The Lawyer Who Reads Tomorrow - Chapter 50
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 50
Of course, I couldn’t be certain that the woman was insane just from this.
Until now, Lim Do-i had calmly explained her situation and understood what needed to be done going forward.
Above all, I wasn’t a doctor capable of psychiatric evaluation.
“Ms. Lim Do-i.”
“…Please….”
The woman, now devoid of any trace of anger, was sobbing and crying.
“No one believes me….”
Lim Do-i whispered with her face buried in her handkerchief.
Several times, words that couldn’t form properly came out as sobs instead.
Each time, the woman beat her chest as if frustrated.
“Even on the scheduled visitation day, he wouldn’t let me see the child. My ex-husband. That… that bastard….”
“Is that so?”
“At first, I thought it was a mistake too. He’s such a busy person… I thought maybe he got the date wrong.”
“….”
“But… after that day, for one day, two days, three days, that bastard wouldn’t take my calls. It’s been almost 5 months since I’ve been unable to see my child….”
In other words, this is what happened.
After Lim Do-i and Park Mu-hyun divorced, custody of their child Park Noah went to Park Mu-hyun.
Lim Do-i also judged at the time of divorce that it would be more suitable for Park Mu-hyun, who had a better environment, to raise the child rather than herself, who had been abandoned even by her own family.
“I tried to contact him in various ways….”
Lim Do-i’s eyes seemed to still have moisture left to extract as they endlessly produced tears.
Tears continued to flow down her already wet face.
“At first, I contacted the child’s father. I even went to his company… But every time, they said he wasn’t there. Even though I could clearly see that man’s shadow inside the office, they said he wasn’t there.”
Lim Do-i’s hands trembled as if in anger.
“After being chased away from the company like that… next I went to the child’s kindergarten.”
Was this the part mentioned in Park Mu-hyun’s restraining order application?
“I really didn’t intend to lay a hand on the child. I just wanted to check if he was doing well….”
Lim Do-i had loitered around the institution her child attended.
That’s how Park Mu-hyun had described it.
“But… they said the child had quit kindergarten.”
Lim Do-i raised her voice as if angry while continuing to shed tears.
“The child quit the kindergarten he had been attending perfectly fine until just a few months ago. They said they didn’t know the reason…. He made my child disappear from the world without a trace, behind my back…!”
“You must have felt very frustrated.”
At my words, the woman collapsed onto the table, wailing.
“No one, no one believed what I said…. No one. Not even Do-hyuk….”
Had Lim Do-hyuk brought this case to me while not even believing his own sister?
The last comment left some questions, but let’s move past that for now.
“Is there any reason your ex-husband would hide the child?”
Lim Do-i shook her head.
“Not at all. I don’t understand it. Even though he was the worst husband to me, he was a good person to the child. He was a good father. I have no idea why, suddenly, he won’t let me, the mother, see the child….”
“Ms. Lim Do-i, I know this might be an uncomfortable question. But you need to be honest with me.”
“….”
The reason Park Mu-hyun suddenly hid the child.
Could it have been because of Lim Do-i’s unstable condition?
Of course, if he had disappeared without any contact as she claimed, that would certainly be problematic.
But what if it was Park Mu-hyun’s unavoidable choice considering Lim Do-i’s condition?
I needed to know that first before responding.
“This is something Park Mu-hyun’s side will likely argue, so I need an honest answer.”
“…That’s… what kind….”
“Ms. Lim Do-i, are you currently receiving psychiatric treatment, or do you have a history of receiving such treatment?”
The woman’s face grew even colder.
Psychiatric treatment itself isn’t a problem.
As long as you’re born human, it’s a hospital anyone can visit.
However, if she had harmed the child or developed delusions about her ex-husband into an illness, that would be quite disadvantageous in this case.
“I am Ms. Lim Do-i’s lawyer. So you need to be honest. If I’m going to stand on Ms. Lim Do-i’s side and help you meet Noah again, I need to understand and prepare for such aspects in advance.”
“Lawyer, I really… I just want to see my child….”
Lim Do-i looked very confused.
She was barely managing to wipe away the tears welling up again with a tissue.
“…Right now, Park Mu-hyun’s side will likely argue that ‘Ms. Lim Do-i is mentally unstable and could be harmful to the child.'”
“….”
“If you are receiving treatment, it would be better to emphasize that ‘you’re receiving treatment for the child’s sake’ rather than hiding it. That way you can gain the court’s trust.”
Lim Do-i let out a trembling breath.
“…Yes.”
Her eyes were now swollen and red.
She was the client who had cried the most since I started working in this office.
“That’s right. I was… receiving treatment. But that was…”
“Please continue.”
“…Father hated me. Unlike Do-hyuk or Un-hyuk oppa… He always said I didn’t fit in with our family.”
This is going deeper than I expected.
Lim Sang-jin’s discrimination among his children was one of the issues I really didn’t want to know about.
However, the unstable appearance my client Lim Do-i was showing didn’t seem to have developed in just a day or two.
It didn’t seem to be something new caused by Park Mu-hyun either.
“I went to the hospital frequently since I was young. But my condition was quite stable. My grades were good too… My relationships with friends as well. As for marriage, I said I wouldn’t get married, but…”
“You’re saying it was unavoidable.”
“…Yes. But I was faithful. Even more so after Noah was born… So, yes. You’re right, lawyer.”
“…”
“I worked even harder on my treatment because of Noah. Really… You could probably find that out by checking the medical records from the hospital I attended.”
So did she really change after the divorce when Park Mu-hyun started hiding the child?
