Elise was furious.

Someone had clearly set out to fabricate evidence against her.

"They've covered their tracks perfectly," Samantha told her. "Even knowing it's a setup, the judge won't believe us without proof."

"I also spoke with Helen Williams. She claims she was just following your explicit instructions and repeats the same answer to every question. Your secretary Matthew Johnson said he only approved the documents through office automation because they bore your signature. I checked the originals—they all had your signature. Here are copies. Can you verify if you actually signed them?"

Samantha handed the documents to Elise, who examined the signatures carefully.

"The signature looks exactly like mine," Elise confirmed. "But I'm absolutely certain I never signed these."

"So someone forged your signature, had Helen submit the documents, and Matthew approved them through the automated system since they appeared to be signed by you," Samantha concluded. "They were then stamped and processed as official revenue reports. This was meticulously planned, likely over a significant period."

Elise fell silent.

They had no evidence to support her innocence.

In fact, they had nothing substantial to build her defense case upon.

The room grew quiet until the doorbell rang.

Elizabeth hurried to answer before Elise could speak, remaining silent as William entered.

"Finally, you're here," Elizabeth said eagerly. "Samantha was just discussing the case with us. The situation is completely unfair. You should review everything immediately."

William nodded and approached Samantha and Elise.

Samantha started to hand him the case documents, but Elise quickly intercepted them. William's hand remained suspended in the air as he stared at Elise.

"I'd prefer not to involve you, Mr. Levine," she stated bluntly.

The atmosphere turned tense.

Samantha wasn't close enough to Elise to intervene directly.

Elizabeth quickly interjected, "Elise, William is brilliant at finding solutions. He might discover something we've missed—"

"No," Elise refused firmly, leaving no room for negotiation.

Elizabeth understood Elise's perspective—in her position, she might also hesitate to accept William's help.

Still... She glanced at William, who gave her a meaningful look.

Taking the cue, Elizabeth pulled Samantha aside. "Samantha, let's go shopping. I saw this stunning dress that would look amazing on you."

"Alright," Samantha agreed.

The excuse was transparent, but that wasn't the point. They needed to give William and Elise privacy.

Elise watched them leave without protest.

She didn't know what to say to William—she had already made her position clear.

What was the point? There was none. Absolutely none.

"I know you're angry with me," William said determinedly. "I won't deny that you're in this situation because of me, and I can't fix everything right now. But the most important thing is resolving this issue. I promise I won't let you get hurt."

"Haven't you done enough damage already?" Elise demanded. "Or does it only count if I end up serving a ten-year prison sentence?"

William swallowed hard as she continued, "You know perfectly well that coming here with your pretentious goodwill to gather evidence for my defense won't solve anything. The simplest solution is for you to marry Victoria Stuart and sever all ties with me!"