A Wall Street Genius's Final Investment Playbook-Chapter 137

As Pierce took the witness stand, the tension in the courtroom escalated.

The moment his right hand slowly rose, the solemn voice of the clerk cut through the silence.

"Do you solemnly swear before God and this court to speak only the truth and nothing but the truth?"

"Yes, I do."

His voice was firm with conviction, yet discomfort lurked within him.

Of course, as the head of the Theranos Task Force, his court appearance was an expected step.

Thus, the unease he was experiencing now was not merely due to his presence here.

‘What on earth is he planning?’

What troubled him was the fact that he had no grasp of Ha Si-heon’s intentions whatsoever.

In truth, Pierce had come here intending to give testimony that would be as favorable as possible to Ha Si-heon.

Hadn’t he endured weeks of relentless questioning from the executives, sweating through explanations, all for a reason?

It was all to secure connections with the illustrious board members of Theranos.

But with more than half of the board now gone and Kissinger engaging in personal dealings with Ha Si-heon, Pierce’s choice was clear.

‘I have to side with Ha Si-heon.’

That was the most beneficial course of action for him.

Yet, despite this, Ha Si-heon’s side had not provided him with any guidance whatsoever.

Even when he tried to gauge what kind of testimony they wanted, he was met with the same composed response.

—Simply state the truth as it is.

As his thoughts swirled in confusion, Blackwell approached and fired the first question.

"What is Ha Si-heon’s personality like?"

Pierce hesitated for a moment.

Words like ‘arrogant bastard,’ ‘madman,’ and ‘walking disaster’ flashed through his mind.

But since he had to give testimony that would favor Ha Si-heon, he couldn't afford to let such raw emotions slip out.

"Could you ask a more specific question?"

"Does Ha Si-heon appear to be someone who works for the public good?"

"He does not."

Having taken the oath, lying was not an option.

As Pierce answered without resistance, Blackwell pressed further.

"What is Ha Si-heon’s nickname within the company?"

"For a while, he was called ‘Unicorn,' due to the high accuracy of the algorithm he developed—"

Pierce tried to highlight Ha Si-heon’s abilities, but Blackwell cut him off.

"Are there any other nicknames?"

"‘Runaway Locomotive,’ ‘Bulldozer’… and ‘Madman’ as well."

"That’s quite a number of negative nicknames for someone supposedly talented. Why is that?"

Blackwell’s intent was obvious.

He was trying to paint Ha Si-heon as ‘reckless and dangerous.’

It was clearly a leading question, but Ha Si-heon’s side remained silent.

With no objections raised, Pierce had no choice but to admit the truth.

"Once he makes up his mind, no amount of persuasion from others can sway him."

"That sounds like a personality flaw. It wouldn't matter much in personal matters, but has he ever displayed such behavior when dealing with others or clients? Has he ever pushed forward recklessly despite their objections?"

Blackwell’s questions became increasingly relentless.

As a result, Pierce’s discomfort deepened.

In the end, he had no choice but to relay testimony that put Ha Si-heon in a disadvantageous light.

Reckless investment decisions where he went all-in on a single stock with clients’ money, and the time he dismissed Farber’s protests with a curt ‘High risk, high return’—

Even amid all this, Ha Si-heon’s side remained silent.

Not a single objection.

‘Are they just waiting for cross-examination?’

As Pierce struggled to decipher their intentions, the questioning shifted to the Task Force.

"What was the reason for forming the Theranos Investigation Team?"

"Ha Si-heon raised suspicions about Theranos, and the team was assembled to conduct a thorough review."

"What were those suspicions?"

"The absence of clinical trial results and improper use of technical verification documents. In particular, there was an issue with the opinion letter from Johns Hopkins University. Theranos used it as if it were a guarantee of their technology, even though the document explicitly stated, ‘This is not a certification of technology.’"

This testimony was a critical blow to Theranos.

It was the moment their manipulation of technical verification was exposed.

However, Blackwell steered the questioning in an unexpected direction.

"After discovering these suspicious circumstances, did you inquire about them with Theranos?"

"No, to my knowledge, we did not."

"That’s odd. Normally, wouldn’t you first ask the involved parties directly?"

