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Chapter 274
There was a brief moment of pause as Ava’s mind raced, replaying Halstead’s cold, swift verdict. The lack of process. The immediate severance from the O’Connor case. It finally began to make sense to her.“They gave my case to Sandy Thorne,” she said, the pieces snapping together with an almost audible click.At that point, her professional outrage melted away, replaced by a cold, focused fury. They hadn’t just ended her career. They had manipulated her, used her as a pawn to ensure that the president took the fall for a crime she didn’t commit.Ava was silent for a long moment. The hum of the city was the only sound.“Gerald,” she began, her voice quieter now. “Julia O’Connor was seen by multiple witnesses pointing a gun at Bruce Lincoln. She had intent. She had motive—political, personal, whatever the prosecution spins.”She paused for a while allowing the words settle in.“Even if we prove the evidence was tampered with, the incontrovertible fact remains: Julia was the instrument.
Chapter 273
Ava set the cardboard box down just inside the door, a tombstone for her career. The briefcase with her personal laptop felt heavier now, a casket of secrets.Her body moved on autopilot. She poured a glass of water she didn’t drink. She stood in the middle of her living room, the taste of Sandy’s triumph and Halstead’s finality still bitter on her tongue. Her hand dove into her purse, pulling out her personal phone. Her thumb scrolled past contacts for clients, judges, colleagues, before landing on the entry she’d added just days ago, after a night that had felt like a dangerous, thrilling leap into the unknown.She pressed call and brought the phone to her ear, a part of her hoping to hear his steady, analytical voice, to have an ally in this freefall.The robotic female voice was instant, merciless: “The number you have dialed is currently switched off. Please try your call again later.”She tried again. Same result. A third time, her thumb jabbing at the screen.Switched off. Swi
Chapter 272
Sandy Thorne stood a few yards away, leaning against the doorframe of her own office, a porcelain coffee cup in hand. Her smile was a razor-thin curve of triumph. Sandy, who’d been passed over for the O’Connor case, who’d seethed through every one of Ava’s victories, whose jealousy was as much a part of the firm’s decor as the mahogany paneling.Sarah stiffened. “Sandy, not now—”“It’s alright, Sarah,” Ava said, her voice dropping to a calm, conversational tone. She turned fully to face Sandy, the box still in her arms. She didn’t look like a woman carrying her professional life in cardboard. She looked like a queen deposed but undefeated.“The ‘iron lawyer’ is taking a sabbatical, Sandy,” Ava said, her eyes holding Sandy’s gleeful gaze. “Turns out, even iron needs to be reforged sometimes. To remove the impurities.” She let the metaphor hang, watching a flicker of uncertainty replace the smugness in Sandy’s eyes. “I’d wish you luck with your caseload, but we both know you’ve been
Chapter 271
Halstead placed the tablet face-up on the desk. The screen showed a news site, the same damning photo of her and Gerald splashed across it.“There will be no pleasantries,” Halstead began, his tone brooking no argument. He tapped a blunt finger on the screen. “This. This circulating scandal. It is a direct and catastrophic violation of every ethical guideline this firm, and the bar association, holds sacred.”He leaned forward, planting his palms on the desk. “You are already under probation from the state bar for your… aggressive discovery tactics in the Henderson case. Your professional license is hanging by a thread, under scrutiny. And now, while representing a client in a capital case—a case with national political ramifications—you are photographed in a compromising situation with the lead federal investigator from the opposing side.”He spat the last two words as if they were a profanity.“Do you have any concept of the position you have put this firm in?” he continued, his voi
Chapter 270
The coffee in Ava Rennet’s mug had gone cold, a forgotten prop in the late-night marathon of case files. The glow of her desk lamp was a lonely island in the dark expanse of her office. When the news alert chimed softly from her secondary monitor, she almost ignored it. Then she saw the thumbnail.Her own face. Gerald’s profile. The grainy, zoomed-in photo taken outside her law firm, capturing a moment that had felt like a secret pact, a dangerous spark in the fog of war.For a heartbeat, the world dissolved into a roar of white noise. The words on the screen swam: “Improper affair… suspended… under investigation…”Ava’s breath hitched, a sharp, painful intake. She felt the solid floor beneath her feet turn to liquid. Her first, visceral thought was a sinkhole opening beneath her, a desperate wish for the earth to swallow her whole. This was professional annihilation. This was the end of the carefully constructed fortress of her career, her reputation, her life.Then, a hotter, sh
Chapter 269
“He didn’t answer.” Chance’s voice was flat, the shock of the last hour hardening into something colder, and more brittle.Julia didn’t move from her place by the door, her silhouette rigid against the soft light of the hallway. “It’s late. He could be—”“No.” Chance cut her off, his thumb already jabbing the call button again. He put the phone back to his ear. This time, the hollow ring didn’t even start. Instead, a crisp, automated female voice intruded instantly, devoid of any warmth.“The number you have dialed is currently switched off. Please try your call again later.”Chance lowered the phone slowly. The screen’s glow lit his face, etching the lines of dread around his eyes.“Gerald has turned off his phone,” he said. The words weren’t just an observation; they were a diagnosis. A prognosis.Julia understood immediately. The cold fury in her eyes didn’t diminish, but it was joined now by a sharp, pragmatic fear. She stepped fully into the room, closing the door softly behind
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