“Even after the divorce… I lived hard for Noah’s sake. Although my ex-husband has custody, I didn’t want to become a shameful mother.”
The woman seems sincere.
I can’t know if it’s the truth, but still, there’s one thing I as a lawyer can do for her.
Believe in my client.
“Good. Ms. Lim Do-i, you’re saying that contrary to the content of the application Park Mu-hyun sent, you didn’t do anything that would harm the child.”
“…Yes, but there might be… room for misunderstanding.”
The woman’s eyelids trembled.
“As the days passed without being able to meet the child, I became really anxious. Why? Why on earth wouldn’t he let me see Noah? So I went to my husband’s house…”
“You asked him to open the door.”
“Yes… My husband pretended not to be there, of course, and I also… yes, I kicked the front door… I did such things.”
After months of Park Mu-hyun’s behavior, Lim Do-i was mentally cornered.
“But I never imagined it would harm Noah… The house was so quiet I didn’t even know Noah was there…”
“…”
“I just… wanted to meet with my husband and talk, but when that kept being refused…”
Lim Do-i let out a long breath and rubbed her face several times with both hands.
“My child, whether Noah is alive… why on earth won’t he show me the child… I’m curious about that…”
“Let’s do this.”
I made up my mind.
As if trying to interfere with my consultation with Lim Do-i until the very end, a pen that bounced wrong from Noh Hae-min’s desk fell onto the coffee table.
It was in a position where it could have pierced my hand if I wasn’t careful.
“…! Are you okay? Lawyer.”
Lim Do-i jumped up in surprise.
Noh Hae-min was even more startled.
He was writing something on scrap paper.
Noh Hae-min probably didn’t expect the pen he was using to fly up and be thrown this way, as he turned pale and rushed over to me.
“Lawyer Sung Tae-“
“I’m fine, so go back and sit down, senior.”
I returned the pen to him and turned my attention back to Lim Do-i.
Sung Tae-hyun’s diary can affect me even when stuck in the freezer.
…I’ll look at you later, Sung Tae-hyun.
To throw such a tantrum just because you don’t want to work.
Even kindergarteners wouldn’t whine this much.
I updated my understanding of Sung Tae-hyun’s diary and opened my mouth.
“Right now, the most urgent matter is responding to the restraining order application filed by Park Mu-hyun’s side.”
“…Yes, yes… That’s right…”
This would be Lim Do-i’s first time dealing with such problems too.
If she had been under her father’s influence, that is.
“Through the response brief, we’ll explain in detail why Ms. Lim Do-i acted that way, how much she actually worries about the child, and even the circumstances of her husband’s interference with visitation rights.”
“Ah…”
“However.”
This part is the most important.
Lim Do-i’s trembling gaze turned toward me. She looked truly desperate.
“For that, Ms. Lim Do-i’s cooperation is most important. From now on, you absolutely must not arbitrarily go looking for the child or do anything that might seem threatening to Park Mu-hyun.”
“Then… then, until then, I can’t see my child…”
“The court will consider that part very important when judging this case.”
Lim Do-i’s head dropped toward the ground.
The tears that I thought had stopped began to flow again.
“So until then, I can’t see my child…”
“If seeing the child is your biggest goal, it would be better to go through formal procedures with a mandatory enforcement application for visitation rights.”
“Huh…”
“If you act emotionally like this, you might end up even further away from The Child.”
Before I knew it, Assistant Yoon Ha-young had approached us.
She picked up the empty tissue box and the already soaked, useless handkerchiefs that Noh Hae-min and I had been using.
Then she offered Lim Do-i a fresh handkerchief.
“…Th-thank… you…”
No words of comfort would reach a mother who wanted to see her child.
But I added a few more words for her sake.
“Let me say this again: what Park Mu-hyun’s side might actually want right now is for you, Lim Do-i, to approach The Child. Because they can package that as a threat. So, absolutely.”
“…”
“Absolutely do not give them that satisfaction.”
Lim Do-i, her face pale as snow, nodded.
* * *
A few days later.
[I regretted it.]
[Why did things turn out this way.]
[I should have listened to the ‘voice of my heart’ that day after all.]
“Voice of my heart, my ass.”
I ignored Sung Tae-hyun’s Diary, which had displayed a new entry, and submitted Lim Do-i’s Response Brief.
Submitting a Response Brief to a Restraining Order Application isn’t that difficult a task.
With Lim Do-i’s Psychiatric Treatment Records and Park Mu-hyun’s Visitation Refusal Log attached as supporting documents, all that remained was to wait for the Court’s decision.
“It’s fine even after freezing.”
What’s really bothering me is this thing.
Sung Tae-hyun, who had been acting like some kind of evil spirit.
“Should I try burning it again?”
After everyone had left work.
The Office was silent with Noh Hae-min and Assistant Yoon Ha-young away from their desks.
Just as I was about to get up to burn Sung Tae-hyun’s Diary on the Burner.
“Sung Tae-hyun.”
The Office door opened and a familiar figure appeared.
It was Lim Do-hyuk.
After becoming close with Noh Hae-min and then Assistant Yoon Ha-young, did he now even know the Office Password?
A five-thousand-won contract is this meaningful to an Office with no work.
“What is it, senior?”
I roughly shoved Sung Tae-hyun’s Diary into the Desk Drawer and approached Lim Do-hyuk.
Since I was just about to leave work, the lights in the Office Corridor were off, making his face hard to see clearly.
“…They say my sister was hospitalized.”
The next moment.
Lim Do-hyuk dropped a bombshell I hadn’t expected.
“Apparently she got hurt after charging at Park Mu-hyun.”
What?
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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