The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance novel Chapter 1209

"Because of the Gibson family's immense power, these women and their families had no legal recourse. Over the past few days, I have gathered some evidence of his crimes."

The screen behind her lit up, playing security footage of Stuart involved in public brawls and even forcibly dragging women off the street. Some clips were so graphic they had to be censored. In one video, after a young woman rejected his advances, he was seen shoving her into his car.

Watching the footage, the audience's fists clenched in anger. No one wanted to imagine their own sister or daughter in that position.

The reporters Israel had planted were eager to ask their scathing questions, but Stella controlled the narrative completely. In a live global broadcast, no one dared to break protocol and shout out of turn. Siding with Stuart at this moment would be professional suicide.

Once she saw that the emotions of the reporters and the viewing public were at a boiling point, Stella changed her tack.

"I know many of you are thinking that even if Stuart was a criminal, I am not a judge and have no right to sentence him. And you are correct. I have no right to pass judgment. But I do have the right to self-defense."

She then played the security footage from the day of the incident.

"I was in my private suite," she explained. "The door was clearly marked as occupied. Yet Stuart used a key card to barge in. As I recall, Germany has very strict privacy laws. Anyone who trespasses on private property can be legally neutralized by the owner, with no legal repercussions. On that day, I was resting in my suite, which was registered under my name. According to the law, I had exclusive right to that space. Stuart entered without permission and with clear malicious intent, giving me the full right to defend myself."

"However," she continued, "I had had too much to drink and was unable to fight back. My bodyguard saw an intruder in my room and, in a moment of panic to protect me, shot him. The entire event took place inside my room; we did not pursue him. My bodyguard is not the murderer the media has painted him to be. He was simply doing his job."

Harold watched the word "Hero" flood his screen and couldn't help but glance out the window, half-expecting to see the sun rising in the west. If the Gardner family ever got wind of this, they would have a collective aneurysm. To not only absolve Joshua but to call him a hero… this generation of netizens was something else.

Harold assumed Joshua would be disdainful of such a title, but instead, he saw a faint smile play on Joshua's lips.

"This is an honor Star won for me," Joshua said quietly. "She worked tirelessly to clear my name. I can't let her efforts be in vain."

He looked up at Harold. "Get me a map of the Lerman family estate."