With one phone call, Eliza was able to get access to the private entrance of a top judge from the court house. And access to her personal rooms, so they could prepare without any hassle from reporters or curious bystanders.

"Why haven't they arrived yet? The hearing is about to start." Eliza's father said as they watched the entrance from a side room.

"We planned all this so we could watch them get harassed at the entrance."

"Sit down, Gregory. I'm sure they'll be here. X said he made sure access to all separate entrances to the courthouse is barred for today." Henry Pratt ordered his son.

"How well do you know this person, and why is he helping us?"

"You don't need to know who he is. Just that he wants to bring Alrik down as much as we do. And we get to keep all the profits of Alrik's downfall once we win the lawsuits. That's what matters."

"Is that truly what matters, grandfather? Dad is right. We don't even know this person's true identity. We call him X. He may not even be a person, it could be a group. What happens if we get caught? There's no way to trace back to this X entity. We'll be the ones to take the fall for it. Getting this trial moved up through connections, bribing the judge, publicising the trial without due process, falsified evidence. All these are serious crimes." Marco said.

"It's too late for you to be unsure, Marco. Especially since our stronger case concerns you and your wife. You're going to have to testify that Eliza caused your wife to miscarry, and convince the jury of that, to gain the sympathy of the public." Francis said to his brother.

"I know, and that's one of the reasons why I'm anxious. I don't know why you brought up this idea in the first place. Why did you let Natalia convince you to start this whole miscarriage thing? We could have just focused on the lawsuit for the company." Marco replied.

"Why are you acting like you weren't in support of it when you first heard the plan? You were there while we discussed the best ways to make Alrik suffer, and using your wife's miscarriage was discussed before we put it into action. You never opposed it then." Gregory said with a frown.

"I never knew it would escalate to this point. So yes, I'm scared. This whole plan was so hasty. What if there's something we overlooked? What if they come with proof of these lies? We won't even be able to hide the details because of the publicised trial. It will be out there for the public to scrutinise."

"You seem to have forgotten that we don't have sufficient evidence for the company case. There is no way we could have won a sole case, forcing Alrik and Eliza to return the shares he gifted her. But if we can discredit them in the first trial, the company trial will go easier. X already promised to take care of any loose ends concerning the miscarriage case. We got all the falsified medical records, the CCTV is also missing, so no proof from inside the house, or from the hospital Linda visited after the miscarriage. Relax and stop putting everyone else on edge." Francis replied.

"They still haven't arrived. It's just ten minutes left now." Gregory said with a sigh. "We have to head to the court room now. We will look better for arriving early. It seems they'll start this trial with a loss due to lateness. I have a good feeling already."

They met up with Linda, Janet and Natalia, who came from a separate room.

"Are you ready for this, Linda? Your testimony is the most important of all."

"Don't worry. It's already taken care of. It will be perfect." Janet responded, and stroked Linda's hair.

"She looks the part at least." Natalia said. "That's a start."

They made sure Linda looked pale, and had made her cry for a while using pepper spray so her eyes would also look red and puffy.

"Good, then let's go."

They all walked into the court room, and were surprised to see Eliza already seated with her legal team.

"Why is she already here? We would have known if she came in through the entrance." Marco whispered to his father, and Gregory's fists clenched. "I have less faith in X now. You said he made sure the other ways in were barred from use. We're already at a disadvantage. Their entrance was supposed to stir up the crowd."

"Be quiet and sit. It doesn't matter. We still have a strong case, and evidence to back it up." Henry ordered them all.

Alrik walked in them with drinks for him and Eliza, and some snacks. He found out that she hadn't eaten lunch, and got some for her. He didn't bother getting anything for the rest of the team except water. He knew they wouldn't want to eat or drink anything else.

Eliza had to sit behind them all while Alrik made sure she ate something, then they moved to the front. The judge arrived shortly after, and the hearing began.

"Before we begin, please make sure to remain seated, and don't speak unless called upon. Only the legal counsel for each side, and the witnesses being questioned are allowed interactions. Any member of the audience allowed in that disrupts this court will be sent out immediately, and fined. Reporters take note. Your only job is to stream this session live. No ruckus." The judge instructed.

Eliza watched her family's lawyer stand and move forward to speak. Like she expected, their aim was to emotionally blackmail the jury, and also the audience both present, and watching. He started with speaking on the distress of losing a child, and how it had badly affected the Pratt family.

Linda played her part, and sobbed quietly, though her voice could still be heard in the nearly silent court room. While Janet played the concerned mother-in-law to perfection, feigning tears. Eliza nearly scoffed as she watched her mother's theatrics. When he was done with his opening statement. Koen Grandston, the leading attorney for Eliza's side, stood.

"Losing a loved one, in this case, a child, is a traumatic experience for anyone. The bereaved family goes through different phases of grief to try and overcome that loss, and most never recover from it. What does it say of the Pratt family that instead of coming together to deal with the loss you have faced, you decide to turn against one of your own blood."

He paused and turned to face the crowd. "None of the Pratt family seem concerned about causing another loss to the family so soon after experiencing the first. You may say this is a bid to get justice, yet you're weaponising the loss of a family member to try and turn a profit. The only reason this case is in court is because Eliza Crest refused to negotiate any form of compensation or payment to keep this quiet. Why? Because she is innocent of all accusations and refuses to pay for crimes she did not commit. If this loss was so traumatic, why first try to get paid? Why consider your justice later?"

He left them with that question and went back to sit while the opposing side's lawyer stood to present their evidence.

"The Pratt family does admit to trying to negotiate a form of settlement after the incident occurred in exchange for their silence. But contrary to the defendant's claim, it wasn't for profit. It was to handle Linda Pratt's medical bills, and the funeral for her lost child. The defendant also failed to mention that they also asked for a sincere apology, hoping to find a way to forgive this heinous crime in order not to ruin the family name with such a scandal. We have evidence of emails exchanged between Eliza Crest and her family, during which she admits to the crime, and threatens her family to remain quiet."

The emails were displayed on the screen to the side while the printouts were handed to the judge.

"Eliza also threatened to use her husband's influence to make sure they lose any lawsuit against her, which prompted the request for a publicised trial to ensure fairness. We also have proof that Eliza Pratt used her husband's wealth and influence to illegally obtain shares and take over the Pratt family company. She also removed her family members from all positions of power, and froze all their accounts to make sure they would remain under her thumb, and be forced to do as she says. These are statements of accounts for each dated since the time she took over as CEO."

Eliza scoffed as their lawyer handed out the documents to the judge, and people began to murmur.

"Order!" The judge banged his gavel, and glared at the crowd.

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