French author and poet Jean de la Fontaine once said,
"It is always more fun to fool the liar."
Hello and welcome to<i> Case Closed.</i>
Let's see how that quote relates to our first case.
Please bring out the litigants.
He didn't have to lie to me. The truth always comes out.
It's never too late to set things straight.
Now I know what to expect.
Good afternoon.
Elena, you're suing Lian.
Tell me who he is, why you're suing him,
and what you demand to settle this case.
Lian is my husband.
Unfortunately.
I'm suing this liar and I demand a divorce,
half of the money we've saved up during our marriage.
Yeah, sure. You just love money.
Shut up.
Lian, let her state her demands.
I also demand child support.
Our child isn't technically his,
but he legally adopted him.
That's what I demand from this shameless bastard.
Show some respect!
You see this man right here?
How long have you been married?
We've been married for nine months.
Unfortunately.
How old is your baby?
My baby's three months old.
-That baby is my life. -Sure, now.
You know how much I've always cared for him.
Listen.
Let's set the drama aside for a moment
and explain the facts surrounding the case
so that I know what happened.
Then you can respond.
Let's set our emotions aside
until the evidence has been laid out.
So what's wrong?
You've only been married nine months.
This man's a liar!
He lied to me.
He had me fall for him under this false notion of love
that us women tend to fall for.
In Cuba, we call men like him a [beep].
I'm not a [beep]!
I told you!
You're a [beep]!
Where'd you get that idea?
You know I'm right!
Don't lie!
I'm sorry, ma'am.
Can you define what that means?
Don't repeat the word,
because it'll only get censored.
What does that mean?
It's a male prostitute.
A man who sleeps with other men for money!
Where'd you get that idea? I don't sleep with other men!
Hold on.
So he's a male prostitute.
Yes, exactly.
Alright, understood.
Why do you call him that, though?
We met nine months ago and fell in love.
Then we got married.
I got to this country three months ago.
None of my family members are here.
I'm all alone. I have no one.
I came to this country for him.
So he traveled to Cuba.
Yes, I met him through my cousin.
I met him during the hardest moments of my life.
I had just broken up with my ex and I was pregnant.
I had just found out about it, and I couldn't get an abortion.
I had to carry it to term.
-Ma'am, I...! -Hush!
That was one of the worst moments of my life.
I figured I'd face everything myself.
I met him and he asked me out.
Everything was lovely. We had a beautiful courtship.
He came to Cuba multiple times to meet with me.
We didn't even have sex on the first date!
He was very kind and caring.
He even offered to adopt my baby.
He proposed, we got married, and we had a lovely wedding.
I didn't have to come to this country.
I wasn't desperate to leave.
My life was in Cuba.
I had a home, a degree...
You planned this whole thing out!
Quit lying!
Tell the truth! You were dying to leave Cuba!
You tell her the truth!
Emotions are running high, people.
Sorry, ma'am.
So what'd you find out?
I got to this country three months ago.
Everything was great upon arrival.
I was happy and in love.
He'd previously mentioned working as a security guard.
He never delved any deeper because it never really came up.
Being a security guard is a normal job.
It's the same as working at a nightclub or a restaurant.
Right, like a bouncer.
We never talked about it much.
Besides, I didn't want him to think
that I was interested in his money.
I mean, he's doing well for himself.
He earns well.
Everything was great at first,
but as time went by, I started noticing things.
First of all, he had no set schedule.
Well, that's typical of security jobs.
Sometimes he'd go in at 3:00 AM,
or he'd work for two days straight, or travel...
I was cleaning one day as he was out working.
I was arranging the baby's things
when I found a bag full of condoms and lubricant.
That surprised me, because we never spoke of that in Cuba.
Never.
We don't even use protection.
We did at first, but not anymore.
My baby got sick one day.
Mind you, I was all alone.
I had no one to call because I don't know anyone.
He's never introduced me to anyone.
I'm his little trophy wife.
The naive, foolish girl he brought back from Cuba.
Naïve? I doubt that.