Blackwell was questioning the legitimacy of Goldran’s approach.

Pierce answered carefully.

"It depends. There’s no guarantee the other party will always tell the truth, so sometimes investigations are conducted first before posing questions."

"So, from the beginning, you operated on the assumption that Theranos would lie?"

The air in the courtroom grew tense.

Blackwell’s next question came sharply.

"Has Ha Si-heon ever referred to Theranos as a ‘fraudulent organization’?"

Pierce hesitated again, but with Ha Si-heon’s side still silent, he reluctantly answered.

"He did mention that possibility."

"Did that change your perspective on Theranos?"

"Yes, I also began to recognize that possibility."

Blackwell intensified his attack.

He argued that Ha Si-heon had labeled Theranos as fraudsters from the outset.

And he didn’t stop there.

He framed the narrative as Ha Si-heon persuading Pierce, which ultimately led to the formation of a massive 16-member investigation team.

His point was clear.

"You had already decided on the conclusion and only sought evidence to support it, didn’t you?"

"…We operate based on risk assessment. Comparing the scenarios where Theranos was innocent versus fraudulent, the risk was evidently higher in the latter case, so we had to prepare accordingly."

Pierce tried his best to offer a reasonable explanation, but even to him, it sounded unconvincing.

Ultimately, his words still painted Ha Si-heon as someone who acted without sufficient evidence, without even giving Theranos a chance to explain.

But—

That was fine.

Cross-examination was still to come.

"This concludes my questioning."

As Blackwell took his seat, Ha Si-heon’s defense attorney slowly stood up.

"Did the investigation uncover any findings that supported Ha Si-heon’s suspicions?"

"Yes, it did."

"What were those findings?"

At that moment, Blackwell sharply interjected.

"Objection. Please remind the witness that any details regarding the investigation are protected under an NDA and are confidential."

Even without Blackwell’s reminder, Pierce had no intention of answering.

The moment he revealed any details from the investigation, he would be facing a massive lawsuit.

"I cannot answer that question. It would be a violation of the NDA."

However, upon hearing this response, Ha Si-heon’s defense attorney simply gave a knowing smile and nodded.

"I see. No further questions."

As the attorney returned to his seat, the courtroom erupted into murmurs.

Pierce, the jury, even Blackwell, and the judge all showed hints of confusion.

From the audience, hushed whispers could be heard.

"Wait… is that it?"

"No further questions?"

Blackwell had just proven Ha Si-heon’s recklessness, his disregard for clients, and his accusations of fraud against Theranos.

Yet, Ha Si-heon’s side didn’t even attempt a rebuttal.

As the murmurs grew, the judge spoke up, echoing the thoughts of everyone in the room.

"Are you certain you have no further questions? You have the right to cross-examine the witness who is testifying against you. Are you choosing to waive that right?"

Ha Si-heon’s defense attorney’s response was firm.

"Yes, we acknowledge that Ha Si-heon possesses certain personality flaws, that he suspected Theranos of fraud from the outset, and that he approached the investigation with the intent to prove that fraud."

The courtroom erupted again.

Ha Si-heon’s side had essentially accepted everything Theranos accused him of.

Pierce stepped down from the witness stand with a storm of confusion raging in his mind.

He didn’t understand what was happening, but one thing was certain.

"He’s up to something again."

This was Ha Si-heon’s signature move—catching everyone off guard and seizing control of the momentum.

And it was always a prelude to something big.

Deep inside Pierce, alarm bells blared.

A massive disaster was coming, though he had no way of knowing its exact form.

Would it be a storm? An earthquake? Or something entirely unpredictable?

He couldn’t tell.

But one thing was undeniable.

This was all orchestrated by Ha Si-heon.

And this courtroom battle was just the beginning of something much bigger.

Ha Si-heon’s Strange Defense Strategy Continued.

The next witness was Sharma, the COO of Theranos.

He methodically refuted Ha Si-heon’s accusations.

"Can you explain the absence of clinical trial results?"

"The trial was canceled because patients failed to properly operate the device, leading to errors. If Ha Si-heon had reached out to us directly, we could have easily clarified the situation. But he never did."

