A Lawsuit Next Door

On the very first day after I moved into the neighborhood, my neighbor, Fiona Harper, took me to court. She stood in the courtroom sobbing uncontrollably, accusing my son, Lucas Cole, of assaulting her daughter, Daisy Harper.

My Daisy just turned eighteen, and she was ruined by that sick pervert, Lucas! A piece of trash raised without morals like him deserves the death penalty!

Her daughter also insisted it was my son. "Lucas said if I did not take off my clothes, he would strangle me... I was so scared..."

The moment those words were spoken, the spectators acting as the jury erupted in righteous fury, angrily demanding severe punishment for my son.

"Animal! Lucas is nothing but an animal!"

"Punish him harshly. Do not let that demon get away!"

Then the judge summoned my son to appear in court.

Everyone present was stunned into silence.

Chapter 1

"Mrs. Cole, since your beast of a son had the guts to ruin my daughter, why doesn't he dare show his face in court?!

"Don't think you can hide him away and make this disappear. I won't let this go. Lucas Cole deserves the death penalty, and your family must compensate my daughter two million in emotional damages!"

In the courtroom, Fiona Harper glared at me viciously, her eyes filled with such hatred, as if she wanted to peel my skin off and tear me apart.

Beside her, her daughter, Daisy Harper, cried softly, tears streaming down her face like falling petals. Her eyes were full of grievance and fear.

I looked coldly at the Harpers and repeated the same words. "Lucas did not assault Daisy; he could never have assaulted her. If a crime was committed, don't pin it on the wrong person. Do not even think about blaming Lucas."

Before today, I never imagined that Fiona and I would end up facing each other like enemies in a courtroom.

On the day Lucas and I moved into the neighborhood, Fiona had been warm and enthusiastic, helping me carry boxes and welcoming us as new neighbors. She told me that if I ever needed anything, I could just ask.

During our conversation, when she heard that I had a son, her smile grew even brighter. She immediately began introducing her own daughter, Daisy, praising her nonstop and saying it was fate that our families had met.

Yet that very night, she showed up at my door with Daisy, whose clothes were in disarray. She pounded on my door like she had lost her mind and accused Lucas of assaulting Daisy.

I was completely stunned when I heard it. After snapping out of it, I hurried to explain that Lucas would never do such a thing.

However, Fiona refused to listen. She insisted it was Lucas, and Daisy stood beside her, crying and agreeing. She said Lucas had cornered her in the hallway, dragged her up to the rooftop, and assaulted her there.

No matter how I tried to explain, the two of them were like wolves that had locked onto their prey, clamping down on Lucas and refusing to let go.

They even demanded a million in compensation and insisted that Lucas marry Daisy, or they would call the police and make sure Lucas rotted in prison.

I knew very clearly that Lucas could not have assaulted Daisy. The demand for one million was even more absurd. I flatly refused their conditions.

I never expected them to take me to court.

I refused to admit to anything, and Fiona immediately exploded.

"Impossible? Mrs. Cole, open your damn dog eyes and look at the injuries on Daisy's body!" Fiona yanked open Daisy's jacket, revealing shocking bruises all over her skin. "Your beast of a son made these bruises. My Daisy is only eighteen!"

Daisy trembled as she looked at me, her eyes full of tears. "Mrs. Cole, these were all done by Lucas. He even threatened me, saying that if I did not take off my clothes, he would strangle me. I was really scared."

Fiona pulled Daisy into her arms and comforted her. The two of them broke down in sobs right there in the courtroom.

Meanwhile, as the so-called mother of the perpetrator, I looked on coldly and without emotion.

The spectators acting as the jury pointed at me and cursed.

"Shameless! Her son did something so inhuman, and she still refuses to admit it!"

"You can tell she is not a good person just by looking at her. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!"

"Poor Daisy. So young, yet she had to go through something like this. It will haunt her for the rest of her life!"

Chapter 2

The waves of condemnation slammed into me, but I could not have cared less. I stood there as if it had nothing to do with me at all.

Daisy cried even harder. "Mrs. Cole, it was obviously Lucas. Why are you refusing to admit it? I am only eighteen. How am I supposed to face people in the future? How am I supposed to live after this?"

She sobbed as she pounded her fists against her own head, her despair so raw that many people in the courtroom could not help but redden around the eyes.

Fiona was heartbroken beyond measure. She pointed at my face and cursed, "Mrs. Cole, you are a parent too. How can you be this cold-blooded? If the victim today were your daughter, could you still be this indifferent?"

