Empire of Shadows

Everyone encounters problems they can't necessarily decide on.

From the homeless on the street to the president sitting in the presidential palace, they all need someone to provide constructive advice before they make choices about difficult issues.

Of course, such questions are only asked of those they trust.

Lance lit another cigarette, "I'll try my best."

"Emily is pregnant."

You could see that William's expression was a bit awkward when he said these words; he really didn't know how to say it.

From the moment he started running for city councilor, Emily's sexual desire was reactivated, and of course, so was his.

The couple often fought fiercely and for a long time. At first, they would pay attention to some measures, but there were always some accidents.

The passion came too suddenly, without any preparation, and then they found that there were no problems, so they gradually relaxed their vigilance.

Then she got pregnant.

William had an expression on his face that was hard to say whether it was happy or unhappy; maybe it was both. Having another child in middle age is actually a very happy thing.

Especially since William came from a large landlord class. For the large landlord class, children represent wealth, regardless of whether they are rich or not. This is a very traditional understanding.

He actually wanted the child in his heart, but he was also a little worried because his work would gradually become busy, and he was a little at a loss.

Lance looked at him and asked after a while, "Why are you worried about this matter?"

"If it's there, then keep it. It's a good thing."

He set a tone for Emily's pregnancy, "And this kind of thing may not happen again in the future."

"Although Pat is already very old, I believe she will be very happy to have another younger brother or sister."

"And you know, after we get married, that new life will take her place and fill the emotional void between you."

After the marriage, Lance didn't plan to have Patricia move out with him. His "work" was relatively busy, and there were many dangerous situations. In addition, he couldn't be with Patricia all the time like a normal husband.

So letting Patricia continue to live with Lawrence and his wife is the best choice.

But after all, she is married. Federal people are sometimes very sensitive to changes in identity. They will respect Patricia more as an independent social entity, rather than continuing to treat her as a child.

Many parents feel sad or even empty after their children grow up and become independent because a spiritual sustenance that has been with them for more than ten years has left their lives.

But this newborn will fill this void.

William himself actually wanted this child, but he needed someone to convince himself, "You have some truth in what you say, I will consider it carefully."

Lance emphasized again, "What you need is not to consider whether or not to have it, but to let Emily give birth to that child with peace of mind and give this new life a nice name."

William showed a lot of smiles on his face, and he nodded vigorously. At this time, he was full of energy.

In fact, he had an idea that he didn't tell Lance: he hoped it was a boy.

Because only a boy can inherit all his inheritance!

Not only his house, savings, insurance, etc., but also his political legacy.

In fact, he had thought about these things before. If he could go very high in the future, but no one could inherit these, what a pity it would be. He even wanted to urge Lance and Patricia to have a child first.

In the future, this child will inherit everything he owns. He didn't expect that this idea hadn't been realized yet, and Emily gave him a surprise!

Before William left, Lance asked him, "Does Pat know about these things?"

William shook his head, "I haven't told her yet. I'm afraid she might...need some time to accept this!"

Lance thought for a while, "I'll talk to her."

"Then I'll leave it to you!"

After William left, Lance considered for a while. If they were sure that they were already pregnant, then the child was at least a month old.

Emily is still very young. She still has her period. Her period may be delayed, but at least it should come.

In addition, they have to secretly verify and discuss it. Maybe it will take a month and a half or even two months. After a while, she will almost be showing.

So now is indeed the time to tell Patricia, after all, that is also her home.

Lance directly called someone and went to the place where Patricia worked.

Her colleagues greeted Lance very enthusiastically for his arrival. They also heard the news that Patricia was going to be engaged to Lance and sent their blessings.

William is now a city councilor, and Lance is so famous, no one would be stupid enough to cause trouble for their family.

Even the supervisor, who seems "businesslike" and "only has rules and no human touch" in the eyes of foreigners, smiled and gave Patricia a break.

The two young people came to Lance's car. Patricia was very happy, "Don't tell me you miss me!"

Lance had a shocked expression on his face, "How did you know?"

"I just dreamed of you every time I didn't see you for a few days. Missing you controlled my body, making me unable to think, and I couldn't wait to come and see you!"

Patricia put her arms around Lance's neck and kissed him on the face, "So sweet, dear, I miss you too!"

Young people are always more emotional. After the two people talked for a while, Lance talked about the real reason for coming here.

"There is something William and Emily don't know how to tell you, so they entrusted me to tell you."

