Dissected by My Fiance After Death

I couldn't help but drift closer.

Even though I knew it was only an embryo, I felt an unbearable urge to see the child.

It was my first baby.

Maybe it knew I wasn't fit to be a mother and didn't want to meet me. Even so, I still wanted to hold it and tell it that I loved it. More than anything, I had wished for this baby to come into the world safely and in good health.

The thought overwhelmed me, and tears spilled over. Sorrow washed through me like a slow tide.

"Send the deceased for an identity match in the database," Joshua said. "She's been dead for about a year, so make sure they focus on missing persons within that time frame."

After Joshua finished up, he packed away his tools with detached efficiency and got ready to leave.

"By the way, Mr. Steward," Edwin said, as if suddenly remembering something. "Samantha's mother is causing a scene at the entrance again, demanding to see you. You should take the back exit when you leave."

I was stunned.

My mother? What was she doing here? Why was she looking for Joshua?

Joshua let out a cold, indifferent laugh. "She shows up every day! I have no idea what she's trying to prove."

Edwin scowled, his tone equally disdainful. "Yeah. What's there to argue about? A lawyer with no ethics doesn't deserve any sympathy. That was an open-and-shut case, and Samantha had insisted on defending that murderer. Honestly, she deserved that backlash. Then, she even had the nerve to run off out of fear!"

A year ago, there was a terrible accident. A man was repeatedly run over on a remote road with no security cameras, and the driver fled the scene.

My client, William Prince, was the prime suspect. His wife had sold everything they owned to hire me.

"I know you're the best lawyer in town, Ms. Lester! I'm begging you, please save my husband! I swear he's innocent!"

William's wife was a disabled woman. She held her two children as she pleaded with me on her knees to save the man who was the pillar of their family.

I looked at their earnest faces and couldn't turn them away, so I took the case. I didn't want my clients to suffer from injustice or leave with regrets.

At that time, everyone believed William was guilty. I was known to be the best lawyer, yet I took his case anyway.

By doing so, the backlash against me only grew worse.

People called me heartless for defending a murderer. I faced insults daily, and I was pelted with eggs whenever I stepped outside. People even smeared red paint across my front door in anger.

However, I ignored it all. My only focus was finding evidence.

I worked around the clock for two straight weeks, combing through every detail until I finally found it.

It was a bloodstained button.

It was enough to suggest a third person had been at the scene where the accident had happened.

Just as I was about to submit the evidence for inspection, I got a message—my mother had been kidnapped. There wasn't even time to call the police. I rushed to an abandoned factory, desperate to save her. But when I arrived, there was no sign of my mother.

Instead, I found Christina waiting for me.

"Samantha, did you really think you could ruin me? You brought this on yourself by defending those people! You found the evidence that I hit someone!"

That was when it all became clear to me. Christina was the real culprit. She had been the one behind the hit-and-run!

Before I could react, Christina pushed me into the asphalt pit.

The thick substance pressed down on me, suffocating me little by little. The toxic fumes robbed me of the strength to save myself. Christina stood at the edge, watching as I struggled and slowly sank beneath the surface.

Right before I died, she said, "Too bad, Samantha. The truth about my drunk driving will only be safe once you're dead, and with you out of the picture, I can finally be with Joshua!"

My disappearance became the final nail in the coffin of the people's accusations against me.

"I didn't run away! William was innocent! I was too!" I screamed at Joshua, my voice filled with the fury of someone wronged.

I had found the evidence to prove it!

However, it was useless.

When Joshua recalled my existence, he laughed disdainfully. In his view, I was the woman who was a stain on his reputation.

He confirmed Edwin's remark and said, "She's a lawyer with no conscience, that's for sure. She tried to defend a murderer! After people started cursing her, she took the dirty money and hid like a coward! She's a disgrace to the profession!"

With that simple, cutting remark, Joshua shattered everything I had built, and every ounce of pride I had in being a lawyer.

To him, I was nothing more than a coward and a traitor to my profession.

But Joshua, of all people, knew how much I sacrificed. How could he turn around and accuse me of something so terrible?