"What about the issue with the Johns Hopkins certification?"

"That was our mistake. An employee accidentally used a document that was not meant to serve as a technological guarantee. But again, if Ha Si-heon had contacted us, we would have caught the mistake earlier and corrected it."

Sharma’s response oozed with shamelessness.

He downplayed Theranos’s fraudulent actions as simple mistakes while launching a scathing critique of Ha Si-heon’s approach.

"From the beginning, Ha Si-heon acted like he was hunting for something. He was desperate to find a fault. You know the saying—if you follow someone for two days straight, you'll eventually catch them breaking a traffic law. That’s the kind of mindset he had during the investigation."

Sharma’s testimony delivered a consistent message—

That Ha Si-heon had prejudged Theranos as fraudsters from the start.

Now, it was Ha Si-heon’s turn to cross-examine.

The jury, the spectators, and the media held their breath, all eyes on Ha Si-heon’s attorney.

Their expressions all carried the same thought—

"No way…"

They remembered what Ha Si-heon’s defense team had done with Pierce.

And then—

Ha Si-heon’s defense attorney did the exact same thing.

"Were there any findings during the investigation?"

"The investigation is protected under NDA, so I cannot disclose details."

"Understood. No further questions."

Once again, they referenced NDA confidentiality and ended the questioning without a fight.

And then, they made a shocking declaration.

"We acknowledge that Ha Si-heon conducted an exceptionally strict investigation under the assumption that Theranos might be committing fraud."

The jurors' faces filled with confusion.

"Is this how trials usually go?"

"Aren’t they supposed to fight back, like in the movies?"

It was an unthinkable turn of events.

On the other side, Theranos’s lawyers began scrambling.

They had anticipated an intense legal battle and carefully scheduled their witnesses accordingly.

But with Ha Si-heon’s unexpected approach, time was slipping away faster than planned.

"Apologies, but we request a 20-minute recess while we wait for the next witness to arrive."

The judge nodded.

"Understood. We will resume after lunch."

As the court entered recess, Blackwell’s face darkened.

He wasn’t sure what Ha Si-heon’s strategy was, but one thing was clear.

"Something… is going wrong."

***

All court cases are dramas.

Drama is conflict.

And humans are naturally drawn to conflict.

But so far—

There was no drama here.

There was only a one-sided narrative of Theranos’s alleged harm.

While the "victim" continued to present their suffering, the "accused" remained calm and admitted to everything.

As a result, people’s attention naturally shifted.

Not toward Theranos’s alleged damages—

But toward Ha Si-heon himself.

Why was he accepting all these accusations?

What was he planning?

Of course, this attention was not positive.

But there was one undeniable fact.

Ha Si-heon had seized control of the courtroom.

Afternoon Testimony Resumed.

"The next witness is Mr. Prescott."

The third witness, Prescott, was the owner of Heritage Partners Group, a family office.

Unlike Pierce, Prescott had no reason to support Ha Si-heon.

He testified without hesitation about their conversation on the yacht.

"Ha Si-heon claimed that ‘Theranos had failed to obtain FDA certification,’ implying that they had deliberately misled investors by disguising their LDT certification as an FDA approval. He also pointed out the absence of clinical trial results."

"As a result, did your perception of Theranos change?"

"Of course. I became suspicious."

"So, did you proceed with additional investments in Theranos?"

"No, I did not."

"If you hadn’t spoken with Ha Si-heon, would you have invested?"

"I probably would have."

This testimony was devastating for Ha Si-heon’s case.

It proved that Ha Si-heon’s accusations had directly caused at least one investor to back away.

The financial damage to Theranos was now undeniable.

And yet—

Ha Si-heon’s attorney responded exactly the same way.

"No further questions."

And then—

"We acknowledge that Ha Si-heon’s statements caused financial damage to Theranos."

Blackwell’s face darkened.

At this point, he could finally see Ha Si-heon’s strategy.

"Is he insane…?"

Ha Si-heon was betting everything on one thing—

"Defamation requires three elements: falsehood, intent, and damage."

He was openly admitting to intent and damage—

Because he was preparing to prove that his statements were true.

And outside the courtroom—

The real drama was only just beginning.