After Reborn, I Become a Billionaire novel Chapter 1028

Chapter 1028 In Court (6) Hard Evidence

"You're talking nonsense!"
Zeny's words made Minerva collapse on the plaintiff's seat. She was extremely excited, pointing at Zeny and shouting, "You're talking nonsense. This is my original work. What does it have to do with Hannah Cooper?"
Zeny glanced at her.
"Quiet! Please be quiet, plaintiff!" The judge said sternly.
Minerva couldn't calm down. She couldn't let anyone know that this design wasn't her original work.
"I seriously suspect that this person was bought by Besse. What evidence does she have to prove that this work belongs to Hannah Cooper? If it belonged to Hannah, then she should come out and confront me instead of finding some random person to talk nonsense!" Minerva said again.
She had heard some news saying that Hannah had died. Although it hadn't been widely reported, someone mentioned it at a class reunion and said that Hannah had died a long time ago. Only her parents lived in the Cooper Manor now, and people who were close to their family knew about it. Since Hannah wasn't here anymore, there was no evidence against her accusation. This was also why she dared accuse Besse so confidently.
"If Hannah Cooper could be here today, I wouldn't bother Ms Hutcherson coming here. I can't say more about the specific reason."
"You're just stalling! There's nothing you can't say clearly in court! I'm accusing Besse of plagiarizing my original work right now. If you want to accuse me of plagiarizing from Hannah too then only Hannah herself has the right!" Minerva spoke confidently.
"Miss Bird, please understand one thing, I'm not accusing you of plagiarizing from Hannah's works right now, I'm only accusing you for not having any qualifications or rights as an accuser against my client for plagiarism." The defence explained his logic clearly.
After all, if they were accusing Minerva of plagiarism from Hannah's works then they would need another case which would be unrelated to this one. Hence court could refuse such cases easily.
Naturally, Minerva couldn't argue with him. She gritted her teeth and became very emotional throughout all these proceedings,
"Even without Hannah Cooper present, I can still provide evidence proving that this piece is not an original creation by Miss Bird." He turned towards Zeny again and said, "I heard you kept a video recording during the competition."
"I kept it." Zeny nodded, "Originally we agreed with TV stations for broadcasting but due to various reasons, it never happened so we've always kept hold of those tapes."
"Did you bring them?"
"Yes, I brought them."
"Thank you," the defence lawyer requested, "Your honour, please allow us to play this video recording."
"Granted."
Minerva was no longer calm. But at this moment, she could not stop anything from happening and had to watch the video.
In the video, a familiar figure appeared on the screen. As soon as Susan saw it, her eyes turned red. She couldn't bear to watch any videos of Hannah. She didn't want to see her alive and well in front of her but was unable to see her in person. So she had Manuel lock away any videos related to Hannah on her phone. She was afraid that she wouldn't be able to resist looking back at them and would break down even more after watching them.
At this moment, Hannah's appearance reappeared before her eyes once again. Hannah at that time was still very young and inexperienced. She wore a simple high school uniform among a group of exaggerated fashion designers, appearing out of place yet pure and lovely all the same. Such an image infected not only Susan but also Manuel and Theodore as well.
Theodore felt extremely guilty towards Hannah back then. If it weren't for him, everything would have been different.
Everyone's attention was focused on the screen without noticing that a man under protection by a group also appeared in the audience area, sitting quietly in a corner without causing any commotion while his gaze remained fixed on that woman on the screen.
The courtroom screen paused during the playback of the video clip with Hannah holding up one of her design sketches. She was smiling lightly all along with such beauty radiating from within herself.
"This is footage from nine years ago. It should be clear enough to prove that the designer of the Angel Series is none other than Hannah instead of Minerva."
"I disagree!" The plaintiff's lawyer spoke up saying, "Just now your witness made it clear enough already. This competition wasn't broadcast originally, then how could my client have seen or copied anything? This is even more absurd than Besse couldn't see the work of my client published in the magazine."
"Mr Simmons, you may miss something. Minerva knew Hannah very early on."
The prosecution lawyer frowned upon hearing this statement.
"Right, Miss Bird?" the defence lawyer asked Minerva.
She refused to speak.
"It doesn't matter if you don't admit it. I have a witness who can prove your relationship with Hannah." the defence lawyer said, turning to the judge to request that the witness be brought forward.
"Yes, even if Hannah and I were classmates, what does that matter?! Why do you say that I plagiarized from her instead of her plagiarizing from me? Just because she published first means I copied her? Maybe I had designed it but just hadn't published it yet!"
"Then can I say that my client Besse also designed for a long time before publishing?"
Minerva was getting frustrated.
"Besse has no connection with my client. However, my client and Hannah were classmates. My client had designed something, which Hannah saw and then used in a competition. It's reasonable." The plaintiff's lawyer found a loophole.
"Is it reasonable? Let's take a look at Hannah's designs before and after this incident as well as Minerva's designs before and after this. With one glance we'll know who is copying whom."
The defendant's attorney took out many of Hannah's previous design drawings as well as those made after that competition occurred. Then he took out Minerva's previous design drawings along with those made afterwards. In terms of style, the Angel series' design techniques were similar to those used by Hannah, while there was no correlation between them and Minerva's work.
Not only professionals could see this difference but even ordinary people could tell at first glance.
After showing both parties' designs, the defendant's attorney said, "Ms Hutcherson, as an originator-level designer, standing in your professional perspective, who do you think the Angel series looks more like in terms of design?"
"I cannot deny that it looks more like Hannah's work," Zeny spoke frankly. "When you asked me to be a witness earlier on, I studied Phantom's designs already. Based on her level, she wouldn't have been able to create such top-notch works herself so if possible then she must have copied them."