sat on the sofa with his collar open and a glass of red wine in his hand.

Shan Yichun stood opposite the coffee table, her hands clasped in front of her, her head bowed.

Jiang Guangyao's voice came from the speakers, with a sticky, slurred tone characteristic of someone who's been drinking.

"Xiao Dan, how's the new album coming along? The company's invested so much in you. You need to show some sincerity."

In the video, Shan Yichun's shoulders are trembling.

"Mr. Jiang, what do you think about my contract...?"

"I'm the one who calls the shots on the contract. Do you think you have any other choice? If you don't listen to me, who else do you think would dare to take the job?"

The image freezes.

The technical team zoomed in on the image, and Jiang Guangyao's facial features became clearly visible.

The gallery was deathly silent.

Lin Yaoyao clenched her back teeth.

The lawyer from the Jiang family suddenly stood up.

"Your Honor! This video is irrelevant to this case, and the events depicted in the video occurred long after the events in this case."

"The plaintiff is deliberately trying to mislead the public."

Xia Yutong waited for him to finish his statement before turning to the judge's bench.

"Your Honor, Jiang Guangyao has long used coercion to control others."

"More than a decade ago, we threatened Yuantao Building Materials' suppliers with order cancellations, forcing them to cut off supplies."

"Today, we're using contracts to choke artists."

"The object has changed, but the method remains the same."

"From threatening Zhao Xiulan to withdraw the lawsuit, to instructing Jin to set fire to destroy evidence, and then to coercing the artist."

"All of them constitute the same pattern of behavior. Please review this, Presiding Judge."

The presiding judge and the two judges exchanged a few words in hushed tones.

"Objection rejected! Video evidence accepted."

Xia Yutong walked to the defendant's dock and faced the Jiang family's lawyer.

She was no longer the shy girl with Jiang Han holding her toes.

Her black lawyer's robe made her look like a knife sheathed in its sheath.

He drew his sword for Jianghan.

It directly targets the opponent's vital points.

"Mr. Jiang, you just said that the video is irrelevant to this case."

"But the three different victims, spanning more than a decade, used exactly the same methods."

"In addition, we provided detailed records of fund flows, supply orders, and delivery vouchers."

"We interviewed 83 employees at the time."

"All the witness testimonies and physical evidence fully corroborate our claims."

"You're telling me this is a coincidence?"

The Jiang family's lawyer was stunned into silence.

He couldn't understand why a slender girl could speak with such great power!

Xia Yutong continued.

"Your Honor, I request that my attorney, Xia Guodong, make his or her submission."