Chapter 199 Not Fair!

Chapter 199 Not Fair!
The trial felt incredibly wrong and exhausting. The worst part was that Ray had tried to have me murdered while I was in jail, but there was no proof of this. It seemed like Ray's advocates could twist the narrative, making it appear as though he had nothing to do with my abuse in jail. 
In the end, everyone was taken by surprise when Amy showed up. No one knew she was going to be there at the beginning of the trial, but what she had to say turned out to be significant. The only thing I was uncertain about was whether she would come to support me or Ray.
Amy expressed her happiness when Ethan and Spencer started working at the company. At first, I assumed she was referring to her fondness for Spencer, but I was mistaken. She shared with everyone in the room how many times she had been bullied and shamed by Ray while she was his direct secretary. Although she didn't go into detail about all the incidents, she felt it was important to share one specific occasion.
She recalled the time when Spencer returned to the company, visibly shaken. Ray had promised to help him, suspecting that he was carrying too much on his shoulders. Ray asked her to organise his tasks while his old secretary was still available to assist him.
She admitted that she once overheard a private conversation, which she found very interesting. In it, she heard Ray contact the guardianship authority to report that I was a drug-addicted person who only masked her illegal nighttime jobs by holding a legal position at a hotel. Ray expressed his concerns about my one-year-old child, making them promise to take immediate action.
As she recounted this, I couldn’t stop crying, remembering the moment when that woman took Ellie from me. I remembered it felt as if my heart broke into pieces, and I collapsed. However, when I glanced at Spencer, his expression revealed a deep hatred towards his father.
Amy apologised to me for allowing this situation to develop, but she wasn't clear about what had occurred in the Astor family, and she didn't want to get involved. Ray's advocate claimed that Amy was lying; however, she had recorded the details of the phone call, which served as evidence. It included the exact phone number, date, and time of the call. Nevertheless, Ray's advocates were impressive. I felt so overwhelmed while we waited for the final decision that all I wanted was to disappear with Ellie and Spencer.
My mum, Spencer, and Ethan shared my feelings. My mum cried the entire time, and the emotions on Spencer and Ethan's faces were unmistakable.
Finally, we all stood up to hear the judge's final decision. We were shocked that Ray received only a two-year prison sentence, which, in our opinion, seemed insufficient. We had to hold Spencer back because he was furious and wanted to get to his father to harm him.
It took a while for everyone to calm down, and we returned home feeling sad. 
"That's unfair. I'm sure that jerk paid a lot of money for this," Spencer fumed after we got back to the apartment. I held the sleeping Ellie in my arms while sitting on the sofa in the evening.
"We can’t do much about it right now. At least we have two years to plan where to go," I replied, which made Spencer look at me.
"Cora, he could get away with trying to murder someone. Do you think there's a place on Earth where he wouldn't find us?"
I shrugged. 
"We really can't do much, Spencer. We have two years to figure things out."
Spencer collapsed next to us and gently caressed Ellie's cheeks, careful not to wake her. 
"We will appeal," he said, and I nodded in agreement. 
"Certainly. I won't let him get close to Ellie." 
"Neither will I," Spencer replied. 
It took us a few weeks to return to normalcy. Spencer met with the advocacy team, and they agreed to assist us with the appeal. 
As promised, he found a lovely house near the sea that provided us with plenty of space, and we set up an adorable room for Ellie there. 
Moving in was one of the happiest days of my life. 
For a while, the media kept trying to contact us, primarily because of Ellie, but we refused to talk to them. Fortunately, the media's attention helped us immensely; many people rallied to our side, and our small company began to thrive. 
After moving to a larger office, we all agreed that we didn't need separate spaces since we enjoyed working together. 
However, there was still something I wanted to do, but I was certain I wouldn't be able to do it alone. After discussing it with Spencer, he understood my feelings and assured me that he wouldn't let me face this alone. 
"Are you ready?" he asked with concern after parking the car in the cemetery's parking lot.
I took a deep breath and nodded. We got out of the car and took Ellie with us. She didn't understand what was happening, and I didn’t mind that. 
We walked inside together, and it took us a while to find the spot where my biological mother's ashes were spread. There was a wall with the names listed, and I found both of my parents' names on it. I didn’t care about my father, but my heart ached for my mother. In my view, she deserved a proper funeral. I knew she could have done better; she should have given me a chance to have a better life—one where I wouldn't go to bed hungry and would have access to decent clothes and education. However, I understood her. 
Since I felt Ellie move inside my belly and took my first glance at her, I began to grasp the unconditional love that only a mother can feel for her child. I understood her. 
The memories of my mother made my eyes well up, and I hoped that when she looked down on me and Ellie, she felt proud of us. I left a white rose on the wall and decided to create a proper gravestone for her in the future. She deserved it.