I sneered. "My son is being framed. What is wrong with me defending my own child?"

I knew very clearly that Lucas could never have done something so absurd. Nevertheless, in their eyes, I was nothing more than someone desperately making excuses.

The murmurs from the jury gallery grew louder and louder.

"This woman is beyond saving."

"She has completely lost her conscience just to shield her son."

"If the mother is this shameless, what kind of person could the son possibly be?"

The courtroom instantly descended into chaos. The judge frowned and struck the gavel.

"Order! Since both sides are holding to their own accounts, each party will now present their evidence."

As soon as the words fell, Daisy's lawyer, Rachel Whitman, immediately stood up and spoke with righteous indignation, "Your Honor, we have sufficient evidence to prove that the defendant, Lucas Cole, committed assault against my client, Daisy Harper."

She gestured for Daisy to speak and recount what had happened that night.

Daisy took a deep breath. Her voice trembled as she began describing the so-called events of the crime.

"That night, around ten o'clock, I was heading home from my tutoring class. The elevator in that building happened to be broken, so I had to take the stairs. When I reached the 26th floor, someone suddenly covered my mouth from behind.

"I struggled with all my strength, but Lucas was very strong. He dragged me straight up to the rooftop and threatened me, saying I had to keep him company."

I raised my brow and pressed her. "How can you be sure that person was Lucas?"

Daisy met my gaze and choked out her answer, "I... I know it was him. I saw his face.

"Lucas forced me to take off my clothes. I shook my head and refused, but he lifted his hand and grabbed my neck. He said he said that if I did not obey, he would strangle me to death...

"I was so scared. I had no choice. I could only give in..."

By the time she reached this point, she was crying so hard she could barely breathe, both hands clutching the hem of her clothes.

Everyone in the room pitied her supposed suffering.

Everyone except me.

I knew with absolute certainty that she was lying.

I pointed it out in front of everyone. "Daisy, you are lying."

At my words, Daisy's entire body began to tremble. She lost control of her emotions and screamed at me, "Lying? Mrs. Cole, how could I use my own purity to lie? Why do you have to be so heartless and force me like this? Look at the injuries on my body. Look at how your son tortured me!"

She went completely hysterical, tearing at her own clothes and exposing even more bruises of varying shades.

Rachel rushed forward and wrapped an arm around the collapsing Daisy, then pointed at me sharply. "Defendant, on what grounds do you claim my client is lying? The injuries on Daisy's body are irrefutable proof. Your baseless accusations constitute secondary harm to the victim!"

I looked coldly at the indignant lawyer and said clearly, "If she had truly seen my son, she would never say something this ridiculous."

On the day Lucas and I moved in, the Harpers saw only me.

From beginning to end, Lucas never once appeared in front of them.

If they had ever actually seen my son, they would never have pinned a crime like assault on him.

Chapter 3

When Rachel heard me say that, she let out a cold laugh.

"Defendant, is your son some kind of irresistible catch? Does my client, Daisy, have nothing better to do than rush to ruin her own purity just to frame him?"

Daisy immediately echoed her. "I really did see Lucas. When I was heading to tutoring, I happened to see him coming out of his apartment. We took the elevator down together. He told me his name was Lucas Cole and that he was a newly moved-in neighbor."

Fiona pointed at me and screamed, "Mrs. Cole, do not think that stirring up trouble here will get your son off the hook! Daisy saw him with her own eyes. She even knows his name. Stop trying to argue your way out of this!"

Watching the two of them sing in perfect unison, I found it laughable.

Daisy spoke with such absolute certainty because the hallway and the rooftop terrace were blind spots in the surveillance system.

It was precisely because those areas were not covered by cameras that the Harpers dared to fabricate lies so brazenly.

I did not continue arguing with them. Instead, I turned to the judge.

"Your Honor, the plaintiff's testimony contains numerous contradictions and points of doubt. It is entirely insufficient to establish that my son, Lucas Cole, committed any assault."

When Fiona saw the judge nod in agreement, she panicked. She shot up from her seat and roared, "Contradictions? Doubts? Mrs. Cole, stop trying to confuse everyone here! Every single word my daughter said is the truth. The injuries on her body are evidence!"

I smiled. "You think you can convict my son based on a few words alone? The law is not something you can fool."

My words made Fiona's face flush red with rage, and Daisy looked like she was on the verge of fainting from crying.

The people in the jury gallery thought I was being deliberately unreasonable, and their criticism grew even louder.