I highly doubt that.
We started arguing about his job
because the baby was sick
and he was nowhere to be found at 3:00 AM.
I had to take the baby to the doctor alone.
He got home from "work" the next day.
He went straight to the shower.
I wanted to approach the situation calmly,
because he had supposedly been out "working."
When I opened the shower door,
I noticed he was fully tanned and bronzed.
He also had a tan line as if he'd been wearing briefs.
That's not what he normally wears to the beach.
He usually wears swim trunks.
He told me he'd been working,
but I asked him where in particular.
He usually gives me the run-around.
I don't know, ma'am.
I love this man, but I'm clueless.
I really didn't get what his work situation was.
The incidents kept coming.
We were having lunch one day and he got a WhatsApp message.
I noticed because a little picture popped up.
I had to look, you know.
My womanly sixth sense was going off.
The person who sent the message appeared to be a man.
The contact, "Daniel", even had hearts around his name.
I asked about it, but he flipped the phone over
and said he had to go to work.
"Who's messaging you, though? What is it?"
"I have to go to work."
Problems kept building up regarding his job.
He never explained anything or clarified.
He lied to me.
-What? -You lied.
What do you mean?
He was showering one day, so I went to get him a towel.
When I came into the room, his phone was ringing.
He wasn't able to answer on time,
so the caller left a voice message.
It was a man.
I brought a recording of the message,
because that was the nail in the coffin.
That's when I finally realized
that I'm married to a man with a double life.
Double life?
Okay, let's hear the message.
<i> Hey, cutie.</i>
<i> I'll be at the airport</i> <i> at 7:00 AM.</i>
<i> If you need me to pass by</i> <i> and pick you up, call me.</i>
<i> Otherwise, I'll see you there.</i>
<i> Kisses!</i>
Kisses?
He didn't mention anything about sex!
Yeah, right!
I was furious after hearing that message.
I eventually managed to figure out his phone password.
I went through all of his messages, ma'am.
They were all from other men.
Older men. They were all seniors.
They're my clients.
Clients?
They all had similar conversation logs,
full of heart emojis and photos.
After seeing that, I called him out.
He lied to me, ma'am.
He never told me he was a male escort
who had sex with other men.
He never mentioned that.
I never would've married you had I known that.
Okay, understood. Let me ask you something.
Are you two still sexually active?
We have a great sex life.
Okay, great.
Understood.
How do you respond, Lian?
She claims you lied to her just to bring her here.
I don't fully understand that.
Ma'am, I'd like to countersue.
I demand that our marriage be annulled.
Know why? I feel used.
This is fraud!
She may look and act innocent...
She claims to be in love, but she used me!
Know why?
I agreed to adopt her baby.
I did that out of the goodness of my heart!
Quiet.
The father of her baby completely disappeared
the moment he found out she was pregnant.
I liked her the moment I saw her.
I'd visit her in Cuba.
I'd bring her presents and we'd go out...
-I really fell in love! -As did I!
I didn't mind that she was pregnant.
It doesn't matter who fathered that baby.
Raising it is what counts. I wanted to be a father.
Okay, hold it there. me!
Look, ma'am.
She doesn't know this,
but I brought evidence that she's been in contact
with her baby's father.
He abandoned her, but just recently,
he crossed the border and lives in Kentucky.
They've been talking, ma'am.
This man abandoned her!
She tricked me!
You can see the messages onscreen.
-"Where are you?" -"Miami."
"Send a picture of the baby." She sent one.
"See? He looks like me."
"I'm thinking about visiting. What do you say?"
You betrayed me!
You used me to come to this country
and take advantage of my resident status!
I'm an American!
Lian!
Can you two...?
How are these two supposed to separate?
What do you do?
Just like there are female escorts,
there are male escorts.
I'm a companion.
It's a fairly common practice,
but since she's from Cuba, she has a different mentality.
She may not recognize this as a legitimate job,
but it definitely is.
This is a free country!
There are all kinds of jobs out there.
I don't sleep with my clients.
