Chapter 524
It wasn’t a question. It sounded like a declaration. Another official added, raising his voice so the media could
hear.
“Are you willing to cooperate and acknowledge your wrongdoing before the legal process proceeds further?”
Several reporters immediately seized on the implication.
“So there was a violation?” someone shouted.
“Does the prosecutor’s office already have strong evidence against you, Mr. Callister?”
The atmosphere grew even more heated. Microphones were pushed closer. Cameras focused directly on Daven’s face, as if waiting for a single expression that could be used as proof of guilt.
Daven exhaled slowly.
None of those questions were meant to uncover the truth. They were meant to shape public opinion. Their words already carried a verdict-long before the legal process had even begun.
From the side, another prosecutor’s official spoke again, this time with an even heavier tone of pressure.
“The public has the right to know whether you abused the trust placed in you.”
A murmur rippled through the crowd. Abused their trust. The phrase landed like a verdict already delivered in the open.
Richard stiffened where he stood. He stepped forward, trying to hold back the tide of increasingly aggressive questions.
“Mr. Callister,” the official continued, “your silence may be interpreted as an indirect admission. Do you have anything you would like to say?”
That single sentence sent the atmosphere boiling over.
The reporters erupted again, their voices colliding.
“Are you unable to deny these accusations?”
“Did your company manipulate financial reports?”
“Is this the end of Callister Group?”
Daven kept his gaze fixed straight ahead. His chest felt heavy-not with fear, but with the unmistakable certainty that this situation had been orchestrated. This wasn’t a clarification session.
This was a public judgment.
Pressure came from every direction-the media, public opinion, even the attitude of some officials from the prosecutor’s office, who seemed to have already placed him in the position of a defendant before the time had
come.
And yet he remained silent.
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There was so much he wanted to say. His jaw tightened. His hands curled into fists at his sides-then slowly relaxed again. He drew a deep breath, forcing down the surge of anger threatening to break free. [1
Under the relentless flashes and the voices pressing in on him, one thing became painfully clear to Daven.
They weren’t waiting for his answer.
They were waiting for his confession.
“Richard,” Daven called, his voice low amid the roar of reporters and the pointed remarks from the officials.
“Just be patient a little longer,” Richard replied, glancing at his watch.
Daven frowned. He had called out because he wanted permission to speak. The questions had been piling up, each one more infuriating than the last-as if all of this were already his fault.
He had submitted evidence. Plenty of it. Yet they kept countering with new reports-documents he had never even seen but presented as if he were responsible for everything they contained.
Still, he held himself back. He trusted what Richard had told him, even though—
“How much longer?” he asked quietly, the tension creeping into his voice.
Because everyone around him kept pressing harder… and the longer he stayed silent, the more satisfied they seemed, watching him stand there without a word.
“Just a little longer,” Richard said with a faint smile. He knew his client was growing increasingly restless. But they needed a little more time.
Then, in the middle of the chaos, two figures appeared from the left.
Arsen and Chris walked steadily toward Daven.
Their presence immediately eased the tension in Richard’s shoulders. The pressure on his face softened.
“What brings you—”
“Mr. Daven,” Arsen cut in quickly. “Please review this file. Quickly.”
He handed over a thin folder. Though confusion flickered across Daven’s face, he didn’t hesitate. He opened it at
once.
Arsen and Chris wouldn’t show up in the middle of a situation like this without a reason.
Meanwhile, Chris stepped closer to Richard and whispered, “Cale is ready. The live broadcast can go on now.
Richard gave a short nod. He turned to Daven.
“This is the moment.”
His eyes followed Daven as he scanned the contents-fast, but carefully. Arsen had condensed everything into a sharp, efficient summary of the case built against him.
“All right,” Daven said at last, a faint smirk touching his lips. He closed the folder. Everything in it was already
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clear to him.
“I’m ready.”
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