"Actually, I think...this is a very ordinary thing, but I also think it may cause some fluctuations in your emotions. You have to be mentally prepared."

Patricia's expression suddenly became different from just now. She was still a little nervous and uneasy, "Is it bad news?"

"No, strictly speaking, it's good news."

She sat up straight and took a few deep breaths, "Come on, I can handle it."

"Emily is pregnant, and they are very likely to give birth to this child."

Patricia's eyes lost focus for a moment. She was obviously caught in subconscious thought. After a while, she covered her cheeks and made a feeling of "unbelievable"!

"I mean...I don't know what to say, she's actually pregnant!"

Lance put his arms around her, "We should all have this premonition and understanding, shouldn't we?"

Patricia's face visibly turned red. Lance was saying that Emily's voice was sometimes very loud. Although their bedrooms were separated by a room, sometimes at night when it was quiet, you could still hear Emily's voice.

"They hope you can accept this child. That's what I think, after all, this is a life, and it's either your younger brother or your younger sister."

Patricia is a kind girl. She accepted the arrival of this new life without "struggling."

"This is the crystallization of their love. We will have it in the future. As a future mother, I don't think I should resist the occurrence of these things."

"I can't wait to go back. Can you give me a ride?"

Lance didn't refuse. No one stopped Patricia from taking leave. Soon they saw Emily, who was directing the maids to clean up, in the new villa.

Seeing Patricia suddenly come back with Lance, she showed a very embarrassed expression, "I told William, don't tell anyone about this for the time being!"

Seeing that the mother and daughter had something to say, Lance didn't stay any longer. After telling the servants to pay attention to safety, he left.

This is an interesting experience that can also bring him a little bit of a feeling that he can't quite put his finger on.

Someone related to him is about to be born.

People will have a kind of shock when facing the birth of a new life, just like the first time they face the disappearance of a fellow life, it will give people a very wonderful feeling.

Coming, going, the cycle of life, the greatness of the universe.

People always have a small emotion when they look up at the stars, just like when facing the arrival and departure of life, they have awe of the world.

The lawsuit against Liji Group has reached the trial stage in the past two days. In fact, there is not much evidence that needs to be collected and sorted out.

Lawyer Robin's friend took this case, and he also took it last time and won the case.

Sometimes winning a lawsuit doesn't mean you really won, and losing doesn't necessarily mean you really lost.

Not many people participated in the hearing when the case was heard. The lawyers of both parties submitted their respective evidence and reasons, expounded their views, and their respective demands.

There was no "doubt" in this case. The judge pronounced the verdict in court, requiring Liji Group to fulfill its breach of contract responsibilities and compensate for the liquidated damages in accordance with the terms stipulated in the contract.

The lawyer of Liji Group stated in court that he would continue to appeal and believed that this was not a simple breach of contract lawsuit, and there may be contract fraud involved.

As the claiming party, they need to collect enough evidence to support their claims before the next hearing, otherwise the results of this judgment will still be maintained.

"Then, will there be any other twists and turns and risks in the lawsuit of this case?"

In Lawyer Robin's office, in front of Lawyer Robin, Lance talked about this topic with the lawyer who represented the case.

Lawyer Robin's friend gave a positive answer, "There may be some problems."

"In this trial, I'll try my best to break down these issues into independent problems, namely the issue between Garden Trade and Liji Group, and the issue of wheat sprouting in the warehouse."

"I've gotten the judge to accept the idea that these are two independent cases, so our obtaining the breach of contract compensation and the wheat sprouting are no longer directly related. These are two independent events."

"If they want to pursue the wheat sprouting issue, they have to start a new case, investigate, provide evidence, and then find a defendant."

"But their lawyers are trying to lump these two independent cases together. If they succeed, the lawsuit could drag on for a very long time."

"There's a lot of evidence to supplement, investigations to conduct, and many other issues to resolve. And I've heard they might use some public relations tactics."

"After all, this is a lot of money!"

Lawyer Robben also nodded, saying, "I have a... friend who told me that Liji Group's PR team is contacting the Court of Appeals."

"Once the Court of Appeals accepts the case for appeal, the verdict will be postponed for at least six months, maybe even longer."

"It depends on how much money they're willing to spend on public relations."

When an individual or organization is dissatisfied with the outcome of a local court's trial, they can appeal to the Court of Appeals.

If the Court of Appeals believes there are indeed problems with the trial outcome, they will accept the case and conduct a retrial.

But if they believe there are no problems with the local court's trial outcome, they will reject the appeal.