"This woman is completely impossible. Even now, she is still splitting hairs!"

"Why wasn't her own child the one who got assaulted?!"

"If the mother is this cheap, then of course the son is an animal!"

One voice after another, they tried to force me into submission with their outrage.

I straightened my back and swept my gaze coldly across the spectators. "Everyone, the truth has not yet been determined. Do not let yourselves be used as weapons."

They knew nothing about the real facts. They were merely venting their so-called sense of justice. It was foolish.

They choked on my words for a moment, then someone immediately shot back, "Used as weapons? It is obvious your son did something terrible and is still trying to argue his way out!"

"Exactly. Daisy is just a young girl. How could she joke about something like this!"

Seeing that people were siding with her, Fiona grew even more confident. She shot me a sinister glance, a trace of smugness flashing through her eyes.

"Mrs. Cole, did you not keep saying the evidence is insufficient? Then open your eyes wide and take a good look now. I would love to see how you keep arguing once the evidence is right in front of you."

After she spoke, she exchanged a look with Rachel, who immediately took out a document and displayed it publicly.

"The document I am holding is proof that bodily fluid belonging to the defendant, Lucas Cole, was extracted from my client, Daisy Harper."

Chapter 4

Those words exploded through the courtroom like a thunderclap.

Every gaze snapped toward the so-called report, including mine.

Rachel held the document high in the air, her posture triumphant, as if she had already won. "This report shows that DNA highly matching the defendants son was detected on Ms. Daisys intimate clothing and relevant areas of her body.

"Mrs. Cole, the evidence is overwhelming. What do you have left to say now?"

I looked at the test report she was holding up, my expression completely calm. I never imagined Fiona would go this far to fabricate evidence.

I rose slowly to my feet, my eyes sweeping over the Harpers and their lawyer, who clearly thought victory was already secured. My voice was steady, firm, leaving no room for doubt.

"The report is fake. I don't believe it."

"Fake?" Rachel reacted as if she had just heard the biggest joke of her life. She handed copies of the report to Judge Alex Brooks and the jury. "Mrs. Cole, this report was issued by the municipal hospital and bears its official seal. It has legal validity. You say it is fake, so it is fake?"

Daisy lifted her head to look at me. The tears on her face had not even dried, yet her eyes brimmed with resentment.

"Mrs. Cole, you refuse to acknowledge my testimony. Now you refuse to acknowledge a hospital report, too. How can you be this shameless? Are you really trying to force me to my death?"

As she spoke, she began smashing her head wildly against the corner of the table. The dull thuds echoed through the courtroom.

Fiona was terrified out of her mind. She screamed and rushed forward, wrapping her arms around her daughter. "Daisy, don't do anything stupid! If anything happens to you, how am I supposed to live?"

Seeing this, Judge Brooks immediately ordered people to intervene, the gavel slamming down again and again.

"Plaintiff, control your emotions. Do not engage in extreme behavior. No matter what, the law will give you an explanation."

Only then did Daisy gradually calm down.

Fiona held her daughter tightly, her eyes fixed on me with venomous hatred. "Mrs. Cole, if your son does not plead guilty today, I will die right in front of you. Even as a ghost, I will not let you or your son go!"

The spectators erupted, echoing her fury, wishing my son could be executed on the spot.

"This makes me furious. That animal must get the death penalty. Look at what he has done to this mother and daughter!"

"The DNA matches, and they are still denying it? This family truly has no shame!"

"A mother shielding an animal like that should go to prison with him!"

The noise went on and on.

Rachel spoke again, her tone righteous and imposing, "Mrs. Cole, the law will not let any criminal escape. Your son must pay the price for assaulting my client."

Everyone waited for the verdict that was about to fall on my sonand on me.

Judge Brooks cleared his throat and turned to me for the final inquiry. "Defendant, regarding the DNA test report provided by the plaintiff and Ms. Daisys testimony, do you have any further objections you wish to state?"

I met Judge Brooks gaze and answered slowly, clearly, one word at a time, "Your Honor, my evidence is my son. I request that my son be summoned to testify in court."

The gavel struck.

"Summon the defendants son to appear in court."

The courtroom doors slowly opened.

Every pair of eyes locked onto the entrance. Fiona and Daisy stared without blinking, as if ready to tear the animal who had ruined Daisy apart with their bare hands.

However, the moment my son walked into the courtroom

Everyone froze.

Because my son was, in fact, biologically an animal.