They grew from newcomers in the legal field to seasoned lawyers step by step.
Their salaries had also risen from a few thousand initially to over a hundred thousand, or even several hundred thousand now.
Perhaps from the day Hans quickly rose to fame and became a nationally renowned lawyer, they no longer saw me, who was not a lawyer, as their director.
They all looked up to Hans Lowell.
Not long after I sent the message, that man called me.
No comfort, no explanation.
He launched into a fierce tirade right away.
"Esther LaRue, are you crazy?"
"Even if you're upset because your parents died and you're taking it out on me, that's fine. I'm your husband and I can tolerate that. But why drag Pamela into this?"
"She's still a newcomer who just started appearing in court independently and is in her probationary period. What you're doing could ruin her future!"
"You're talking to me about her future now? Hmph!"
I laughed angrily. My already shattered heart felt like it had been thrown into a meat grinder, causing another wave of excruciating pain.
"Hans, let me tell you."
"Compared to my parents' lives, her future or your reputation—none of it matters!"
"You!"
"You're completely unreasonable!"
Hans spoke impatiently, "I don't want to argue with you. I don't care, but you must sincerely apologize to Pamela in the group chat."
"Additionally, you've been occupying the director's position for so many years despite being an outsider and many people in the law firm have complaints about this."
"Resign tomorrow. I'll take over the director's position."
"Both matters must be handled properly, or we'll divorce!"
"Beep! Beep! Beep!"
The busy tone from the phone left my mind in a daze.
Is this the man I've loved for eight years?
Just after my parents passed away, he's pulling this stunt?
After calming down for a while, I texted several messages to a person in my contact list who was labeled the president of the Latrell Lawyers Association.
[Three things: one, draft a divorce agreement forcing Hans to leave with nothing and assign a team of lawyers to prepare to help me with the divorce lawsuit.]
[Two, file an appeal with the court in the name of the Latrell Lawyers Association and request a retrial.]
[Three, immediately establish an investigation team targeting Hans and Pamela and thoroughly investigate the two of them.]
[Investigate until they have nothing left!]
It was a big deal.
Since Hans wanted to cause trouble, I didn't mind causing a scene either!
As soon as the message was sent, the other party replied instantly.
[Understood, Mrs. LaRue.]
[We will ensure the task is completed.]
The next morning, Hans called, likely having been notified by the Latrell Lawyer Association that he would be investigated.
I swiped my finger and rejected the call.
Now he's starting to panic, feeling scared?
Too late.
After making over a dozen calls that were all rejected, Hans began sending me voice messages.
"Esther, are you out of your mind?"
"We could have resolved this internally. What's the point of involving the Latrell Lawyer Association?"
"The Latrell Lawyer Association has actually dispatched three investigative teams and eight inquiry groups to investigate me and Pamela! The entire industry is in an uproar! It's even trending on the hot search headlines!"
I was taken aback, not expecting the Latrell Lawyer Association to make such a big fuss.
Three investigative teams, eight investigation groups.
This scale was unprecedented.
Just hearing it was terrifying enough. You could imagine how Hans was feeling right now.
"Esther, stop playing dumb. Answer me!"
"Do you have any idea how bad this looks? You're completely ruining me!"
Usually, when Hans got angry, even if I was the one who had been wronged, I would immediately try to appease him and cheer him up.
But this time, his messages went unanswered, like stones sinking into the depths of the sea.
Realizing that I was furious this time, Hans began to feel a little panicked.
After a moment, his tone softened.
When you called me yesterday, I was stressed about the case I'm working on, so I spoke to you in a rude manner. Isn't an apology enough?"
I couldn't hold back anymore. I tapped to start the call and coldly asked, "I bet you were discussing the case in your female assistant's bed, weren't you?"
"Was the candlelit dinner last night fragrant?"
"Were your precious female assistant's hands soft?" "
"Wife, please don't misunderstand!"
"It's not what you think!"
I moved my fingers and blocked him directly.
I no longer needed any explanations.
Let him keep those words to tell my parents later.
Meanwhile, Hans looked at the red exclamation marks following his consecutive messages and his expression darkened rapidly.
"Damn it!"
"Bitch!"
A single curse wasn't enough to vent his anger; he smashed the phone into pieces.
Pamela, wearing a sexy nightgown, leaned into his arms and pouted. "Darling, you shouldn't have bothered explaining to her. It made it seem like you were afraid of her."
Hans pinched her cheek and said solemnly, "This matter isn't as simple as you think."
"I thought Esther's foundation was her father and the company."
"But now that her father is dead and the company is on the brink of collapse, the Latrell Lawyer Association is still willing to go to great lengths for her."
"It seems Esther has an identity I don't know about, one that gives her significant power."
