Chapter 5

The cardboard box felt heavier than it should have as I placed the last of my personal items inside. Ten years of my professional life reduced to a collection of awards, photographs, and a small potted orchid that had somehow survived countless late nights in my office.

I could feel Ste

Chapter 6

The law library at Walker & Associates had become my sanctuary over the past three weeks. Stacks of case law surrounded my workspace like fortress walls, each volume marked with colored tabs and meticulous notes. The Morrison vs. TechCorp appeal would be heard in two days, and I'd prepar

Chapter 7

The knock on my office door came at precisely nine-thirty in the morning, sharp and insistent like everything else about Stetson. I didn't need to look up from my case files to know who it was—the rhythm was as familiar as my own heartbeat, though now it made my skin crawl instead of ski