Chapter 3

Something in my head short-circuited.

Right then, Jessica's voice rang out. "Today, I'd like everyone to meet our new colleague."

I looked over. Daniel stood beside her, watching me carefully.

"Let's give him a warm welcome!"

Our coworkers broke into applause. I was the only one who didn't move.

Once the clapping died down, I walked over to Jessica with the file in hand. "Why did you take my case?"

Jessica glanced up and lowered her voice. "Danny needs to go full-time as soon as possible. I'll give you a high score at the review at the end of the month. You don't need this one case to make team lead. Besides, it's better for both of us. We can get married sooner."

I stared at her, unable to force a smile. Daniel got to go full-time, and my case, the one I'd spent two months working on, was the sacrifice.

When I said nothing, Daniel quickly waved his hands. "Cal, if it bothers you, I can take longer to go full-time. That's fine too."

Something inside me finally caught fire. I stepped right up to him. "There you go again! The same damn line every time!

"You said you'd move out. Why are you still here? You said you'd cut ties with her, yet you're still right by her side. You said taking longer to go full-time was fine. Then have the guts to stop circling my case!

"All you do is play the victim. All you do is talk. You've lied to me for 20 years, and now you're lying to Jessica too. Does that make you proud?"

I clenched my fists and glared at him.

He stared back as tears suddenly welled in his eyes.

Before I could react, he shoved me hard. I stumbled back several steps, and the small of my back slammed into the corner of a desk. Sharp pain shot up my spine.

I looked up.

Jessica's expression had hardened. "Mr. Walton, he's a new hire, and your hostility toward him couldn't be more obvious. This is workplace bullying. I'd ask you to conduct yourself with some self-respect."

Our coworkers started pointing and whispering among themselves.

I closed my eyes, and suddenly, I remembered the night Jessica and I won our first case together.

I had held her hand and kissed her in the empty office. "The two of us are going to become the greatest lawyers there are."

Now that same hand held Daniel's as she pushed me away.

My phone buzzed. My supervisor had approved my resignation.

I gripped the folder tightly, then let it go. "This case will decide how the client's marital assets are divided after the divorce. It matters to him. When it goes to trial, make sure the evidence supports your arguments."

The last case on my desk was a divorce case. It wasn't a difficult one. The hard part was that the client had no education and had spent his entire life doing whatever his wife told him.

His wife had been cheating on him for three years. She'd already moved the other man into their house. He had finally saved enough money, found the courage to file for divorce, and was ready to start a new life.

He'd told me he'd gone to plenty of lawyers before me. None of them wanted a case this small, and none of them wanted him either.

"Mr. Walton, you're the first person who was willing to help me with this. You're a good man. You'll get what's coming to you, the good kind," he had claimed.

…

I spent the entire morning walking Daniel through the case to make sure there was no chance of losing it.

Jessica watched us the whole time, as if she was worried I might take a swing at him. "That's enough. Danny studied law too, you know. He just didn't push through to full-time back then because of the wedding. Otherwise, he might not be behind you at all right now. There's no way he'll lose a case this small."

I said nothing. I pressed a hand against the bruise on my lower back and watched them leave. Then I waited for them to come back.

…

It wasn't until 6:00 p.m. that evening that the office door finally opened again.

Daniel walked in with red-rimmed eyes and immediately started apologizing. "It's my fault... It's been too long since I argued a case. I'm sorry..."