The permanent restraining order trial was set for six weeks out.
Wanyin's lawyer warned her it wouldn't be pleasant.
"They're going to make you look unstable. Paint you as a gold digger who's angry he ended things. They'll bring up every mistake you've made, every moment of weakness."
"Can they do that?"
"Unfortunately yes. Your character is relevant to whether you're a credible witness."
Great. So her trauma would be on trial.
They spent weeks preparing. Going over her testimony line by line. Practicing responses to hostile questions.
"Why did you stay if it was so bad?"
"Because he made me believe I couldn't survive without him."
"But you had a career, money, options."
"He took those away. Systematically. Until I felt I had nothing."
"You expect us to believe a successful model felt powerless?"
"I expect you to understand that abuse isn't about physical power. It's about psychological control."
Over and over, different versions of the same questions.
Dr. Wang helped her stay grounded.
"Remember, you're not on trial. Your truth is your truth. Their job is to create doubt but your job is just to tell what happened."
Meilin was preparing for her own trial. The divorce had gotten ugly. Shen Jingwei was fighting everything - asset division, allegations of abuse, her right to protection.
"He's trying to break me financially," she said during one of their coffee meetings. "Tie up everything in legal fees until I can't afford to fight anymore."
"Will it work?"
"Not if I can help it. I have resources he doesn't know about. Accounts he never accessed. I've been preparing for this longer than he realizes."
The two women had become unlikely allies. Both fighting the same man from different angles.
"After this is over," Meilin said one day, "What will you do?"
"I don't know. Live, I guess. Figure out who I am when I'm not running or hiding."
"You're stronger than you think. Most women in your position would have taken the money."
"Most women in your position wouldn't have filed for divorce."
"Then I guess we're both stubborn."
"Or brave."
"Maybe both."