Later, to Phoebe's surprise, Erica announced in public that she had even stolen other people's paintings as well. Before Phoebe could deny the accusation, however, a girl was brought to the court to testify. When questioned, the girl showed enough evidence to prove that Phoebe had indeed stolen her works.
As the morning passed, the session was finally coming to an end. Someone might have helped Erica in secret, and the case was rather simple, so the court had no trouble to give its verdict on the spot.
For infringing Matthew Huo's portraiture right, Phoebe had to compensate him with ten million dollars. As for the art theft, she had to compensate the girl and do a public apology.
The ten million compensation shall be paid within a month. If she couldn't do it, she would have to face jail time for the next five years.
By the time Erica walked out of the court, the reporters who had been surrounding the place were already gone. She didn't understand why but didn't think much about it either.
Meanwhile, not far away from the courthouse, a man was waiting in his yellow supercar when he saw a group of people coming out. Quickly, he got out of his vehicle and called, "Erica!"
Erica, who was talking to Kelvin, heard someone calling her name. Following the sound of his voice, she soon found Watkins waving at her.
With a bright smile, she immediately walked towards him. "Watkins, you're here!"
"Yes. I came as soon as my class was over. How's it going?" Watkins' smile reached his eyes when he spoke.
"Thanks to Mr. Fei, the case went smoothly, and Phoebe has already gotten her sentence." Erica didn't expect that everything would go on so well.
Hearing this, Watkins was also surprised. "So soon?"
It seemed that someone was helping Erica behind her back. Needless to ask, he knew exactly who that person was.
"Yes! It was all easily solved!" Erica grinned.
Knowing what was going on, Watkins changed the subject. "It's time for lunch. Let's go and celebrate your victory. It's my treat!"
Before Erica could say anything, Paige stepped in and responded, "I'm sorry, Mr. Chai, but Mr. Huo has told me in advance that Mrs. Huo's health is the most important thing now. So he asked me to take her back as soon as the court session was over. Maybe it will be for the best if you don't celebrate today."
If Watkins insisted on taking Erica anyway, Paige was sure that she would lose her job by the next morning.
Watkins looked at Paige and smiled, "Well, it's okay. We can take a rain check then, Erica!" 'What a bossy man this Matthew Huo is!' he thought.
"Okay!" Erica agreed, but she was actually quite confused. She didn't understand why no one told her that Matthew wanted Paige to take her back to the company.
However, since Paige had no reason to lie, she believed her.
The moment they were about to get in the car, Erica saw Phoebe and her lawyer coming out of the court.
Smiling, Erica waved at the miserable woman. "Hi, Miss Su!" Her tone was full of complacency.
Phoebe, on the other hand, met Erica's gaze with a straight face. Nonetheless, it was impossible not to see the hatred in her eyes.
Erica didn't mind it. In fact, she took the opportunity to give her a quick reminder. "My lawyer has given you my bank account. Don't forget to transfer the money to me as soon as possible! Ten million, not a penny less!"
Enraged, Phoebe stared at her and retorted, "I'm starting to think you're not living a comfortable life at all. Despite Matthew's fortune, you're so eager to put your hands in a mere ten million dollars that I wonder if you've ever seen money before."
"I don't care what you think. Who wouldn't like to get more money? I know I wouldn't mind having more. So, Miss Su, do us both a favor and transfer the money to my account as soon as possible. After all, for the sounds of it, ten million seems to come as a piece of cake for you." Erica was in a great mood now that she would have ten million more in her bank account.
Not even Phoebe's sarcasm could affect her. Erica, better than anyone else, knew whether she lived a good life or not.
She remembered the saying, "Life is like drinking a glass of water. Only the one who tastes it knows if it's hot or cold."
At that moment, Phoebe's eyes fell on Erica's swollen belly, causing her to frown in confusion. 'Isn't Erica Li about two months pregnant? Why does her belly look so big?
Could she be expecting twins?' she wondered. But a second later, she remembered the photo work that Erica had submitted. It was called "1+1=3," indicating she was pregnant with just one baby.
After Erica left the court, Paige took her to ZL Group and made sure to escort the pregnant woman to the CEO's office before leaving.
As soon as Erica got into the office, she sat merrily on the sofa as she began to brag, "Oh, someone wasn't able to protect his mistress because I've won the case. Mistress Su must compensate me with ten million dollars! I hope that man won't be sad."
All of a sudden, Matthew smelled the air dramatically and said, "Call Paige in."
Erica was a little confused. "Why do you want Paige here?"
"I want to ask her if she smells the distinct scent of jealousy in the room as well. Suddenly the air here became so unpleasant." He made a point to stress the word "jealousy."
Realizing that he was talking about her, Erica blushed and immediately defended herself, "No, you are the jealous one!" She would never be jealous! Humph!
Matthew smiled at her response and told her gently, "If I remember correctly, the bank account you should've submitted had to be mine, right? The ten million should be transferred to my account. So, what are you happy about?"
His reminder hit Erica like a bucket of cold water. It had suddenly occurred to her that Matthew was the one whose rights had been infringed. Therefore, the bank account to transfer the money must be his.
The pregnant woman's face became sullen upon the realization. It turned out that all of her efforts had been for nothing, and what was worse, she had spent a large amount of money with the lawyer.
Abruptly, Erica got on her feet. Matthew looked at her with concern as she rushed to his desk and thumped her hands heavily on its wood surface. "Matthew Huo, how dare you!"
Once Matthew was sure she got to him unharmed, he heaved a sigh of relief and replied slowly, "What? My wife made me ten million. Now I'm glad to take it." In fact, what he really wished was for his wife to change her impulsive behavior. He couldn't help but fear that she might fall in the middle of a simple task such as walking.
Still, the pregnant woman kept staring at him so angrily that her cheeks began to bulge. But just when she was about to explode, she thought about all those times Matthew would give her money and started to calm down. Moreover, her main purpose was to make Phoebe go bankrupt. So, she chose not to argue over this any longer. "Okay, but don't get all compassionate after you accept the money!"
She was afraid that Matthew would feel sorry for Phoebe and transfer the money back to her afterward.
Matthew didn't expect Erica would react this way and raised his eyebrows in surprise. 'Doesn't she like money? Why is she willing to give it to me now?'
In the next few days, Phoebe was exposed on the Internet for art theft and infringement of portraiture right. Since she had been quite notorious for a time, the value of her paintings decreased greatly after the scandal. Now she was as worthless as a blank piece of paper.
The school also heard about what she had done and persuaded her to quit her studies in the institution.
In order to make money, Phoebe sold all her valuable things, including her studio. As a matter of fact, she had already begun to contact the buyers when Erica first filed the lawsuit against her.
Yet, even after selling her studio, jewelry, bags, and other items of value, she roughly got an amount of five million in total.
She tried to ask Lyman for help, but the finances of the Su family was in the hands of Fanya now. So it was useless for her to look for her father. He wouldn't be able to give her more than several hundred thousand dollars at most.
Her friends had been the first to turn their backs on her in her time of need, so she couldn't count on them. If the Su family didn't help her, who else would? With her huge debts, everyone realized she wouldn't pay them back any time soon. Therefore, lending her money now was the same as throwing it to the wind and never see it to return. In the end, no one was willing to lend her the money.