For weeks, the circumstances surrounding Calin's severed arm had remained a mystery.
Then the footage continued.
Her thermal silhouette could be seen struggling near the balcony railing then her arm became caught between the metal bars.
Instead of carefully freeing herself, Calin suddenly pulled away with all her strength.
The movement was so abrupt that the entire courtroom went silent.
She had essentially torn herself free.
"Aaahhhhhhh!"
A desperate, terrified scream erupted from Calin as she clutched her head.
Her breathing became ragged, her body shaking uncontrollably as fragmented memories seemed to crash back into her mind.
"Get away from me!" She screamed.
The judge immediately struck the gavel. "Order! Suspend the proceedings!"
The hearing was temporarily halted as medical personnel hurried toward Calin.
Several people in the audience stared at the screen in disbelief.
"She severed her own arm just like that? How could she not feel any pain?"
"Could hypothermia have caused it? I've heard extreme cold can numb the body."
The speculation spread rapidly through the courtroom.
After all, the alternative was almost impossible for them to comprehend.
Who could tear themselves away from a metal railing knowing it would cost them an arm without reacting to the pain?
And Calin Ricci had grown up surrounded by wealth, luxury, and every possible comfort.
She had never been someone accustomed to suffering. Yet the footage showed her doing exactly that.
Calin's legal team immediately disputed the footage, arguing that the thermal surveillance had been withheld from the defense during discovery and was therefore highly questionable.
Meanwhile, Yeri was stunned as she watched the footage.
Of course she had been there.
She was the only person in that courtroom who had actually witnessed what happened on that balcony.
Naturally, she knew what they were seeing was something neither modern science nor the human world could properly explain. What surprised her was that Shin had never told her the details.
Unconsciously, she turned toward him.
Shin noticed her gaze and casually patted the back of her hand. "Are you bored?"
Yeri shook her head.
She wanted to ask what had happened to Xati's enormous snake, but this clearly wasn't the right time.
Meanwhile, Calin's memories remained hazy but she remembered hiring those mafia rogues to back her up, but as the hearing continued, none of them were mentioned.
More importantly, they never appeared anywhere in the surveillance footage.
What had happened to them?
Calin couldn't possibly bring them up herself. Doing so would only further establish that she had deliberately traveled to the Arctic with the intention of harming Yeri.
"Are you feeling better now?" Madam Ricci asked, although she herself looked shaken.
Calin ignored her. She simply stared straight ahead, her hands still trembling.
Madam Ricci, meanwhile, was deeply unsettled.
She had genuinely believed that Shin's people were responsible for her daughter's severed arm, but now she had seen the footage and Calin had done it herself.
And what happened on that balcony was far more terrifying than anything she had imagined.
Soon afterward, the judge confirmed that the thermal surveillance footage was authentic and showed no indication of editing or tampering.
Shin's lawyer immediately seized the opportunity.
"Your Honor, the defense has repeatedly argued that Miss Ricci was conditioned and manipulated by individuals around her. However, at the time of this incident, Miss Ricci's father had already been in a coma for some time. Bryce Gate was not only incarcerated but also hospitalized in critical condition when he suddenly attempted to take his own life."
He turned toward the judge.
"Miss Ricci made her own decision when she boarded that plane. There is no evidence that she was acting under threats, coercion, or direct influence when she entered my client's hotel room and forced Miss Zhi onto the balcony with the apparent intention of leaving her there to die from hypothermia."
Calin's lawyer immediately stood. "Objection. The phrase 'intention of leaving her there to die' is speculative."
"The surveillance footage establishes the circumstances," Shin's lawyer replied. "The defendant forcibly removed Miss Zhi from the room and continued the confrontation on the balcony during an extreme blizzard."
The judge considered the objection. "Overruled. The statement may stand."
The lawyer continued. "Furthermore, there has been repeated speculation that Miss Zhi was never seriously harmed during the incident. We would like to dispel that assumption by submitting her medical records."
The documents were presented to the court.
"In fact, Miss Zhi remained unconscious for nearly three days following the incident and required continued medical observation. Her condition was serious enough that immediate treatment was necessary after she was recovered from the balcony."
The court was then shown photographs of Yeri and Shin arriving back in the city.
Yeri was almost completely wrapped in thick clothing, with Shin shielding her from the cameras as they hurried through the airport.
The photographs were followed by hospital records documenting her condition in the days afterward.
This time, it was Madam Ricci's turn to feel afraid.
After all, she had been the one who assumed Yeri was perfectly fine after the Arctic incident. She had even paid marketing accounts and bots to push that narrative online and make it trend.
Now, those very claims could potentially be used against her.
When it was Yeri's turn to take the witness stand, Calin's lawyer began with what appeared to be a relatively simple question.
