Jepherson did not answer her question immediately. He looked at Raeleigh and instead said. "It's okay if you act dumb, she's still my daughter after all."
Jepherson then stood up and poured himself a cup of water. Even after he drank a mouthful and turned towards her, he did not continue his line of questioning.
Raeleigh's body gradually recovered while the case went through a few rounds of negotiations. These negotiations were handled by Stuart together with another but they had yet to come to a conclusion.
Crevor also came to visit Raeleigh two to three times.
However, Raeleigh kept quiet and didn't bother to talk to him during those times. She just laid on the bed, her eyes fixed onto the ceiling of the ward indifferently as she lapsed into a seldom seen tranquility.
Occasionally, when Crevor came he would chat with Jepherson, who wouldn't refuse. This made Raeleigh feel perplexed. Jepherson did not like Crevor, but he could calmly sit down and talk to him. He even called him Mr. Doyle politely.
Though Crevor was indeed a few years older than Jepherson, Raeleigh rarely saw Jepherson respect someone so much which made it all so strange for her.
That day, Raeleigh's case was up for trial. Jepherson got up in the morning and accompanied her to the court. Raeleigh, however, sat in a wheelchair with the excuse that she was still weak, plus the court registrar didn't comment much over it.
Once she was in the courtroom, Raeleigh laid out her case and made her confession. But towards the end of the trial, the judge had received a document. After they read through it, they called for the trial proceedings to be temporarily on hold as some new information had come up.
After the recess, the judge returned after a while and announced their conclusion. The verdict stated that the cause of the accident was due to Raeleigh's mental wellbeing. Based on the signs shown on the day of the incident, it was evident that Raeleigh had a mental disorder. Moreover, the documents had already been sent to the table and Raeleigh had to confirm this.
Crevor was present in the courtroom as well, his seat placed beside Raeleigh's.
Crevor lightly asked her, "This is your last bargaining chip?"
"I do have a mental disorder. I'm one cranial nerve short, so I am prone to seizures."
Jepherson's expression changed slightly as he looked at Raeleigh. "Why did I not know about this?"
"Did you forget that I have a brain tumor?" she asked him, whose face had twisted into an ugly expression. "You cut off one of your nerves?" he hissed.
Raeleigh didn't answer. Jepherson abruptly turned his face away and said nothing with gritted teeth and an awful countenance. Crevor stood up and looked at Raeleigh with an indifferent smile. "You win!"
Raeleigh wore a smile. "This is not my last bargaining chip. I actually still have a lot of them. You are just destined to lose this time."
"Why is that?"
"No reason."
Raeleigh stood up. Some policemen and medical staff went to the examination room with her. Jepherson tagged along under the identity of Raeleigh's family member, but he could only watch from outside, separated by a glass window.
Raeleigh was taken to another area after she entered. She wore special equipment that's used to check Raeleigh's mental condition first. Then Raeleigh went to another equipment where she was injected with a kind of medicine that relaxed her whole body, in which they conducted another examination when she was under. It was similar to hypnosis, but not exactly hypnosis.
After Raeleigh woke up, she entered the radiography room to check. Jepherson's face was drained of all color, as still as a statue outside.
Raeleigh came out from the room and noticed Jepherson's stiff figure. Meanwhile, the security officer put Raeleigh's result in a confidential box and took it away. Raeleigh and Jephersoon stared at each other from where they stood. Then, Jepherson broke the stare-off as he strode up to Raeleigh and carried her in his arms. She intended to refuse, but he said, "There's no wheelchair, I'll carry you."
Raeleigh said nothing then and went with Jepherson to see the judge.
When the judge was ready to pass his sentence, Crevor's attorney raised their hand.
A judge motioned for the prosecutor to speak first who then expressed that they would accept a court settlement as well as file a claim for compensation.
With that being said, the judge continued to announce once the penalty fine had been paid, she could leave.
After they left the court, Raeleigh observed the people around her while Jepherson pushed her to the car. He opened the door and picked her up with the intention to carry her in.
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