Chapter 48: WERE THERE PERIODS WHERE THE ABUSE STOPPED?

Li Wenbo rose.

He was a man in his fifties with the practiced confidence of someone who had spent decades winning cases by making the person on the other side of the room feel like the problem.

He buttoned his jacket and looked at the room with the comfortable weight of someone who had already decided the outcome.

"Your Honor," he said, "what we have before us today is a deeply unfortunate situation. A man, my client Liao Changsheng, a respected member of this community, a devoted father, and a successful businessman, has found himself the subject of allegations that are not only false but are strategically timed to coincide with a custody dispute over a child he loves deeply." He paused, letting that land.

"The plaintiff, Zi Sihan, filed for divorce five months ago. Shortly after, these allegations of assault and harassment appeared. We will demonstrate today that these claims are not evidence of abuse but of desperation. A desperate attempt by a man who knows he has no legal grounds to keep a father from his daughter."

He sat down.

The judge looked at Bai Feng.

"Mr. Bai."

Bai Feng rose.

He did not button his jacket.

He did not look at the room the way Li Wenbo had. He simply stood, and the quality of attention in the courtroom shifted immediately, the particular shift of people realizing that what was about to happen was worth paying attention to.

"Your Honor," he said, "my client Zi Sihan has been married to Liao Changsheng for seven years. In those seven years he has sustained documented injuries on fourteen separate occasions. He has filed three police reports in the five months since the divorce, each one following an incident in which Liao Changsheng violated the terms of their separation agreement and appeared at Zi Sihan’s residence uninvited."

He paused. "We are not here because of a custody dispute. We are here because a man who spent seven years hurting my client refuses to accept that he no longer has access to him." He looked at the judge steadily. "The evidence will make that clear."

He sat down.

The judge made a note.

"Mr. Bai, you may call your first witness."

"The prosecution calls Zi Sihan."

Zi Sihan took the stand.

He sat with his hands folded in his lap and his eyes forward, and Guiying watched him from his seat and thought about what it cost a person to sit in a room with the man who had hurt them and speak clearly.

Bai Feng approached.

"Zi Sihan, can you describe for the court the nature of your marriage to Liao Changsheng?"

"It started normally," Zi Sihan said. His voice was quiet but steady. "We met when I was twenty two. He was charming. Attentive. The first incident happened eight months into the marriage." He paused. "He threw a glass at me during an argument. It caught my shoulder. He apologized for three days afterward."

"And after that first incident?"

"It became more frequent. Less apologizing each time." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Were there periods where the abuse stopped?"

"Yes. When I was pregnant. He was different then." He looked at his hands briefly. "After our daughter was born it started again."

"Did you seek medical attention for your injuries?"

"Yes. Several times."

Bai Feng turned to the judge. "Your Honor, I would like to submit exhibits A through N, which are the medical records corresponding to fourteen documented injuries sustained by the plaintiff during the course of the marriage."

"Admitted," the judge said.

Li Wenbo was already on his feet. "Objection, Your Honor. Medical records do not establish causation. The plaintiff could have sustained these injuries in any number of ways."

The judge looked at him. "Overruled, Mr. Li. The records are admitted. You may address causation in your cross examination."

Li Wenbo sat down.

Bai Feng continued.

"Zi Sihan, after the divorce was finalized five months ago, did the contact from Liao Changsheng stop?"

"No."

"Can you describe what happened?"

"He came to my apartment three times. The first time he said he wanted to see our daughter. When I told him the visitation had to go through the agreed schedule he pushed me against the door frame." He touched his collarbone briefly, an unconscious gesture.

"The second time he broke the lock on my door. The third time he waited outside my building for four hours and followed me to the convenience store. So I called the police."

"You filed reports on all three occasions?"

"Yes."

"Your Honor, I submit exhibits O, P and Q, the three police reports filed by the plaintiff following these incidents, each accompanied by photographic evidence."

"Admitted," the judge said.

"No further questions."

Li Wenbo rose for his cross examination with the smooth efficiency of a man settling in for a performance he had rehearsed.

"Zi Sihan," he said pleasantly, "you mentioned that the first incident occurred eight months into the marriage. Is it not true that during those eight months the relationship was, by your own description, normal?"

"Yes."

"And during the seven years of marriage, were there extended periods of time where there were no incidents?"

"Yes."

"Months at a time?"

"Sometimes."

"So the picture you’re painting of a consistently abusive marriage is perhaps not entirely accurate?"

Zi Sihan looked at him. "Abuse doesn’t have to be every day to be abuse."

Li Wenbo smiled. "Of course not. But it does suggest a more complicated picture than the one my colleague has presented." He turned slightly. "Zi Sihan, isn’t it true that you initiated arguments on multiple occasions that escalated into physical confrontations?"

"Objection." Bai Feng’s voice was entirely level. "Counsel is implying that the plaintiff provoked his own assault. This framing is not only legally irrelevant but deliberately misleading."

"Sustained," the judge said, with the tone of someone who had seen this tactic before. "Mr. Li, rephrase."

Li Wenbo did not look bothered.

"Zi Sihan, you filed for divorce five months ago. Correct?"

"Yes."

"And these police reports, the ones my colleague just submitted, were all filed within those five months?"

"Yes."

"Isn’t it possible that these incidents, if they occurred, were the result of a contentious divorce rather than a pattern of abuse?"