Chapter 2 – Meeting Ms. N

Brandon’s POV

“Sir… Ms. N refused to take your case.”

I looked up, blinking once. “Why?”

“She didn’t give a reason. Just said she’s not accepting new clients right now.”

Not accepting new clients? That doesn’t make sense.

I let out a slow exhale and dragged a hand down my face. This was supposed to be simple. 

A property reassignment.

A gift, really.

Sure, the mansion was still under my ex-wife’s name, but the agreement showed she was fine with transferring it to Carmilla.

All legal. All smooth. On paper, anyway.

Was it fake? Kind of. But not in a way that mattered, unless someone wanted to make a big deal out of it.

That’s why we asked for her.

Ms. N.

Every major corporate lawyer in the city knew the name. Cold. Precise. Zero tolerance for BS.

I’d never seen her. She disappeared for three years, reportedly to avoid an old enemy. But I’d heard of her.

I wasn’t expecting her to swoon over the case. But I sure as hell wasn’t expecting a flat-out rejection, either.

“She’s the only one who can make this believable,” Elena said with a hint of regret. “Given how shaky the agreement already seems… I mean, we faked that your ex-wife signed off on the property, and we really can’t afford to hand this to anyone less than perfect.”

I rubbed my temple. “Great.” I paused and took a deep breath.

 “I need to win her over. You know there’s something more important she can help us with… we need to get Carmilla out of that detention facility.”

“Yes, sir,” she muttered. “And it needs to be done as soon as possible. Our payment systems are still frozen, and we’re bleeding investor confidence. We lost three just today.”

Three?

This was worse than I thought. And Mrs. N, she was the only one who could untangle this.

“Actually…” she said, scanning the files. Then she perked up. “If you still want to convince her, Ms. N’s in court right now.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Court?”

“Yeah. City Hall. Courtroom 6. Shadow Ledger case. It’s a crypto thing, apparently. High-stakes, messy. The lawyer said, if you want to see why she’s so in demand… that’s the place.”

I looked at the time. If we left now, I could make it.

I stood up. “Let’s go.”

~~~~

Courtroom 6 was already packed when I walked in. I took a seat in the back, not expecting much.

Just another trial, another headline. I’ve been in enough rooms like this to know when someone’s all bark and no bite.

But then I saw her.

Ms. N.

She wasn’t what I imagined. No flashy suit. No loud voice. She looked… calm. Focused. Not trying to impress anyone.

But everyone noticed her.

She was standing next to her client Arthur, if I remember right. CEO of Blockshire Group, one of the biggest crypto companies in the states, which just tanked with a $300 million hole in its books.

Not exactly the guy you’d expect anyone to fight for.

The prosecution kicked off fast. Charts, accusations, and a slideshow that made the whole company look like a circus.

“Three hundred million dollars,” the guy shouted, like it was a magic trick. “Gone. Transferred to untraceable crypto wallets. Fraud. Plain and simple.”

He kept going, painting Arthur as a mastermind. Greedy, strategic, guilty. Honestly, even I almost believed it. Until she stood up.

No showmanship. No smile.

She just said, “Were the funds transferred… or did they never belong to the company in the first place?”

Silence.

The question hit like a glitch in the matrix. Everyone just kind of… froze.

She walked to the center slowly, like she had all the time in the world.

“According to the agreement,” she said, flipping to a page like she knew exactly where it was, “any sub-fund used for research and not listed as a company sub-account… is exempt from bankruptcy seizure.”

She said it casually. Like she wasn’t about to upend the whole case.

The judge leaned forward. Prosecutors flipped through papers like they missed something, which they did.

She kept going. Calm.

“The accounts you’re referring to?” she said. “They belong to an incubator. Fully disclosed in the investor agreement. Page thirteen, bottom paragraph.”

I glanced at the screen behind them. Damn.

She wasn’t bluffing. That clause was real! Even I hadn’t spotted it.

She turned to the prosecution’s expert witness next. “How much experience do you have with real-time blockchain audits?”

The guy stammered something useless.

She raised an eyebrow. “So your testimony is based on… what? Reading charts?”

Objection. Overruled. Rephrase. The usual shuffle.

She didn’t flinch.

“My client didn’t steal anything,” she said in her closing. “He built something the investors didn’t understand. That’s not a crime. That’s a failure of reading.”

Boom. Done.

She sat back down, not even breaking a sweat.

And I… I was stunned.

I’ve closed multi-billion dollar deals. I’ve negotiated with sharks. But the way she picked apart that case? Like she was slicing through tissue paper.

When the judge nodded and called a recess, I stood up.

I didn’t think; I just walked over.

“Ms. N?” I said.

She turned.

That same calm look. Cool, unreadable.

But up close...

Damn!

She was prettier than I expected. Not in a delicate way. Just… sharp. Clean. Like everything about her had been intentionally put together.

I didn’t plan to notice. I definitely didn’t mean to stare.

“Yes?” she said, a little puzzled.

I straightened a bit and cleared my throat as I felt like something was stuck.

“I’m Brandon York,” I said, offering my hand. “My firm sent over a case this morning. I believe you passed.”

“I remember.”

“I was hoping we could talk. Just five minutes.”

She looked at me like I was another folder on her desk. Nothing special.

“I’m not taking new clients right now.”

“I can make it worth your time.”

That earned a polite smile. “Everyone says that.”

She started to turn away.

“Please,” I said.

She paused, eyes on mine for a second too long. Like she was debating something I wasn’t in on.

“You’re very persistent, Mr. York.”

“You have no idea.”

She hesitated… then nodded once. “Alright. Five minutes.”

She walked off ahead of me, and for a second, I just stood there.

I don’t know what it was… her voice, her confidence, the way she spoke like she already knew how things would end—but something about her pulled me in.

And for the first time in a long time…

I didn’t feel like the smartest one in the room.