Starting with A Divorce by Gloria Warren

Chapter 163 The Defense

There was still a little money in her bank account, plus the one million dollars that

Kaliyah was willing to lend her. Even if she had so much money, it was still far from ten million dollars!

In the conference hall of the University of Washington, Ainsley was seated and facing the camera, and

the defense had not yet started.

Raymond and Professor Wade had come over and instructed her many times. Besides, Mollie had also

given her many instructions before.

When the big screen was turned on, Ainsley saw that what was on it was also a conference room.

Different from the one where she was, there were many judges seated, and she saw Mollie at a glance.

And Ainsley was sitting alone in the conference room, with her paper on the computer in

front of her.

Before the defense began, she had already asked Mollie to print out copies of the paper and distribute

them to the judges on site.

“You can start!”

Ainsley stood up and began her defense in fluent English.

In the rest zone outside the conference room, Professor Wade and Raymond were waiting anxiously.

“Mr. Ford, do you think Ms. Easton can get the award?” Professor Wade asked.

Raymond laughed, “Professor Wade, you shouldn’t ask me this kind of question. As a professor of

psychology, you are supposed to know more about the value of her paper

than I do.”

Of course, Professor Wade understood that the idea of the paper was unique and creative even in the

eyes of the judges of the Decker Contest. However, whether she could pass depended on the result of

this defense.

The defense conference lasted for three full hours. From her research proposal to the innovative point,

and then to the final conclusion, she had completely explained the

paper.

The atmosphere of the defense was also very good. It was not like the

question–and–answer format that the school teacher helped her simulate. The judges in the whole room

were discussing with her, and the whole defense was more like a

symposium.

When the defense was over, the computer screen was turned off. Ainsley breathed a sigh of relief,

rubbed her eyes, and drained the water in the cup. In the past three hours, she didn’t even have time to

drink, and her mouth was dry.

In the end, when she saw the thumbs–up secretly given by Mollie, she knew that this defense should be

a success.

As soon as the door was opened, Raymond and Professor Wade came over to ask her

about the situation.

“How about it?”

“You didn’t meet any tricky questions, did you?”

Knowing that they cared about her, Ainsley said with a smile, “It’s not bad. Those judges. didn’t ask any

strange questions, and they just discussed with me the construction of the model and the analysis

method of the data, nothing else.”

Professor Wade smiled happily, “I’ve heard people say that the defense in the Decker Contest takes two

hours, but I didn’t expect you to spend three hours. At least it shows. that the judges are very interested

in your paper.”

Raymond patted her on the shoulder, “Good job, go back and have a rest.”

“Thank you, Mr. Ford.” Ainsley appreciated him straightforwardly. She wanted to go back to deal with

Serina immediately.

There were exactly seven days before the announcement of the results of the defense, and at this time

she could help Serina with the Mortia therapy.

On the first day, Serina was locked in the room, and she lay on the bed quietly looking at

the white ceiling.

Before she was locked in, Ainsley had talked with her and performed the therapy only

after getting her consent.

Serina had been sleeping all day today, and she could fall asleep again quickly after

waking up.

It was easy to pass the first day, and Ainsley would bring the food in while she was

sleeping.

The next day, Serina couldn’t stand it anymore. She wanted to get up from the bed several times. But,

the door of the room was locked tightly, and she couldn’t open it at

all.

She banged on the door in pain, but there was no response. Ainsley was sitting at the door with Serina’s

sobbing behind her. But, she resisted the urge to open the door.

“Serina, hold on.”

It was only the second day. If she couldn’t bear it anymore, what would she do with the remaining five

days? Did she just give up?

There was no more movement or sound in the room. She watched the monitor on her mobile phone and

saw Serina sitting on the ground with tears streaming down her face.

Her fingers trembled slightly. The moment she was about to open the door, she remembered Zane’s

instructions and put her hand down again.

If even she couldn’t hold on, what about Serina?

At noon, Serina lay on the bed and fell asleep again, and Ainsley took this opportunity to open the door

and provide her with her favorite food.

The third day.

Today was a turning point. When most m*ntal patients went through Mortia therapy, they would have a

hard time in the first two days. But, on the third day, their state started to change from the initial

breakdown to the inward exploration of selfhood, which made

them gradually calm down.

Ainsley stared at Serina in the surveillance, not only to record her status but more importantly to prevent

her from harming herself.

When the municipal hospital conducted this experiment, it was found that out of one hundred patients,

twenty of them began to think of various ways to self–harm after the breakdown. After self–harm, their

illness would become more serious.

Serina lay obediently on the bed, staring at her hands as if to count the lines on them. She muttered, and

Ainsley couldn’t hear what she was saying.

On the fourth day, an accident happened. An unexpected person appeared at the door of the Easton

family’s house, and it was Irene.

Ainsley opened the door and was stunned for a while. What was she coming here for?

“Ms. Wade?”

Irene handed her the fruit in her hand and said with a smile, “Ms. Easton, I’m sorry to bother you. I’m

here to see Serina, where is she?”

Ainsley took the fruit, let her in, and pointed to Serina’s room, saying, “It’s not convenient for Serina to

come out now. I’m helping her with treatment, and she can’t see anyone.”

“Can’t see anyone?” Irene was obviously suspicious, “Ms. Easton, Serina is not at prisoner. What

treatment are you performing on her?”

Ainsley explained, “It’s the Mortia therapy, a very common psychological intervention therapy. Now it is

the first stage, the absolute bed rest period. She can’t get out of bed and can’t see people.”

Irene looked at the monitoring screen in the living room. In the screen, Serina buried her legs in her arms

and cried in pain, obviously looking distressed.

She pointed to the screen and asked, “Ms. Easton, this is your treatment? Didn’t you see

that she was crying?”

“This is a necessary stage, and she has to pass it.”

“I have reason to suspect that you are abusing Serina.” She rushed to open the door.

Ainsley said in a deep voice, “Ms. Wade, I’m treating Serina. If you let her out and aggravate her

disease, will you take the responsibility?”

Irene released the doorknob. She looked at the door and then at Ainsley, “Grandpa Gage

will be heartbroken seeing Serina like this, and Manuel will also…”

“Then you can tell them that, to save Serina or not, they should choose for themselves,” Ainsley said

coldly.

Irene didn’t expect Ainsley to be so aggressive. The Ainsley she saw last time at the Gage family’s house

seemed to be another person, and now she seemed to regain her former demeanor.

“Ms. Easton, I’m just concerned about Serina.”

“I understand. But, you also need to know that I won’t harm her. After the bed rest period is over, she will

get better.”