The Court of Appeals plays a very important role in the federal judiciary!

Each Court of Appeals corresponds to a different judicial district, which isn't necessarily a state, but an entire judicial region.

Liclai State belongs to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Court of Appeals is located in Liclai State's capital, so it's reasonable that Lawyer Robben can access this information.

Lance had always suspected that he had some connections within the Department of Justice, otherwise how could the entire state's judicial system give him some face?

The Federal Bureau of Prisons is under the Federal Department of Justice. Lawyer Robben can arrange things in public prisons managed by the Bureau of Prisons, which can only mean that he has someone in the Bureau of Prisons, or even in the Department of Justice.

Lance didn't know much about judicial matters, "What's the most appropriate thing for us to do?"

"Or should we also engage in public relations with the judges of the Court of Appeals?"

Lawyer Robben shook his head, "I don't think it's necessary, nor is it meaningful."

"Your request is to have the judgment come down as soon as possible, judicially recognizing that they should compensate you with a large sum of money."

"So even if we engage in public relations with the Court of Appeals, unless we can secure the support of all the judges, our public relations become somewhat meaningless."

"It's like the relationship between demolition and construction. We need to make all the judges believe that the case doesn't need to be retried in order for the Court of Appeals to reject the appeal."

"But if they only lobby two or three judges to think a retrial is necessary, then it will inevitably be retried."

"So we discussed it and decided to change our strategy."

"Previously, our idea was to insist on separating the 'cause' and 'effect' of this case, and then conduct litigation and pronounce a verdict that is favorable to us based on the effect."

"But the situation is a little different now. We can consider another method."

"If someone takes the blame for the 'cause' part and it has no direct relationship with the 'effect', then even if they lobby the Court of Appeals, the Court of Appeals will reject their appeal."

Lance found it a bit confusing, "Could you explain it more simply?"

"Find someone to take the blame for the sprouting issue," Lawyer Robben pointed directly at the core.

He didn't know if Lance had orchestrated the wheat sprouting, but the matter was definitely related to Lance.

Liji Group had never had this kind of thing happen in so many years, and suddenly it happened inexplicably. Coupled with Lance's lawsuit, how could there be no causal relationship?

But as a lawyer, even if the person he needs to defend is a devil, during his work, he can only become an angel in his eyes, not to mention that Mr. Lance himself is not a bad person.

Lance understood, "If someone takes the fall, how long would they probably have to serve?"

Lawyer Robben and his friend discussed it for a while, and finally gave Lance a relatively simple answer, "If they can afford to pay the compensation, they can be released in about three years."

"If they can't afford to pay the compensation, they could be in for more than ten years."

"That is indeed a very long sentence. Even if we intervene later, they would still need to be imprisoned for five to six years before they can be released."

If you kill someone in a car accident and actively pay compensation, you can return to society after a year and a half.

But causing huge irreparable losses to capitalists requires spending half a lifetime inside.

Everyone tells people that "life is an invaluable wealth of life," but no matter how precious it is, it is not very valuable in the face of money.

Currency, visible wealth, is the real wealth.

The so-called life, life, independent individuals, are actually not worth anything.

Lance nodded noncommittally, "Let's go with this plan."

"I'll take care of it."

Neither of the two great lawyers was surprised by this. For ordinary people, "taking the blame" may be a very unfamiliar and unsettling word.

But for big shots, for gangsters, taking the blame is as common as eating a meal with someone.

As for whether it's the truth or not, it doesn't matter at all. People just want to see blood, not the truth.

Someone has received the punishment they deserve for their actions, the judiciary has gained people's awe through the trial, and the victims have been comforted by the outcome, that's enough.

No one cares whether the person who stabbed the girl with a knife is a glamorous social dignitary or the "burglar" who is about to go to jail.

Lance had Elvin and Burton ask if anyone was willing to take the blame, two thousand dollars a year, paid annually, which could be given to their families or paid in a lump sum when they were released.

He would also have Lawyer Robben arrange things so that they would definitely not suffer or be bullied during their sentence, everything would be arranged properly.

As soon as the news came out, Lance thought that not many people might sign up, after all, this would take away someone's five years of freedom, but unexpectedly, there were so many people!

Two thousand dollars a year is equal to two hundred dollars a month.

Many people have never saved two thousand dollars in their lives, but now they have it after serving a year in prison!

And it's five years!

After five years, they can get ten thousand dollars, which is already the amount of money that many people can earn in their lifetime!

For a time, the people who responded had to line up to compete for these few spots...