All Chapters of Legally Bound : Chapter 101 - Chapter 110

Sleep did not come easily to Alex. As at 6am he was still reading his texts with Lily, looking at her pictures. When sleep finally came, it was shallow and restless, the kind that felt more like drifting than resting. His eyes fluttered open sometime after 9am, his body heavy, his head pounding. The room felt unfamiliar in a way that hurt; too quiet, too still. New York had always been home, but after Chicago, after Lily, it felt like a place he no longer fully belonged to.He lay there staring at the ceiling, replaying the same thoughts on a loop. Everything he could have said. Everything he should have said sooner.A soft knock came at the door.Before Alex could answer, it opened slowly and Wilson stepped in, holding a paper bag in one hand. He looked around the room once before his eyes settled on Alex.“There you are,” Wilson said quietly.Alex pushed himself up a little, his movements slow. “You didn’t have to come.”Wilson scoffed gently. “Your mum called me. When a mother cal

The apartment wasn’t permanent, but it was quiet.That was the first thing Lily noticed when she stepped inside with Gillian, the silence. Not the hollow, echoing kind that made thoughts louder, but the kind that settled gently, like a pause between breaths. The building was modest compared to the penthouse they’d left behind, but it felt neutral. Untouched. No memories clinging to the walls yet.Gillian dropped the spare keys on the counter and stretched her arms above her head.“Okay,” she said lightly. “Temporary home.”Lily nodded, setting her bag down by the couch. Her one-week leave had started that morning, and for the first time in weeks, there was nowhere she had to be. No courtroom. No deadlines. No Alex-shaped silence waiting for her in another room.They unpacked quietly. Clothes went into wardrobes. Files stacked neatly on a desk. Lily placed her diary, the one she wrote to her mother in inside the bedside drawer without opening it. Not yet.Gillian checked her watch.“I

The boardroom at Cromwell & Partners felt colder than usual.Alex sat at the long polished table with his jacket off. The city skyline behind the glass walls glowed faintly in the late afternoon light, but no one was admiring it. Every seat was filled. Every face was tense.“This is not the time for charity,” one of the senior board members said sharply, fingers steepled. “We are barely stabilising after Starlife. Barely.”Another cut in before Alex could respond. “Taking on a pro bono case right now sends the wrong message. We need revenue. We need reassurance.”Alex didn’t flinch. He listened. Always did.“The firm is fighting to survive,” the man continued. “And you’re diverting time, resources, and attention to a case that will bring in nothing.”A pause followed. Heavy. Expectant.Alex leaned back slowly, calm, composed, but his eyes were alert. “With respect,” he said evenly, “the firm is fighting to survive because people have forgotten what we stand for.”A murmur rippled thro

The Cromwell & Partners building was quieter than usual by the time Alex glanced at the clock on his desk.8:42 p.m.Most of the lights on the upper floors had gone dark, but his floor was still alive with a soft hum;assistants moving files, junior associates whispering over case law, security pacing the corridors. Crisis or not, the firm never truly slept.Alex sat back in his chair, jacket draped over the armrest, sleeves rolled to his forearms. The appeal draft glowed on his screen, annotated heavily in his precise handwriting. He had already gone through it twice, tightening language, stripping emotion, sharpening logic. Tomorrow would be his first appearance on the case.A soft knock came at the door.“Come in,” he said without looking up.Eileen stepped in, her tablet tucked against her side. “Mr. Alvarez is downstairs.”Alex looked up immediately. “At this hour?”“He asked if he could see you. Said it was urgent.”Alex considered for half a second, then nodded. “Have one of the

The courtroom was fuller than it had been at the first hearing, the kind of full that changed the air. Rows that had once held a handful of observers were now packed with reporters, legal analysts, and quiet members of the public who had followed the case years ago and never quite let it go. Cameras were not allowed inside, but their presence lingered just beyond the doors, a low hum of anticipation that followed everyone who walked in.Alex took his place at the defence table with the same controlled calm he’d carried since the appeal began, but there was a difference now. It wasn’t arrogance. It wasn’t relief. It was momentum. He could feel it in the way the judge’s eyes lingered on him a fraction longer, in the way the prosecution shuffled their files as if hoping the paper might rearrange itself into something stronger.This hearing mattered. It wasn’t the last, but it was close enough to taste the outcome.When the first witness was called, the room leaned forward almost impercep