CHAPTER 13: CHAPTER 13: ALREADY MARRIED

Claire Caldwell lay on the bed, scrolling through her phone, sending a message to the legal aid center, waiting for a reply that never came.

She couldn’t sleep either, having just been released from prison and still unfamiliar with the new phone.

She remembered that when she was in school, people would post on forums if anything happened.

Back then, she learned about Justin Holden being with the campus queen from the forum.

She randomly typed a few words, and the first search result on the screen was the Kingswell University forum.

Most of the posts on the forum were from freshmen, which didn’t interest her, so she scrolled down further.

Some old posts.

After she was taken away by the police, a lot of information about her appeared on the forum.

People she knew, people she didn’t know, were all there to gossip.

"Who’s this fat chick in the photo?"

"Claire Caldwell, from the class of ’16 in the journalism department. Isn’t she a rich second generation? Why was she arrested?"

"Seems like it’s for fraud."

"I heard about it, there was a flood in Sudland Province, and the relief supplies weren’t delivered on time, a lot of people died."

"This fatty is really bad, vicious-hearted, truly unscrupulous in business."

"Who knows how her family got their money, maybe they’ve done worse things in secret, she should be sentenced to death."

Jean Ellison looked at these posts, feeling nothing, not even anger.

She was used to it.

Not a day went by in prison without being pointed at and cursed by others, having rats put in her bed was a common thing.

Although everyone was in there for committing crimes, the nature of the crimes was different, creating a natural hierarchy.

There was a big sister there from Sudland Province, who killed her abusive husband and got over twenty years.

She joined a few female inmates to push her head into the toilet, nearly drowning her.

She hadn’t yet realized she was pregnant at the time; it was her third day in prison.

Jean Ellison exited the post and scrolled down again.

She saw a familiar face.

Wendy Wallace was wearing an elegant satin wedding dress, holding a bouquet of flowers, taking a selfie in front of a teaching building.

The caption read: From campus to wedding dress, this is where we first met.

The woman in the photo was the same campus queen rumored with Justin Holden back then, unchanged, still so intellectual and graceful.

The teaching building behind her was a cold gray all over, and no matter how Jean Ellison looked at it, it seemed very familiar.

It was the law department.

She wasn’t mistaken, she used to wander there often, hoping to run into Justin Holden.

She didn’t dare look at the photo again, exited the forum, and set the phone aside.

From campus to wedding dress...

The place they first met was the law department building.

It seemed Justin Holden and Wendy Wallace got married while she was serving her sentence in prison.

They were meant to be together, a perfect match, a union made in heaven.

A campus queen, a campus king.

It was her being willful, arrogant, and bossy, forcefully inserting herself, making her father visit the Holden family’s elders, actively proposing the two families’ children be together.

Her mom said her dad had never asked for anything in his life; that was the first time.

The next day was Saturday.

Isabel Dalton invited her out for a walk, considering last time Justin Holden came to the prison, it was Officer Dalton who helped her.

She intended to properly thank him, so she took the initiative to book a restaurant for dinner.

Around seven in the evening, the two arrived at the restaurant, and just as they entered the private room, a group of people arrived at the door.

The men were all in suits, wearing ties, carrying briefcases.

The women beside them wore tailored suit dresses, name tags hanging on their chests, stepping in small black kid leather high heels.

"When will Lawyer Holden arrive?"

"He’s still busy, said he’ll come over later, told us to start drinking first."

"Winning the overseas lawsuit this time, thanks to Lawyer Holden’s online guidance."

"When is he not the hero? Today is actually the first time he’s attending our celebration party."

The group chatted and laughed as they moved into the next private room.

Justin Holden arrived late, Samual Pryce led the group in making him drink three penalty drinks, he said he needed to take medicine, so everyone let it go.

He had insomnia, not a new issue.

He sat down, looking distant, his thin lips lightly pressed, pouring himself a cup of tea.

The female lawyer beside him blushed, handing him a tissue.

"Lawyer Holden, I’m a new intern, also a graduate of Kingswell University’s law department."

"Oh, Lawson is still Lawyer Holden’s little fan, huh?"

Samual Pryce laughed, watching them, having had a drink.

The female lawyer blushed more, not daring to look up at him.

Lawyer Holden was a well-known figure among Kingswell University’s law department, frequently mentioned by teachers and students even years after graduation.

The school even formed a fan support group for him, closely following all his cases.

Justin Holden nodded slightly, looking at the female lawyer. He had no impression of the interns at the law firm; Samual Pryce was responsible for recruiting newcomers.

The female lawyer took a seat beside him, several times wanting to raise her glass to toast him, only to notice his distant expression, seemingly thinking about something, inattentive to socializing, so she put the glass down.

The people at the table were chatting and laughing, mostly making idle jokes, teasing each other.

Justin Holden took off his frameless glasses, set them aside, and pinched his brow slightly tired.

The female lawyer looked at him with concern, "Haven’t you been resting well lately? I know a traditional Chinese medicine doctor; his sleep aids are highly effective."

Justin Holden shook his head, and the female lawyer didn’t continue speaking.

Samual Pryce drank a bit too much, "Lawson, he’s had insomnia for a long time, caused by a lack of sex life, living like a monk for five years. If you really want to help him, why don’t you just take him home tonight."

The female lawyer blushed deeply, embarrassedly lowering her head.

"That wouldn’t be appropriate."

"Old Pryce is drunk."

Justin Holden politely declined.

With that, the topic ended, and the female lawyer seemed a bit disappointed.

He had little interest in the topics discussed at the table, barely speaking, and when he did, it was just a brief polite remark.

A few people wanted to use the opportunity to make a connection, him being both a senior and the big boss.

He lowered his head, the contours of his side face sharp, his expression cold, long legs crossed, making the colleagues sitting nearby hesitant to speak.

Justin Holden caught a glimpse of something at the door, outside the glass door, two women walking away.

One of them had very fair skin, a cool and slender figure, wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans, with a high ponytail tied with a black hair tie, a silhouette flashing before his eyes.

Justin Holden suddenly stood up, walking straight out.

The voices in the private room abruptly stopped, thinking someone’s joke had upset him.

Justin Holden quickly walked out of the restaurant; the dark road outside was empty.

He frowned, unsure why he had chased after them.

Even if that person was Jean Ellison, what did it have to do with him? She had already found a new lawyer, she was no longer his client.

"Lawyer Holden."

A pleasant female voice came from behind, he turned around to see a colleague from the law firm.

What was her name again, it seemed she had introduced herself before, he didn’t pay attention.

"Lawyer Holden, you forgot to take your glasses."

The female lawyer handed him the glasses she was holding, blocking his path, her face red, probably encouraged by the group inside to come out and deliver something.

"Thank you."

Justin Holden coolly and politely took the glasses and put them on, just at the moment he wore them, two women walked past behind him not far away.

Jean Ellison immediately recognized Justin Holden standing by the roadside, her eyesight not great, she only saw a fuzzy figure, recognizing it was him.

As for the woman standing next to him, she couldn’t see clearly, probably Wendy Wallace.

They must be on a date.