Beranda / Destroying Their Stolen Legacy / Bab 1 - Bab 8

Semua Bab Destroying Their Stolen Legacy: Bab 1 - Bab 8

8 Bab

Chapter 1

The young man’s smile froze."What did you say?"I shut the folder and raised my voice just enough to carry through the quiet room."I said you didn't make the cut."The interviewers sitting beside me traded uneasy glances. Mark Carter, seated to my left, leaned in until his breath grazed my ear, keeping his voice down to a whisper."Ethan, he's barely twenty, and he's already won the national moot court championship and published six papers in major legal journals. The kid is an absolute prodigy. Are you sure you don't want to rethink this?"He spoke softly, but the room was dead silent.The young man heard every word. His spine straightened, shoulders throwing back instinctively."I've made up my mind," I said, shoving his file to the side, "Mr. Lucas Parker, you failed my interview. Please leave."Every breath in the room seemed to stop.The boy's composure shattered. He slammed both palms onto the table and lurched upward."What's your problem?"I stayed quiet. I just st

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Chapter 2

I calmly checked the profiles of the last three candidates.A knock sounded at the door.David bustled in, his spine bent into a deferential curve as he escorted an elderly woman inside."Ethan, this is Lucas’ grandmother, Madam Evelyn Thompson."He finished speaking, shot me a sharp, burning warning with his eyes, and pulled the door shut behind him.I looked up.She wore a dark navy silk dress. Her silver-streaked hair was pinned back without a single stray strand, and gold-rimmed glasses rested on the bridge of her nose. Though she was well into her seventies, her face barely showed a line. Living a pampered life clearly kept time at bay."Mr. Winslow."She took a seat, radiating the effortless snobbery that only came from decades of wealth and privilege."My grandson wants to work at your firm. Please arrange it."A thick, heavy envelope slid across the desk.I stared at her hand. Smooth, fair, with a brilliant emerald diamond ring gleaming on her ring finger.Those h

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Chapter 3

That night, I stepped inside the dimly lit hotel lounge.Arthur Parker was seated in a hand-carved mahogany armchair. He was old, thick around the middle, wearing a bespoke three-piece suit.Yet I recognized him instantly.That face, the heavy arch of his brow bone, matched the yellowed photograph I had spent thirty years staring at."Professor Arthur."I sat down directly across from him.He took a slow sip of bourbon, raising his eyes to evaluate me."Mr. Winslow, I looked into your background. A kid who clawed his way out of the dirt in the backwoods and accomplished so much at such a young age. Impressive."His tone was slow and deliberate, dripping with the casual confidence of absolute power."I came from nothing too, so I know how hard the journey is."He poured a glass of bourbon and slid it over to my side. "Whatever reservations you might have, I’m completely confident that Lucas meets all your hiring criteria. If you just cooperate, I guarantee you’ll go far in t

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Chapter 4

The next morning.Apex Legal's main conference room had been completely transformed. A massive digital banner stretched across the center screen, displaying: “Upholding Hiring Fairness, Defending the Spirit of the Law."David stood at the central podium alongside two senior interviewers, while Arthur, Evelyn, and Lucas sat in the front row.Below the stage, the city's entire legal press corps was packed into the room. Two rows of heavy cameras were set up, the red lights of the broadcasting equipment glowing brightly.I sat in the coffee shop downstairs, pulling out my phone.The livestream had just started.David adjusted his silk tie and stepped up to the podium."Friends of the press, thank you for coming. Today's press conference addresses a recent incident involving our former partner, Ethan Winslow, who deliberately interfered with the hiring of an outstanding candidate during our recruitment process."He paused, his brows furrowing, his expression turning grave."Apex L

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Chapter 5

Lucas’ face froze for a split second.Then his brows pulled together in anger. "Mr. Winslow, there's a limit to how far you can go in targeting me! Slandering me in front of all these people? Don't you think you're going too far?"I looked at him, my expression deadpan."Lucas, everyone says you're brilliant. So, answer me this: Those six journals you published—what books or legal cases did you draw your arguments and statutory references from?"His mouth parted, a flicker of sheer panic flashed across his eyes before he quickly forced himself back to composure."Mr. Winslow, I'm not playing your dirty tricks."The livestream chat erupted in cheers again, all of them praising Lucas for staying cool under pressure.I nodded slowly, taking two steps forward."Then let me answer for you."In your freshman year, you bought a term paper from a low-income student. In your sophomore year, you bought a second one. In your junior and senior years, you bought two papers each year. “Al

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Chapter 6

Arthur’s composure cracked for a split second, the corners of his mouth turning down in a sour grimace.Yet he quickly managed to force a solemn, dignified mask back onto his face as he looked at me."Mr. Winslow, I have no idea how my family offended you to make you forge all these materials just to drag our names through the mud."You claim I abandoned my wife and daughter, but everyone knows my wife, Evelyn, and I have stood faithfully by each other's side for fifty full years...""Evelyn?"I cut him off, pointing a finger straight at the woman seated beside him."Do you mean her, or do you mean the real Evelyn Thompson, the woman you left behind in the backwoods?"The entire conference room plunged into dead silence.The muscle in Arthur’s jaw twitched uncontrollably.The woman beside him, Laura Jenkins, bolted up so hard her chair screeched backward, slamming into the edge of the table behind her."What kind of garbage are you spewing? Making up wild lies in public—what

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Chapter 7

My mom’s back was severely hunched.Barely in her early fifties, her hair had already turned almost completely white.She held a black urn tight against her chest. A small black-and-white photograph was affixed to the front.It held my grandmother's ashes.My mother walked up to the front of the stage, one slow step at a time.She raised her head, looking straight at Arthur.Her features were almost identical to his.The entire venue fell dead quiet.Nobody said a word. Nobody dared to breathe out loud.Yet the sound of camera shutters exploded like rapid gunfire.Then, my mother raised a piece of paper in her right hand. It was her birth certificate.Printed in crystal-clear black ink was the year: 1976. The exact year Arthur left the backwoods. Date of birth: 13 June 1976. It matched the exact date written in Arthur's old letters.Arthur's pupils contracted in pure terror. His body stumbled a step backward.The live chat completely lost its mind:[That face... You don't

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Chapter 8

The blare of police sirens echoed from downstairs, growing louder by the second.Two police officers strode directly into the conference room."Arthur Parker, Laura Jenkins, you’re under arrest for identity theft and fraud, and unlawfully violating another person’s legal rights. Please come with us."Cold handcuffs clicked around Arthur's wrists.As officers pulled him away, he turned his head, casting a desperate glance at the urn cradled in my arms."I'm sorry... Evelyn... I'm so sorry..."That apology, fifty years overdue, finally slipped past his lips. However, my grandmother was no longer here to hear it.That didn't matter. I had settled this score down to the absolute last cent.That very night, Columbia Law issued an official press release.Arthur was permanently removed from his professorship, stripped of all honorary titles, and referred to law enforcement for identity theft, academic fraud, and abuse of his administrative authority to suppress students.The Nationa

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