After Reborn, I Become a Billionaire novel Chapter 1023

Chapter 1023 In Court (1) Plead Not Guilty

Besse was quiet. This feeling wasn't unique to Doyle alone. She felt it too.
"I'm similar to one of their friends, which is why there was a misunderstanding." Said she.
"I don't understand. You've never been to Northfield, yet they thought you looked like someone they knew before."
"Neither do I." Besse laughed. She didn't understand why she felt so familiar with Northfield despite never having been there before.
"Don't think about it. After a few days in court, we'll leave this place."
"Promise me you won't come back here again." Said Doyle, serious.
"Okay."
The truth was that this place always gave her an indescribable feeling-both familiar and fearful.
Five days later, Besse went to court for the plagiarism case.
Besse stood at the defendant's table while 'Phantom' stood at the plaintiff's table. There were many people in the audience seats, including Susan and Manuel. Doyle was also present but had deliberately kept his distance from them since his unpleasant encounter with Manuel that day. They hadn't spoken since then.
"Ah, there you are." A familiar voice suddenly sounded in their ears.
Susan looked up and saw Theodore sitting down next to them.
"Where's Oscar?" She looked around left and right.
"Not convenient for him," Theodore replied as he sat down beside them. "Probably he doesn't want to see his love rival." He glanced over at Doyle smugly as he spoke.
"Huh? You have time to mock others?" Susan sneered, "But Little Bunny has gone cold on you. What happened? Have you given up?"
Theodore fell silent; Susan just knew how to hit where it hurt most.
"Quiet!" The bailiff maintained order inside the courtroom before announcing its rules of conduct once more for everyone's benefit. Once done, everyone rose from their seats as the judge entered into chambers and began hearing arguments from both sides during defence proceedings.
The plaintiff's lawyer stepped forward and began, "My client is Minerva Bird, also known as 'Phantom'. Eight years ago, she released an original design that has now been plagiarized by Karami's well-known designer Besse for commercial gain, seriously damaging my client's reputation. My client is now suing Besse for plagiarism and demanding that all profits from the Angel series of designs be compensated to her. Furthermore, my client requires a public apology from Besse in front of the media."
The room was shocked by the high demands made by the plaintiff.
The Angel series had made billions in profit and not just because of its unique design but also because it had a strong brand name. Even if Phantom were to use this product line again and make it marketable, it would never earn as much money as before.
Demanding a public apology on top of compensation seemed too aggressive.
"This is our evidence." Said the plaintiff's lawyer as he handed over all relevant documents to the judge.
After reviewing everything carefully, it was clear that plagiarism had occurred. They only needed to determine how much compensation should be awarded.
"Based on the evidence provided by the plaintiff," began the judge. "It appears that Besse did commit plagiarism. Now we will hear from their defence."
"Thank you, Your Honour." Said Besse's confident lawyer who then declared, "We deny those allegations."
Everyone was shocked once again at such a bold statement. At this point, winning sympathy from court officials was crucial, so why would they make such an unnecessary move?
Minerva couldn't help but sneer at their arrogance while thinking about how foolish they were being. The more Besse tried to defend herself with lies or excuses only further proved her guilt making her look even worse off than before.
"Your honour," continued Besse's attorney, ignoring everyone else's reactions towards his statement. "I have several questions I'd like to ask my client."
"Permission granted."
Besse looked up at her attorney curiously, wondering what he could want with these questions when he asked.
"Miss Besse, since your birth until now, have you ever visited Northfield?"
"No."
"Are you sure?" the lawyer asked again.
"I'm sure," Besse replied. "I have records of my travel history from birth until now, and this is my first time in Northfield."
"Okay," the lawyer nodded, then turned to the judge. "Your honour, may I ask the plaintiff a few questions?"
"Permission granted."
The lawyer walked over to Minerva, who straightened her back and looked confident.
"Miss Bird, I want to ask if eight years ago you submitted your original design to Water Ripple Design Magazine?"
"Yes," Minerva replied.
"If I remember correctly, that magazine went bankrupt five years ago."
"That doesn't affect the fact that my design was published eight years ago in that magazine. This is the issue where it was published and luckily I kept it all these years, it's out of print by now." She held up the yellowish magazine.
The lawyer glanced at it and chuckled. "So if not for this magazine, Miss Bird wouldn't be able to prove that your design was published?"
"That's right. Otherwise, there would be no way for me to prove anything and I'd just have to suffer silently." Minerva looked smug. "But as they say, what goes around comes around!"
"I agree with that statement," said the lawyer following up on what she said before asking another question, "I also wanted to ask Miss Bird, if this magazine had been distributed online?"
"Online?" frowned Minerva unhappily as she retorted, "Whether or not it was distributed online has nothing to do with whether or not my design was previously published. What's your point?!"
"Don't misunderstand me, Miss Bird. I don't doubt for a second that your design did get published eight years ago. What I mean is, back then when fashion designs were only circulated through paper media because the internet wasn't so popular yet, this company went bankrupt five years ago so there's no way they could've re-published their old works online again. Furthermore, from what we know about its sales figures at 2000 copies sold; during an era when the internet wasn't developed yet nor anyone would spread content via the internet later on. It's almost impossible for someone overseas like my client to receive a copy of such an obscure publication at its time."