I just offer them my company.
There are lots of older men who are alone...
and they don't want to be alone.
I offer them a good time. We have fun together.
We talk, we dance...
I'm just offering them my company.
Sometimes, you don't want to go to the theater alone.
-That's true. -That's where I come in.
That doesn't mean I sleep with them.
She doesn't have any evidence
that proves I've slept with them.
It's true; the majority of my clients are gay.
Why didn't you tell me?
I don't really promote myself online or anything.
You get clients through word of mouth.
My first client recommended me to another guy.
That's how I got started.
I've had relative success. I earn well.
I never sleep with my clients, though.
Did either of you bring a witness?
I did.
Bring out the defendant's witness.
He's a regular client of mine.
Another client?
Yeah, they're my friends!
Would you look at that?
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, ma'am.
So you're Daniel.
Yes, I am.
Quiet, you two.
-How are you, Daniel? -Good, and you?
I'm fine, thank you.
What's your statement?
I think this woman's crazy.
Why?
None of what she's saying is true.
He's a good kid.
He's joyful and fun to be around.
I appreciate his company.
I hire him to accompany me.
You're gay, right?
Yes, I am.
Okay, understood.
Be quiet!
Does he offer you anything beyond just his company?
No. That's all there is to it.
It depends on the client.
So there's no happy ending.
No happy endings?
No happy endings.
That's a myth.
Be honest, though. Let's be realistic.
He's a handsome guy.
Yes, he is.
You wouldn't spend all that money for nothing.
Right.
There might be a slip of hand...
I might've had feelings for him at some point,
but now I see him as the son I never had.
Find yourself a daughter!
I care for him. That's it.
I've given him lots of advice.
He's madly in love with her.
She's the one with issues.
My friends recommended him to me.
None of them have slept with him, either.
Great. Understood.
Is your son here?
Yes, ma'am.
I brought him with me.
Great.
Let's have Dr. Geysha Menendez bring him out.
You know what cracks me up about this whole situation?
They're Cuban.
I've been watching a lot of Cuban films lately.
Tons of them, actually.
I've realized that this topic comes easily to Cubans.
To them, it's no big deal.
Lots of people in Cuba work as escorts.
More often than not, they're more than just escorts.
What happened to her
has happened to a number of Cuban girls.
Their boyfriends bail on them.
-How are you, Dr. Menendez? -Good, ma'am. How are you?
Good!
Let's see.
That's one cute baby!
What a cutie!
Come here.
Step aside, kiddo.
Come here, sweetie.
He likes you.
Come here, cutie.
You're so cute!
Hi, sweetie!
He's a good kid.
He behaves well?
-He's everything to me, ma'am. -Is your husband good to him?
Yes, he adores him.
I'm looking out for this kid's future, ma'am.
I want him to have a promising future.
I'm his father!
But his future can't be based on lies.
It's not my fault you don't understand my profession.
Why didn't you tell me sooner?
Quiet.
Of course he kept the truth from you.
He's hurt you spoke to your baby's father.
I told him what those messages meant.
You told him he had disappeared from your life.
He had!
I don't know how he found me.
Well, he did.
There, there...
Hi there.
Hi there, cutie.
Let's give you back to Mommy.
Come here, sweetie.
Come here.
Listen up.
You've just wasted your time.
From the moment this case began
and you guys just started going at each other...
all I could see from up there was,
-"I love you." -"I love you."
-"I like you." -"I like you."
-"You're so hot." -"No, you're hot."
-"Oh, baby." -"Oh, honey."
That's all I saw from my viewpoint.
Don't focus on the lie.
We've all been lied to for decades.
Come to Daddy.
Don't focus so much on "betrayal" and whatnot.
You know the truth now.
He knows the truth, too.
I think his clients are good people.
You should probably befriend them.
-He should've told me. -Well, he just did.
He came clean in front of everyone.
All the cards are on the table.
You know the truth now.
Your divorce is hereby denied.
I wish you the best. Kiss and make up.
Case closed!
Done!
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