Reborn to Love Mr. Right – Episode 44
The judge assigned to Derek’s hearing had served for twenty-seven years without a disciplinary complaint. Victor’s directory did not reveal whether he was corrupt, threatened, or merely selected as a target. Removing him without evidence could compromise the entire case.
Federal investigators approached him before dawn. He surrendered his phone and financial records voluntarily, insisting he had never contacted Victor. A search found no payments, hidden accounts, or suspicious messages.
The judge’s wife, however, had received an envelope containing photographs of their grandson at school. The note ordered the judge to dismiss the witness-intimidation charges once Ivy testified. She had hidden it, believing silence protected her family.
When confronted, the judge withdrew from the case and provided the envelope. Victor had not recruited him; he had attempted to turn fear into judicial corruption. The Lantern Protocol treated good reputations as tools because honorable people had more to lose.
A replacement judge was selected by random federal assignment minutes before the hearing. The courtroom admitted only verified participants, while the public watched through a delayed broadcast. Every exit had separate security controlled outside the local network.
Ivy entered through an underground corridor with her mother. Arianna waited in the witness room, not as a friend entitled to comfort but as someone who understood the cost of speaking against Derek. Ivy accepted her presence without pretending their history had changed.
Derek appeared behind reinforced glass rather than at the defense table. His future memories had become inconsistent, but his instinct for humiliation remained intact. He smiled when he saw Ivy and mouthed the word traitor.
Ivy began with the volleyball game, the car, and the lies about Arianna’s identity. She admitted enjoying privileges bought with stolen money and helping Derek preserve the fantasy that he belonged to the Taylor family.
Defense counsel tried to portray her as a jealous girlfriend seeking revenge. Ivy agreed that jealousy had shaped many of her choices. Then she explained that flawed motives did not change bank records, access logs, recorded threats, or the device beneath the school podium.
She described the first future only as recurring dreams, avoiding claims the court could not evaluate. Her testimony relied on present evidence: Derek’s messages, the fire instructions, the bridge plot, and his threat after she stole the ring.
Derek interrupted when she mentioned the ballroom photograph. He shouted that Ivy had taken it while Arianna died and later sold him to prosecutors. The outburst confirmed knowledge no present-day evidence had given him.
The courtroom fell silent. His attorney attempted to explain the statement as metaphor, but Derek continued accusing Ivy of crimes from a life no one else remembered. Rage destroyed the careful defense built around manipulation by Victor.
Arianna watched without satisfaction. Derek’s memories had once made him dangerous; now they exposed the entitlement underneath every excuse. He believed remembering ownership meant he still deserved it.
The judge ordered him removed until he regained control. As guards approached, Derek turned toward Arianna and demanded she admit they had loved each other. She remained silent because the hearing belonged to Ivy’s testimony, not his need to reclaim the center.
Ivy completed her statement after a short recess. She accepted responsibility for sabotage and fraud, then asked the court not to reduce her role merely because Derek later threatened her. Becoming his victim had not erased the people she helped him hurt.
The judge denied Derek’s request for release and added enhanced witness-intimidation restrictions. His communications would be limited to monitored legal contact, closing the route used to pass the school device plan.
Outside, reporters waited for Arianna to celebrate. She spoke only about Emmy’s rescue and the need to protect witnesses whose lives lacked corporate security. The case was not entertainment, even if cameras treated it that way.
Ivy left through a protected exit. For the first time, the blurred space in the future photograph gained definition: the outline of a woman appeared beside older Arianna and Hayden, though her face remained hidden.
Arianna showed the change to Hayden. They had saved Ivy through the hearing, but the incomplete image suggested another decision still threatened her future. The Lantern Protocol directory displayed no instructions beyond L-20.
Then Evelyn called from custody. “Victor never numbered the order meant for Ivy,” she said. “The final instruction was mine.”