Impaired Judgement

Title: Guilty By Appearance Genre: Filipino Contemporary Romance / Psychological Drama In the pristine, clinical world of Bonifacio Global City, Dr. Snow Ford lives a quiet life structured by routine, forever standing in the shadow of her reckless twin sister, Scarlet. Bound by a complicated familial bond and the weight of old money, Snow has always been the one to sweep up the pieces. But when a fatal hit-and-run shatters the family name, and Scarlet suddenly dies of heart failure, Snow is left carrying the blame for a crime she didn’t commit. Enter Blake Buenaventura. A high-profile lawyer consumed by a quiet, burning thirst for vengeance, Blake vows to destroy the billionaire family that took away his world. He orchestrates a calculated, slow-burning courtship to trap the woman he believes is a heartless killer. But in this intense contemporary drama, hatred and real intimacy begin to blur. When Blake unleashes his trap at a high-society gala, a devastating tragedy of errors unfolds. The courtroom secrets reveal a horrific truth: Snow is entirely innocent, and Blake has systematically destroyed the only woman who gave him her whole heart. Written in a raw, deeply intimate first-person POV, Guilty By Appearance is a story of psychological trauma, unforgivable betrayal, and the agonizingly slow path to redemption. From the high-stakes elite world of Metro Manila to the storm-swept shores of Siargao, it explores whether a love tested by fire can survive the ultimate ruin.

My grandfather, Tanner Kane, valued loyalty above all else. When his adopted daughter, Alanna Meyer, was sentenced to death for murder, he sent my mother, Florence Kane, to her death. All to preserve the bloodline of his late childhood friend. Alanna took my mother's name, married, and lived a privileged life free from hardship. Meanwhile, my mother died carrying a crime she never committed. My father, Graham Hart, and I changed our names and wandered from place to place. For years, I was mocked as a motherless child. Forty years later, after enduring humiliation and dedicating myself to my studies, I became a judge in Arbor Falls. Today, I am presiding over a controversial campus murder case in which the victim fell to her death from a building. There were no surveillance cameras. Only two girls were present, and each insists the other is the killer. One of them, Nova, comes from a poor family. Her parents are divorced, and she associates with local delinquents. She is known throughout the school as a feared bully. The other one, Scarlett, comes from a wealthy family. Her parents have a loving marriage, and she excels academically. Her grandmother is a beautiful and kind-hearted artist. Her great-grandfather spent his entire life doing charity work and was recognized as a nationally renowned philanthropist. Everyone believes she is a good girl who would never lie, so Nova the bully must be the killer. However, when I looked at the name listed under Scarlett's grandmother, I saw my mother's name: Florence Kane. Without a second thought, I turned to the person beside me and said, "Reject her request for acquittal."

My wife, Charlene Weber, has taken me to the Scumbag Court. If I'm found guilty, all my assets will be taken from me, and I'll face 10 years of imprisonment. Charlene, on the other hand, will get to marry her ideal man—Joel Quinlan—as she wishes. If I'm acquitted of all charges, Charlene will be made to divorce me without alimony. She'll also be cursed with bad luck and disfigured so badly she'll be the ugliest woman in the world. Conversely, I'll be given 10 million dollars in reparations and gain a lifetime's worth of good luck. Everyone is advising me to admit to my mistakes, but only because Charlene has always been a virtuous, devoted wife in their eyes. They think that there must surely be some complicated grievances between us at the moment. However, they are unaware that I've been reborn. This time, I'm going to tear off Charlene's mask of hypocrisy.

Silvester Creed is a lawyer who seeks revenge as to who killed his wife. Justice was on his side yet he was ready to do the injustice if he found out who was responsible. As twisted as it can get, fate led him to his answer. The woman he loved, Dianna Reeves, turned out to be the murderer. A woman part of a powerful syndicate. He was ready to put the past behind, to get the sweet revenge he was longing for. One pull of a trigger and he could kill her! But, she captivated him despite it being wrong. He should be happy to kill her, make her beg for mercy, and do the injustice to take revenge. Despite being controlled by anger, the dangerous woman can make him bend and beg. Dianna Reeves was his dangerous temptation.

My crippled sister, Monica Porter, jumped from the roof of the classroom building. The day before she died, she had just been fitted with the custom prosthetic legs I had paid for with ten years of savings. She was glowing, excited to finally stand up on her own. But my wife's best friend, a guy she said was just like a brother to her, locked Monica inside an empty art room. He smashed her new legs, forced her to crawl on the floor and lick paint clean to retrieve the broken parts, and recorded everything on video. And my wife, a judge, ultimately ruled that the case could not stand. "The video cannot confirm the time it was recorded and may represent consensual performance art between both parties," she said. Sandra Pauley's final judgment was simple. "The deceased had a history of depression. The school and the defendant bear no responsibility." I smiled and cooked her a full table of food. The next day, I hung the bully, Eric Hoyles, from the school's flagpole and livestreamed it to the entire internet. "Honey, remember how you said Monica had such pretty legs?" I raised a claw hammer and brought it down on his ankle. "If you don't hand over the video evidence right now, I'll hook out his Achilles tendon one strand at a time and let him learn what it feels like to crawl!" The wind passed through. His screaming broke apart in the air, mixing with the strained creaking of the flagpole until it sounded almost like music. The live chat went insane. Meanwhile, I laughed until my eyes filled with tears.

Callixta drunk herself in a bar to vent the resentment she feels . From an early age, her parents wanted her to be like her sister who was smart, obedient, and talented. Her relationship with her parents became even more strained when her sister died in an accident. Her world crashed down more when she caught her boyfriend cheated and dated her best friend. On that night while in her way home, she seated in her car's driver seat. She poured all her pain through crying. Even the clouds and the sky send a sympathetic roar and strikes of lightning. The rain started to fall heavily . Due to drunkenness and dark surroundings, Callixta did not notice a car at the intersection of the road and crashed into it. She dont have any idea that the passenger of that car turned out to be the fiancee of a powerful man.