Serena's POV I left the hospital with my mind spinning, the weight of the new evidence like stones on my chest. The gold-eyed men, the erased footage, the emergency stairwell they weren’t coincidences. They were calculated moves by someone who knew how to cover their tracks. And someone had paid handsomely for that precision.My steps carried me almost automatically toward the city’s tallest tower the one that loomed over the skyline like a predator surveying its domain. Dominic. It had to be him. I didn’t know how else to explain the precision, the reach, the total control over the chaos.I pushed through the revolving doors of his building, elevator doors sliding open with an almost ceremonial sigh. The ascent was silent, a calculated pause that felt like a countdown. Every floor ticked by like a heartbeat. My own heart was hammering so loud I feared it would echo through the steel walls.When the doors opened to his office floor, I barely paused. I stormed down the hall, heels cli
Serena's POV Each step I took down the corridor echoed too loudly, betraying my presence. I gripped my bag tighter, feeling the folder of notes shift inside, heavy with rumors and half-truths. Marsen’s death wasn’t just a headline it was a crime waiting to be uncovered, and if anyone could unravel it, it was me.I reached Ward C, Room 14, where Nurse Helena was supposed to meet me. I paused, steadying my breath. Calm, Serena, I told myself. I wasn’t just a woman walking into a hospital; I was an attorney preparing to extract truth from a cornered witness.I knocked softly, then opened the door. Helena looked up from her tea, eyes sharp beneath fatigue. “You’re Ms. Vale?”“Yes,” I said, closing the door behind me. “Thank you for taking the time to speak with me. I’ll be brief.”She gestured to the chair across from her. “I only have ten minutes before I have to return to rounds.”Perfect. Limited time means I needed precision. Focus. I set my bag down, pulling out my notebook, pen po
The courtroom felt suffocating. The thick air hung heavy, saturated with tension and murmurs that bounced off the marble walls. Serena sat rigid at the defense table, her fingers tapping nervously on the edge of the polished wood, eyes flickering between the case files and the quiet crowd filling the room. Her heart hammered a relentless rhythm today, everything might change.Beside her, Mrs. Ngala sat like a fragile statue, hands trembling as she gripped a folded tissue. Her older son sat quietly, eyes cast downward, but Serena saw the flicker of hope beneath the exhaustion etched on his young face.This case had become more than just legal work. It was a lifeline thrown to a family drowning in suspicion and fear, a chance to right a wrong they never deserved.Serena inhaled deeply, pushing away the fatigue gnawing at her resolve. Her voice, when it came, was clear and steady, carrying the weight of her belief in truth and justice.“Your Honor, the defense is prepared to present new
Serena’s heels clicked sharply against the polished floor of the courthouse hallway, each step a loud echo in the cavernous space. Her head pounded not just from the fatigue of the past days but from the gnawing frustration that refused to ease. She wanted to scream, to break something. Instead, she clenched her fists tightly in the pockets of her blazer.“This is bullshit,” she muttered under her breath, pacing. “Ngala’s son doesn’t deserve this… none of it.”The courthouse buzzed with the low murmur of lawyers, clerks, and plaintiffs shuffling papers and preparing for hearings. But to Serena, the noise felt like a cruel reminder of the farce the legal system had become. The weight of false accusations, the slow grind of justice, the suffocating bureaucracy it pressed down on her chest like a physical force.Her phone vibrated in her hand. She glanced at the screen and almost dropped it.“Rose.”Serena answered immediately, the sharpness in her voice betraying how frayed she already
The door to Serena’s apartment closed behind her with a tired click, the sound echoing in the empty space like a final release of the day’s weight. She leaned back against the wood, eyes closed, letting out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding for hours. The crushing exhaustion settled in her bones, dulling the sharp edges of grief and frustration that had gnawed at her since morning.She didn’t want to talk. Didn’t want to move. Just wanted the silence to swallow her whole.But the quiet didn’t last.From the living room, a voice broke through the haze, low and deliberate.“Back late again.”Serena opened her eyes reluctantly, pushing away from the door. There he was Dominic standing near the window, arms crossed, his gaze sharp like a blade. His silver-gray eyes held something that flickered between concern and irritation.She swallowed down the tight knot in her throat and tried for calm. “Work ran late.”He stepped closer, voice dropping. “You didn’t answer your phone, R
As Serena drove through the city streets, the weight of the past few days pressed down on her like a relentless storm. Beside her, Mrs. Ngala sat rigidly, clutching her purse as if it were the only thing anchoring her to reality.They had barely spoken since leaving the hospital. The heavy silence was filled with unspoken fear, desperation, and the fragile hope that justice could still be found.The police station’s towering facade loomed ahead cold, unwelcoming, and ominous. Serena took a deep breath, steeling herself. No matter how difficult this day became, she had promised Mrs. Ngala she would fight for the truth.They stepped inside, the sterile lights flickering overhead as the muffled buzz of phones and distant conversations filled the air. At the front desk, a clerk glanced up briefly.“We’re here to see Detective Harris regarding the Ngala case and Marsen’s death,” Serena said, voice steady despite the turmoil inside.The clerk nodded and typed rapidly, then gestured toward a