The Heiress He Underestimated novel Chapter 235

Chapter 235 Under Oath

Fisher

The world, Elera decided, had a very short memory and an insatiable appetite for a new story. The tsunami of scandal that had engulfed her father had receded, leaving behind a landscape littered with debris- shattered reputations, ongoing lawsuits, and a hundred talking heads who had moved on to the next billionaire’s meltdown. But for those in the eye of the storm, the cleanup was just beginning.

The first official day of Kieran Nethys’s trial dawned grey and cold, a fitting atmosphere for the grim business of justice. Elera stood before the floor–length mirror in her walk–in closet, not as Raven Shadowmere or Dr. Mystral or the CEO of Nethys Medical, but as a witness abd a daughter. She had chosen a simple, severe dress the color of charcoal, with a high neckline and no embellishments. It was armor. It said: I am here for facts, not sympathy. I am not a victim on the stand; I am a scientist presenting evidence.

Drakonius came up behind her, fastening a delicate platinum chain around her neck. It held a single, teardrop diamond–a gift from the week before, “for no reason at all,” he’d said, though they both knew the reason was everything.

“You look like you’re about to dismantle a corrupt boardroom,” he said, his hands resting on her shoulders. His reflection in the mirror was strong, healthy, dressed in a dark suit that no longer hung loosely on his frame.

“That’s the idea,” she said, meeting his eyes in the glass. “This is just another kind of hostile takeover. I’m taking the story back.”

“You already have.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll be in the front row. Every second. If you need to look at something that isn’t him, look at me.”

The courthouse was a circus. Photographers shouted behind barricades. Reporters jostled with microphones. The air buzzed with a morbid excitement. This was the final act of the Nethys drama, and everyone wanted a ticket.

Walking through it with Drakonius beside her and Frost clearing a path ahead was like moving through a tunnel of noise. Elera kept her eyes forward, her face a calm mask but inside her stomach was a nest of twisting snakes.

The courtroom itself was all polished wood and solemn silence, which somehow felt more intimidating than the chaos outside. And there, at the defense table, was her father.

Kieran looked like a wax figure of his former self. His expensive suit was sharp, but it seemed to wear him, not the other way around. His hair was perfectly styled, but his face was hollow, his eyes burning with a trapped, feral intensity. When they landed on her, the hatred was so pure it was like a physical blow. She didn’t flinch. She took her seat in the front row of the spectator’s gallery, Drakonius a solid, warm presence

next to her.

The trial was a meticulous, brutal dismantling of a life built on lies. The prosecution laid out the evidence with cold, clinical precision: financial records showing the embezzlement from her grandmother’s trust, traffic camera footage of the altered Lyros accident scene, the testimony of the retired coroner who had been paid to look the other way, the forensic audit of Nethys Conglomerate that revealed a shell game of fraud. It was overwhelming. It was incontrovertible.

And then, it was her turn.

When they called her name, a hush fell over the room. The sound of her heels on the wooden floor was deafening. She took the oath, her voice clear and steady. She sat in the witness box. folding her hands in her lap, and looked at the prosecutor, a serious woman named Amanda Pierce.

Chapter 235 Under Oath

The questions began gently, establishing her identity, her relationship to the defendant. Then they m into darker waters.

“Ms. Nethys–Vex, can you describe your relationship with your father prior to the events of this year?”

Elera kept her gaze on the prosecutor. “It was a performance. I was to be charming, obedient, and usefu My value was in my connections and my compliance.”

“And when did you first become aware that his intentions towards you were… more than simply patern.

“When he instructed me to seduce Zephyros Valdris to secure a business deal, framing it as my duty to the family.” A ripple went through the courtroom.

“And were you aware of his financial pressures at the time?”

“I was aware of what he told me. I later discovered through my own investigations that the ‘pressures‘ w largely of his own making–the result of fraud, embezzlement, and bad bets he’d covered up.”

Kieran’s lawyer objected. Sustained. But the seed was planted.

The questions continued, leading her through the discovery of the hacking, the meeting with Drakonius the kidnapping of her aunt. Elera answered each one with dispassionate clarity, sticking to the facts. She a human database, retrieving information without emotion.

Then, the prosecutor approached the climax. “Ms. Nethys–Vex, can you tell the court about the night of t incident at your home? The husband was shot.”

ghty

This was it. The room held its breath. Elera allowed herself one quick glance at Drakonius. He gave her th faintest nod. I’m here.

She turned back. “My father, Kieran Nethys, had kidnapped my aunt, Margaret Nethys, to lure me into a trap. When that failed, he came to our home. He broke in. He vandalized my medical laboratory. He destroyed the only physical sample of a cure for my husband’s degenerative disease, which I had develope When we confronted him, he produced a firearm. He stated his intention to kill my husband to ensure my ‘failure.‘ When my husband moved to disarm him, my father shot him.”

“And what did you do?”

“I attempted to stop him. I threw a surgical scalpel, striking his hand and causing him to drop the weapon.” Her voice didn’t shake. “My security chief then subdued him.”

“And your husband’s condition?”

“He sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen and suffered a subsequent, near–fatal medical crisis. His survival was not guaranteed.” For the first time, a slight tremor entered her voice, thinking of those endless hours in the hospital. She clenched her hands tighter.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify