My Parents Took Me to the Stand of Kinship

When they saw how cocky I was, the crowd became indignant once again.

"She must be put on trial! Since she's so eager to court death, let her die!"

"Yes, yes! She needs to be taught a lesson!"

Judge Lambert remained silent, as if he also agreed with their sentiments. Then, he turned to look at my parents and said, "Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, although you have sufficient evidence, I still need to make something clear.

"If none of the three charges are proven, and the trial fails, you will suffer the consequences. Not only will you lose everything you have, but you will also be immediately sentenced to life in prison. Do you both agree to this?"

My parents exchanged uneasy glances, and Edwin also looked a little hesitant.

I knew they had no real footing. Instead, they were just trying to use the court of public opinion to strong-arm me.

Just then, Mom stepped forward. With a hypocritical look of concern, she tried to persuade me, "Patricia, stop while you still can. We don't want to see you end up in prison. As long as you're willing to fulfill your duty and give us a little money to survive, we won't hold it against you."

What was laughable was that the onlookers were all singing her praises as a loving mother.

I sneered. Clearly, she was just afraid.

"Dad, Mom, Edwin, you're not scared, are you?"

Provoked by my taunt, Edwin immediately stepped forward and declared with all the self-righteousness he could muster, "Your Honor, we agree! Let's get this trial moving. We've got nothing to fear."

Judge Lambert gave a slight nod, and the trial officially began.

A memory extractor was placed on my head, and next to me was a state-of-the-art lie detector. This was to prevent me from tampering with the memories or cheating.

Soon, the first memory was extracted and displayed on the large screen for the entire nation to watch.

In the video, Mom and Dad arrived from the countryside, looking travel-worn. They were dressed in ragged clothes and were illiterate, yet they still managed to find my company.

"Patricia, we have suffered so much looking for you!"

The moment she saw me, Mom eagerly rushed forward and excitedly pulled out some mangoes from a large burlap sack. Then, she presented them to me like a precious offering.

"These are freshly picked home-grown mangoes. Your father and I made sure to keep them safe the whole trip, because we know how much you love them. Go on, try some."

But I knocked the mangoes to the ground with an indifferent expression.

"I'm very busy. Don't bother me if there's nothing important."

When they saw the mangoes splatter on the ground, Mom and Dad fell to their knees in humility.

"Patricia, please don't be like this. We only came to you because we have no other way to survive. We have no money for food, and the pantry is empty."

"Just think of it as fulfilling your obligation as a daughter and give us some money to live on, okay?"

Both of them pleaded with such tearful sincerity that there wasn't a dry eye among those present.

However, I coldly kicked them to the ground.

"Get lost! It's none of my business even if you starve to death. You want money? Dream on! Security, drag these two out! Don't let them near the company ever again!"

The video cut out suddenly, with the final frame showing my parents wailing in despair and my cold, callous expression.

The onlookers erupted into another uproar.

"She's nothing but an ingrate! Her parents were so good to her. They came all the way from the countryside to see her, and this is how she treats them?"

"Exactly! Who does she think she is? I hope they win the trial and she gets sentenced to prison."

"I pity her parents. If I were her parent, I would've been better off never having kids than ending up with an ingrate like her!"

Mom and Dad took their words as a sure sign of victory and couldn't help but let their smugness show.

But soon, the trial light lit up, and it was red. Though Judge Lambert could hardly believe it, he still struck the gavel.

"The court finds the defendant not guilty on the first charge of ingratitude."