Chapter 360 - 344: What If the Child Becomes a Crybaby Too

She maintained a calm facade as she spoke, but inside, her mind was a chaotic mess.

"Of course, it’s only natural to forget things, but may I ask if you know this man?" Byron Shaw clicked on an image on his computer, and a man’s face appeared on the projector screen.

To convict someone of murder, you need not only ample evidence but also a motive.

The evidence had already been fully presented. All that remained was the motive.

Quincy Rhodes’s motive was simple. It was related to the man in the photograph.

When Quincy Rhodes saw the photograph, her eyelid twitched violently. She instinctively denied it, "I don’t know him!"

Byron Shaw seemed to have anticipated her answer. Unflustered, he displayed a second photo. "In that case, if you don’t know each other, why did you appear in the same place?"

"Perhaps we knew each other in the past. I can’t remember clearly..."

Byron Shaw then showed several more photos, pictures of Quincy Rhodes with this man.

In the photos, the two of them were behaving intimately. Not only were they in the same place, but that place was Quincy Rhodes’s apartment.

With this irrefutable evidence laid out before her, Quincy Rhodes couldn’t deny it even if she wanted to. "He is..."

Quincy Rhodes’s husband had been dead for many years. It would be perfectly understandable for her to find a new man.

But the timing of this man’s appearance was wrong. The later photos were of a younger Quincy Rhodes, taken before she married Connor Donovan.

Quincy Rhodes bit her lower lip hard. At this moment, all explanations became pale and powerless. If she knew this man before Connor Donovan, then a motive for murder was established.

Byron Shaw said, "To my knowledge, before you married Connor Donovan, you were once married to the man in this photograph. And even after marrying Connor Donovan, you two remained in contact. Connor Donovan noticed your relationship was unusual, so you came up with a plan to frame someone else."

"Objection! The opposing counsel is making malicious accusations!"

"Overruled."

Byron Shaw continued, "At that time, your daughter, Joanne Donovan, was close with my client. Joanne often drove my client’s car. So you devised a way to murder Connor Donovan without drawing attention. You waited for Joanne to take my client’s car in for maintenance, cut the brake lines, and deliberately didn’t refuel the car. You then had Connor Donovan drive my client’s car, which ultimately led to him crashing on the road and dying!"

Byron Shaw had laid out most of the past events. Quincy Rhodes pressed her lips together, seemingly holding back her emotions.

Her defense attorney stood up and demanded evidence from Byron Shaw.

’So they want evidence?’ Byron Shaw took out three documents and handed them to the judge. "The first document is a paternity test between Joanne Donovan and Connor Donovan. The genetic similarity between them is zero. The second document is a photograph of Joanne Donovan with the man from the earlier pictures, proving they are father and daughter. And the last one is Connor Donovan’s will. Please, see for yourselves."

Displayed on the projector was a will written by Connor Donovan before his death. The will clearly stated that he had learned Joanne Donovan was not his biological daughter and demanded that his previous will be amended to transfer all of his assets to his nephew.

This irrefutable evidence left Quincy Rhodes with no way to argue.

Meanwhile, Joanne Donovan, sitting in the gallery, was so shocked her eyes were wide and round. Her feelings were beyond words.

She wasn’t her father’s daughter, but the daughter of that gigolo her mother kept.

The moment the will was revealed, she felt the scornful gazes of everyone around her turn in her direction. A sense of shame welled up from the bottom of her heart.

’What is this crap? I don’t believe it!’

’I’m a daughter of the Donovan Family, not the daughter of some filthy man who needs a woman to support him!’

After being a pampered heiress for over thirty years, she was now being brutally slapped in the face in public. To make matters worse, Erin Irving, who was beside her, was holding her back, preventing her from lashing out.

The man spoke viciously in her ear, "Sit still and behave. Don’t you dare embarrass me!"

’Embarrass him? Heh!’

Joanne Donovan laughed mockingly. ’There’s nothing more embarrassing than my current situation.’

The case was ten years old and difficult to fully reconstruct. Quincy Rhodes was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Connor Donovan, with the evidence being conclusive. She was also deprived of her political rights for life.

And Elliot Sheridan was acquitted.

Hearing the judge’s final verdict, the Sheridan Family finally let out a collective sigh of relief.

Georgia Thorne stood nervously at the doorway while Sharon Ennis rambled on beside her. "That Quincy Rhodes is truly vicious! Killing her own husband and then framing Elliot for it! She made Elliot sit in jail for all these months for nothing. Thank goodness heaven has eyes and that Quincy Rhodes got what she deserved!"

Sharon Ennis was also nervous. She hadn’t seen Elliot even once since he was imprisoned.

After waiting for about twenty minutes, Byron Shaw and Elliot Sheridan emerged from inside together.