"When did you first become acquainted with Shin Keir?"
Yeri's lawyer immediately rose. "Objection. The relevance of the witness's relationship with Shin Keir has not been established."
"Your Honor," the opposing counsel argued, "the relationship between these two individuals is directly relevant to understanding how the circumstances involving my client and Miss Zhi developed. We intend to establish the history between these parties and the motivations behind the alleged conflict."
The judge allowed the question.
Yeri recalled the bar, her drunken state, and the complicated circumstances surrounding their first encounter.
However, she kept her answer simple.
"It was after my eighteenth debut banquet. That's when Brother Shin began pursuing me."
"During that period, were you acquainted with Calin Ricci or aware of her relationship with the Keir family?"
"I knew her as a well-known model," Yeri answered calmly. "But I didn't know her as someone related to or connected with Brother Shin."
The lawyer continued. "If that was the case, why were you already hostile toward her?"
Yeri's brows almost lifted.
Hostile?
"We have witnesses who confirmed that you disliked Calin Ricci," the lawyer continued. "They stated that you appeared wary of her and showed a strong aversion toward her. Can you explain why?"
Yeri remained composed.
Witnesses?
She wondered which scammers the lawyer had managed to recruit for this testimony.
"In fact, your cousin, Venice, once expressed similar sentiments on her social media account, although she later deleted or altered those statements after becoming distressed."
Yeri immediately understood.
They were attempting to drag Venice into the case while she was still in a coma and unable to make any statement.
"I'd also like to bring to the court's attention that, before Hadi Keir's passing, he expressed suspicions regarding the nature of Venice's approach toward him."
Yeri's lawyer immediately stood. "Objection. This has no relevance to the alleged attempted murder."
After some consideration, the judge allowed the questioning to continue.
The scope of the questioning quickly expanded.
The lawyer went into the history between Venice and Hadi, suggesting that she had deliberately brought the two together.
Then came the incident where Calin had visited Shin at the hospital, with the defense portraying Yeri's decision to hide in the restroom as evidence that she had deliberately avoided Calin while secretly enjoying her embarrassment.
They brought up the economic forum, claiming Yeri had deliberately concealed her programming abilities so she could humiliate Calin publicly.
They brought up the engagement banquet, arguing that Yeri had intentionally failed to introduce herself as Shin's fiancée, knowing that Eleanor Keir would instead focus her attention on Calin.
Also Yeri had signed a contract with SJ Entertainment around the same time Calin was being dropped by the agency.
Then came one incident after another.
Her previous conflicts with Tiffany Rhian, Marco Fabian, and with Lucia Hera.
The defense's narrative gradually became clear.
They weren't simply arguing that Yeri had a reason to dislike Calin, they were attempting to portray Yeri as someone who had been quietly targeting Calin time and again.
Someone who appeared harmless while manipulating situations from behind the scenes.
Someone who deliberately allowed others to misunderstand her while benefiting from the consequences.
A frightening schemer hiding behind a fragile appearance.
The lawyer continued. "Although Calin Ricci and Shin Keir were never officially engaged, she was still considered the nominal fiancée according to the Keir family. Did Shin Keir ever tell you this, or did anyone else inform you?"
Yeri glanced toward Shin who gave her a small nod, so she answered truthfully.
"No. But I found out about it when he was hospitalized. In fact, I wasn't hiding in the restroom to gloat at the time. I didn't know Calin Ricci then. She suddenly came in while I was there, and I felt awkward interrupting their conversation. That's when she claimed she was Brother Shin's fiancée."
That was all the lawyer needed as his voice immediately sharpened.
"So you knew of her existence that early? Miss Zhi, you're someone from the upper class. Even if their engagement was never official, you should understand how binding marriage alliances between elite families can be. How could you continue dating Shin Keir after learning this? Or were you confident that Shin Keir would break that arrangement for you?"
The courtroom began to stir.
"This further confirms that you had every reason to dislike and feel aversion toward my client, doesn't it? Calin Ricci was a threat to your relationship with Shin Keir."
Yeri slowly turned toward Calin.
Despite her outward daze appearance, Yeri could see it clearly in her eyes.
The hatred, contempt, and beneath it all, the confidence that she would somehow emerge victorious.
Yeri understood that Shin had indeed restored Calin's sanity.
Her lawyer was already rising to object when Shin suddenly called out to him and said something quietly.
The lawyer looked startled for a moment before quickly recovering.
"Your Honor, my client, CEO Shin Keir, would like to address this matter personally."
The judge considered it before nodding.
Shin stood, his gaze settled on Yeri.
"Of course she understood how marriage alliances work. That's precisely why she immediately broke up with me at the time and cut off all contact. She even blocked me."
The courtroom erupted into murmurs.