Chapter 81The city outside was practically humming with life….and thankfully, light. Adrian had patched the grid. It had cost him fifty million credits in emergency infrastructure purchases and a massive headache, but the lights stayed on. The divorce was finalized. Selene was gone, hidden away in a safe house Adrian had bought under a shell company, protected but distant.He was free."So," Joe said, looking at Adrian through the rearview mirror. "You're single, rich, and you own the city. What are we doing today? Disneyland?"Adrian had plans for the night and one of them was visiting the vintage winehouse uptown. But just before he could say that word, the system chimed. An alert popped on the screen that made him almost roll his eyes. These days, he could swear the system was against any form of fun for him. "We're going to court," Adrian said, staring at a new notification pulsing in his vision.[ MISSION ALERT: ORDER IN THE COURT. ][ CONTEXT: THE JUDICIARY IS ROTTED. ][ T

Chapter 83The next morning, the sun filtered through the high, arched windows of the Aethelgard District Courthouse, illuminating dust motes dancing in the stagnant air. The entire room sort of smelled like floor wax, sweat, and decades of injustice.Adrian Black stood at the defense table, adjusting the cuffs of his bespoke charcoal suit and hoping there was a mirror he could glance at just to be sure he got the tie right. He didn't look like a rookie lawyer who had just passed the bar exam just yesterday. He looked like a man who owned the building.But he tried not to be too loud with his dominance. Although that was hard when the system had already shown him the entire layout of the building, profiled every man in the room and checked all the exits and entrances and made sure no one in there was without a record he knew of. Now, standing there, was a man who knew he owned the city and still had to act like a newbie lawyer so he wouldn't topple the case and cause some kind of c

Chapter 85Frankly, Adrian wasn't expecting a celebration later on, but that's exactly what he got. "You were amazing!"Maya Lin beamed at him from across the table. They were sitting in the private dining room of The Zenith Hotel. It was Adrian’s hotel now (seized from Cross), so the service was impeccable.Maya looked out of place but happy. She was wearing a simple blue dress, her hair down. She had helped him prep for the case, pulling the all-nighters, finding the hospital records."The way you trapped Kane?" Maya laughed, taking a sip of wine. "It was legendary. They’re going to teach that in Tort Law next semester. 'How to Destroy a Career in 5 Minutes'.""He was careless," Adrian said, cutting his steak. "Arrogance creates blind spots.""You're not arrogant, though," Maya said, looking at him with admiration. "You're... confident. There's a difference. You fight for the little guy. Like Sterling. Like Officer Graves."She reached across the table and touched his hand."Why d

Chapter 87The High Court of Aethelgard was less a hall of justice and more like some sort of movie theater of war. The gallery was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with reporters, citizens from the lower sectors, and of course the glittering elite of the city who had come to watch the spectacle.In the center of the hurricane stood Adrian Black, disguised as the frumpy, bespectacled Arthur Penhaligon. His suit was ill-fitting once more, his hair was a mess, but his posture was straight as a diligent man who took pride in his work. Beside him sat Officer Thomas Graves. And damn, the man looked broken. He was a good cop in a bad city, and the weight of the frame-up, bribery, extortion, evasion of tax and debt, was slowly crushing him."Keep your head up, Thomas," Adrian whispered, shuffling his papers. "The truth is a heavy weapon. You just have to know how to swing it."Across the aisle sat the opposition. Not the incompetent Barrister Kane this time. No, the Iron Guard had sent their w

Chapter 89Thorne stood up and practically ran into his chambers.Draven gathered his papers, his face looking even more stony than when he'd first arrived. Adrian sat down, exhaling a breath he felt he had been holding for an hour."You did it," Graves whispered, gripping Adrian’s arm. "How... how did you know about the ink?""I read a lot of patents," Adrian lied. "Stay here, Thomas. It's almost over."But Adrian couldn't stand in that suffocating courtroom for one second longer. He needed to get some air. Picking up what files he had left, he lazily strode to the hallway, avoiding as many reporters as he could. As Adrian walked out into the corridor to get some air. The adrenaline from earlier was fading, leaving him sharp and alert.The hallway was empty, save for the marble statues of past judges lining the walls."Penhaligon."Adrian stopped but didn't bother to turn around. He knew that voice from just minutes ago. "Mr. Draven," Adrian said. "Here to offer a plea deal? It's