"We need to keep her calm until we completely figure out her hidden identity."
"How do we do that?"
Pamela pouted and asked, "You wouldn't want me to delete the social media post I made last night, would you?"
"So many people have liked and commented on it. Deleting it so quickly would be embarrassing."
Hans said solemnly, "Not only do we have to delete the post, but we also have to go back immediately and apologize to that bitch together."
"No way!"
"I don't want to … "
Pamela shook Hans's arm while continuing to pout in a sweet voice.
Hans didn't fall for it this time, instead smirking and giving her a light slap on the butt.
"Be good, listen to me."
"Once this is settled, I'll divorce that bitch and marry you in a grand wedding."
"Hmph, fine then."
Pamela reluctantly agreed, her eyes darting around before her lips curled into a faint smile. She then opened a shopping app, bought a box of contraceptives and several sets of bedding. And secretly changed the default delivery address to my home address.
That evening, Hans rushed to my villa with Pamela.
He glanced at my parents' photos, placed the flower before them and then gently put his hands on my shoulders.
"Esther, take care of yourself."
"I'm also deeply saddened by the passing of your parents, but … "
"Shut up."
I coldly interrupted him, "I explicitly designated you to handle my father's company's legal case, yet you handed it over to your assistant for practice. Do you even consider yourself human?"
I then yanked the bouquet he had put and threw it on the ground, saying, "You have no right to pay respects to my parents and you have even less right to tell me to accept my condolences."
"Right now, I just want both of you to accept mine."
"Esther, I understand how you feel right now, but Pamela and I are absolutely innocent. I swear to God if you don't believe me."
As soon as Hans finished speaking, I threw the package I had received that afternoon in his face.
A box of contraceptives and several sets of bed sheets.
There was also a small note.
[Mrs. LaRue, your trip abroad coincided with my rent being due and Mr. Lowell kindly took me in.]
[During that time, I used up your entire box of contraceptives and stained several sets of your bedsheets.]
[I'm not the type to take advantage of others, so I'm returning everything to you now. We're even.]
Ultimately, there was a playful emoji of a cat sticking out its tongue.
Even though I had completely given up on Hans, I was still furious when I first received the package.
From childhood to adulthood, I had never endured such provocation and humiliation!
After reading the note, Hans shot Pamela a disapproving glance, but that was all.
Not even a single word of reprimand.
It was clear how much he pampered his precious little assistant.
"Honey, let me explain."
"Pamela did stay at our place for a few days, but using up your birth control pills and staining the sheets has nothing to do with me."
"She must have brought her boyfriend over when I wasn't home, you know … "
I knew what?
I knew your damn nonsense!
I was so angry my chest was heaving, but I couldn't help but laugh and give him a thumbs-up.
"No wonder you're the nation's top lawyer. Your eloquence is top-notch. You can even come up with a forced explanation in the face of ironclad evidence!"
"Honey, you have to believe me."
Hans said, constantly giving Pamela meaningful glances.
Pamela shrugged and said, "My boyfriend and I were the ones who stained your sheets and my boyfriend and I were the ones who used the birth control pills afterward."
"The pics I posted last night were because my boyfriend and I were arguing out of spite. I begged Mr. Lowell for a long time to cooperate with me in acting out a scene to provoke my boyfriend."
"As for losing the lawsuit against your father's company, it was indeed due to my lack of ability."
"Speaking of which, there's an advanced training program being held in the capital in a couple of days. The tuition for one session is 88,000 dollars. Could you arrange for me to attend on the company's dime?"
"Once I finish the program, if any of your relatives get into a lawsuit, just come to me and I guarantee you'll win. How about it?"
After hearing this, I was so angry my lips started twitching.
I've seen plenty of bitches, but I've never seen one as despicable as her, so outrageous and disgusting.
The only response I could think of was to slap her.
Slap!
I struck her so hard she fell to the ground, blood streaming from her nose.
"Pamela!"
Hans exclaimed in shock, quickly helping her to her feet. He no longer had the same humble attitude as before; his expression changed instantly.
"I've been tolerating you all along, but you've become increasingly arrogant. Now you dare to hit someone!"
"Sob, sob."
Pamela sobbed. "How dare you slap a lawyer? I'm going to sue you!"
"I have a severe headache and dizziness, my mind is confused and my vision is blurry. It's most likely a severe concussion."
"If I refuse to settle, you'll at least have to spend a year behind bars!"
Seeing her resorting to tantrums again, I sneered and clapped my hands.
"No wonder you're a lawyer. You really do know the law."
"But unfortunately, you won't have the chance to sue me."
"Come out."
Before Pamela could react, a middle-aged man walked down from upstairs.
Hans immediately recognized him as Sebastian Fox, the president of the Latrell Lawyers Association.
