Chapter 358: I am sorry
Because the evidence against Chen Li was overwhelming, the trial did not drag on the way most high-profile cases did. There were no dramatic twists, no last-minute revelations. The forensic reports, the preserved dress stained with Ling Mu’s blood, the corroborated timelines, the financial trails, and Hua Jing’s testimony had formed a chain so tight that even the most seasoned defense lawyers could not pry it apart.
By noon, arguments had concluded.
Sentencing was scheduled for the afternoon.
Hua Jing and Fu Jingrong waited in a small adjacent room, quiet and almost suffocating in its stillness. The walls were plain, the fluorescent lights harsh. A clock ticked steadily above the door, each second stretching far longer than it should have.
Hua Jing sat with her hands folded in her lap, staring at nothing in particular.
What unsettled her more than the trial itself was one glaring absence.
Hua Ling.
From the day Chen Li had been arrested, Hua Ling had vanished. Not a single confirmed sighting. Not a single reliable lead. Despite Fu Jingrong’s extensive network searching quietly behind the scenes, despite private investigators and official inquiries, she seemed to have dissolved into thin air.
Hua Jing had specifically requested that Hua Ling be located before Chen Li’s sentencing. There were too many unanswered crimes tied to her—most notably the car accident years ago that had sent Hua Jing into a coma for more than a year. The evidence they had uncovered pointed disturbingly close to Hua Ling’s involvement. That accident had not felt like an accident at all.
But now, when accountability was finally within reach, Hua Ling was nowhere.
The longer she remained hidden, the heavier the unease in Hua Jing’s chest became.
Hua Ling was not someone who accepted defeat quietly. She was calculating. Ruthless. If she wanted something, she would tear the world apart to obtain it. There were no lines she would not cross. And now that Chen Li’s fate was all but sealed, Hua Jing could not shake the feeling that Hua Ling was planning something.
Not retreating.
Planning.
A faint chill crept up her spine.
Before her thoughts could spiral further, a court officer knocked and informed them it was time.
They returned to the courtroom.
Chen Li looked drastically different from just days ago. Her once meticulously maintained appearance had crumbled. Dark circles bruised the skin beneath her eyes. Her cheeks had hollowed. Even her posture had changed—no longer proud and upright, but slightly hunched, as though the weight of the world pressed down on her shoulders.
Hua Mingrong sat beside her.
He, too, looked worn. The Hua Corporation had suffered severe losses amid the scandals. Stocks had plummeted. Partnerships dissolved. Investors panicked. In a matter of days, his empire had begun to fracture. The confident, composed businessman people once admired now appeared like a man who had aged ten years in a week.
Yet Hua Jing felt nothing.
No pity.
No satisfaction.
Just distance.
Whatever biological connection existed between her and Hua Mingrong felt hollow. He had not protected her. He had not stood by her. When she needed a father, he had chosen convenience, reputation, and silence.
The judge entered.
The courtroom fell into a suffocating quiet.
The sentencing was delivered swiftly.
"For the crime of intentional homicide, with substantial and corroborated evidence, the court sentences Chen Li to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole."
The words landed like a hammer.
For a brief second, there was silence.
Then Chen Li snapped.
"No! No! This is impossible!" she shrieked, her voice tearing through the courtroom. "You can’t do this to me! I didn’t kill anyone! This is a conspiracy! I was framed!"
She struggled violently against the officers holding her arms. Despite her weakened state, desperation gave her strength. Her hair came loose, falling messily around her face as she thrashed.
"I’m innocent! Hua Jing did this! She fabricated everything! You fools, you blind fools!"
The officers tightened their grip, forcing her down as she tried to lunge forward. Her eyes, wild and bloodshot, locked onto Hua Jing.
They were no longer the eyes of a refined socialite.
They were feral.
"Hua Jing!" Chen Li screamed, her voice shrill enough to cut through bone. "You ungrateful wretch! You think this is over? You think you’ve won? I curse you! I curse you to die miserably! You will suffer a thousand times worse than I ever will! Don’t you dare think I’ll let you live peacefully!"
Her curses poured out relentlessly.
"You’re just like your worthless mother! A curse! A stain! You should have died that night with her!"
The courtroom gasped at her venom.
But Hua Jing did not flinch.
She sat still, her expression calm, almost detached. Chen Li’s words no longer had the power to wound her. They were echoes from a past she had already survived.
As Chen Li was dragged away, she continued screaming.
"Hua Jing! Hua Jing!"
Her voice followed them down the corridor, high and piercing, bouncing off the walls long after she had disappeared from sight.
Hua Jing felt a faint shiver run through her.
She was not a superstitious person, yet the intensity of that hatred left a lingering chill in the air.
Then warmth enveloped her.
Fu Jingrong’s hand slid into hers, firm and steady. He stepped slightly closer, grounding her without a word.
Together, they exited the courtroom after the commotion settled.
Inside, the space felt emptier than before.
Only one figure remained seated.
Hua Mingrong.
He sat alone, staring ahead as if the world had drained of color. His shoulders slumped, his gaze unfocused. For a man who once controlled boardrooms and dictated fortunes, he now looked completely adrift.
He had never been like this. Even when sometimes he ignored Hua Jing’s suffering, he was still very high and mighty, not at all like his figure now.
Lost.
Hua Jing walked past him without slowing.
Just before she reached the doors, his hoarse voice broke the silence.
"I’m sorry."