Seeing the gaunt man, Georgia Thorne’s eyes filled with hot tears as she ran and threw herself into his arms.

Elliot carefully supported her waist with one hand and whispered in her ear, "Be careful with the baby!"

Georgia Thorne lifted her small face, smiling at Elliot through her tears.

She wanted to give Elliot a smile, but tears kept rolling down her face, unstoppable.

The calloused pads of his fingers caressed her cheek, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes. "If you keep crying, what if our baby turns out to be a crybaby too?"

Even though his tone was gentle and coaxing, his words only made Georgia Thorne’s tears flow harder.

’If there weren’t other people around, I’d bite him so hard.’

’That scoundrel, always using the baby to threaten me.’

After crying her fill, Georgia Thorne wiped her tears with the back of her hand and looked at the others, a little embarrassed.

Sharon Ennis also came up to hug her son, saying with a heartache, "How did you get so thin!"

"Mom!" Elliot called out, which made Sharon Ennis unable to stop herself from crying as well.

While Elliot was talking with Sharon Ennis and the others, Georgia Thorne walked aside with Byron Shaw.

Georgia Thorne had previously resented Byron Shaw, but now that she knew the truth, she felt a bit awkward facing him.

"Um, I’m sorry."

"It’s nothing!" Byron Shaw said nonchalantly. When he first agreed to help Elliot, he had already guessed how Georgia Thorne would react.

Georgia Thorne was a very genuine person; she wore her heart on her sleeve.

Georgia Thorne gave an awkward laugh. Byron Shaw added, "Come over to my place sometime. My sister misses you a lot."

Georgia Thorne fell silent as if contemplating. After a long moment, she replied, "Okay. I’ll go."

Byron Shaw grunted in acknowledgment. "I have something else to attend to, so I’ll be leaving first."

"Okay, be careful on your way."

Watching Byron Shaw’s departing figure, Georgia Thorne couldn’t help but sigh softly. ’Should I tell Sharon and the others about my relationship with Byron and Naomi Shaw?’

On the other side, a swarm of reporters was chasing after Joanne Donovan.

Joanne Donovan was in a terrible mood, but in front of the reporters, she couldn’t lose her temper and had to do her best to maintain the smile on her face.

Inwardly, however, she was cursing Erin Irving for abandoning her and leaving her alone with these reporters.

Combined with the news of her affair abroad and the events in court today, the reporters eagerly questioned Joanne Donovan about her current feelings.

Joanne Donovan sneered and struggled to make her way outside.

Just as her anger was about to boil over, she heard someone shout that Elliot Sheridan had come out. Not only the other reporters, but even Joanne Donovan’s gaze was drawn to him.

Elliot had changed into casual clothes, looking less stern and more gentle, especially in the way he treated the woman by his side. He protectively held Georgia Thorne in his arms with one hand, as if she were his most precious treasure, his every move filled with caution.

It made her grind her teeth in anger. ’Why should the woman standing next to Elliot be Georgia Thorne? Her background isn’t exactly clean either—at best, she’s just an illegitimate child. She’s not even as good as me.’

Joanne Donovan coveted Elliot Sheridan. Even after marrying Erin Irving, there wasn’t a moment she didn’t think about Elliot.

’If only she could be the one treated so gently by Elliot.’

More than half the reporters were drawn away by Elliot, but a small group remained steadfast in front of Joanne Donovan, shoving their microphones toward her.

In a moment of carelessness, an unseen hand pushed Joanne Donovan forcefully. She was wearing ten-centimeter high heels and lost her balance, tumbling to the ground.

Joanne Donovan lay on the ground, but no one went to help her up.

Just as she was feeling utterly humiliated, a pair of long, slender male hands reached out to her.

Joanne Donovan looked up. The man extending a hand to her was none other than Elliot Sheridan, the man she had yearned for for so long.

The moment her gaze fell on Elliot’s face, she felt dazed, as if what was happening before her was a hallucination.

’Her mother framed him for Connor Donovan’s death. Logically, he should hate me, yet he’s actually coming over to help me up.’

Half-doubting, Joanne Donovan had already stretched out her hand and grasped Elliot’s palm. ’Hallucination or not, I’ll still reach for it.’

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a hallucination. Reality was cruel. Just as Joanne Donovan looked at Elliot with gratitude, he leaned in closer. "Did you think I would let you go after you harmed Georgia Thorne?"

Joanne Donovan’s eyes widened in horror. Meeting Elliot’s gentle, smiling eyes, a chill ran through her entire body, as if those words couldn’t possibly have come from his mouth.

’He knows everything?’

Her fingers retracted from Elliot’s palm as if she had been electrocuted, her hand stiffening.

Her gaze shifted to Georgia Thorne at the side, her eyes filled with envy and jealousy.

’If only I were Georgia Thorne!’