Marcus Hale turned around and stared at Adrian’s retreating back, his anger flaring almost immediately.
“Stop right there!” He planted one hand on his hip and pointed after him.
“You’re ignoring the team’s arrangements now?
Do you still want this job?” Adrian’s footsteps paused.
He turned slightly, met Marcus’s gaze, and asked calmly, “The team’s arrangements?” A faint smile appeared on his face.
“Marcus, I’m currently handling a homicide case.
Surely you haven’t forgotten that.” Marcus’s expression stiffened.
Adrian continued, “If there’s a problem with how I’m prioritizing my work, why don’t we go upstairs and let the managing partner decide?” Marcus had been ready to lose his temper, but the second half of Adrian’s sentence immediately killed most of his momentum.
Although the managing partner was technically a relative of his, the relationship was hardly close.
Marcus had only gotten his position because his mother had cornered the man during a family gathering and pressured him into giving Marcus an opportunity.
Adrian, on the other hand, had always been viewed relatively favorably by senior management.
More importantly, Adrian genuinely did have a major criminal case in progress.
If the managing partner discovered that Marcus had tried to interfere with a homicide defense merely because he wanted Adrian to cover some routine client consultations for the team, Marcus would be the one answering uncomfortable questions.
His expression shifted before he finally said in a low, threatening voice, “I’m telling you now, Blackwood & Reed is the best boutique firm in Greenwood City.
You should think carefully before you start acting like you don’t need this place.” Adrian smiled and waved a hand.
“Then have the managing partner fire me.” He turned away again.
“I don’t have time to argue with you.” With that, Adrian ignored him completely and walked toward his workstation.
He had never planned to remain at Blackwood & Reed for much longer anyway.
Once Martin Hayes’s case was finished, he intended to leave and establish his own law firm.
So Marcus’s threat meant almost nothing to him.
Adrian reached his desk and sat down.
The lawyer at the neighboring workstation quietly gave him a thumbs-up, then glanced toward Marcus with an expression that made it obvious he was enjoying the show.
Adrian chuckled but paid no further attention to the matter.
Instead, he opened a drawer, took out several sheets of paper and a pen, and stared at the blank page in front of him.
His plan for Martin’s case really was legal.
Adrian was confident that even if the matter somehow reached the highest court in Eastland, a room full of senior judges could spend hours examining it and still struggle to point to a specific crime he had committed.
The problem was that saying the plan aloud made it sound considerably worse than it actually was.
So if he expected Lena to cooperate, words alone would not be enough.
He needed legal authority.
Relevant precedents.
Supporting provisions.
And a clear explanation of exactly why each step remained within the law.
Beyond that, he also needed to organize the important points for Martin’s first trial.
Adrian stared at the page for a while before his eyes suddenly sharpened.
“Got it.” He lowered his pen and began to write.
Back in the lobby, Marcus was still furious.
“Damn it.” He stared in the direction Adrian had gone, grinding his teeth while his expression shifted between embarrassment and anger.
Marcus had already been dissatisfied with the way senior management viewed Adrian more favorably than him.
Now Adrian had openly ignored him in front of the rest of the firm.
The occasional glances from nearby employees only made the humiliation worse.
He felt like a joke.
Then his phone buzzed inside his jacket.
Marcus suppressed his anger and pulled it out.
The caller ID displayed: Derek Vaughn “Hello?” Marcus answered with little enthusiasm.
A cheerful voice came from the other end.
“Marcus, how have you been?” Before Marcus could respond, Derek continued.
“I won’t waste time with small talk.
I’m calling because I wanted to ask you about one of the lawyers at your firm.” Marcus frowned.
“Who?” “Adrian Cole.” His expression changed.
Derek continued, “What’s his background?” Marcus hesitated.
Giving an outside attorney private information about a colleague was not exactly something the firm would appreciate.
If the wrong person learned about it, Marcus could easily create problems for himself.
His first instinct was to end the call.
Then another thought occurred to him.
Wait.
If Adrian lost Martin Hayes’s criminal case badly enough…
Marcus’s eyes narrowed.
The managing partner clearly thought Adrian had potential, and Adrian being specifically requested for a major criminal case only made that impression stronger.
If Adrian performed well, his reputation inside the firm could rise rapidly.
But if he completely mishandled a case this serious…
Marcus’s expression gradually changed.
“Give me a second.” He glanced around the lobby to make sure no one was paying attention, covered the phone with one hand, and walked toward the restroom.
Once inside, he lifted the phone again.
“Adrian Cole, right?” His voice became considerably more cooperative.
“Let me tell you what I know.” “He graduated from Westbridge a few years ago.
His résumé isn’t anything extraordinary, and he hasn’t handled many major cases.
He likes to make himself look clever, but really…” Marcus continued talking.
At Creston Law Group, Derek Vaughn sat behind his desk and listened with growing interest.
It was a long conversation.
When he finally hung up, he turned toward the two people sitting across from him.
Walter and Martha Pike.
Derek smiled.
“I made a few inquiries.
Adrian Cole is just a young lawyer who graduated a few years ago.
He doesn’t have much of a record.” Walter and Martha visibly relaxed.
“Don’t worry about the criminal case,” Derek continued.
“I’ll do everything I can to hold Martin Hayes responsible for Ethan’s death.” His smile deepened.
“If the evidence supports it, we’ll push for the harshest possible sentence.” Walter and Martha looked pleased at first.
Then both of them seemed to remember something.
If Martin received an irreversible sentence…
What would happen to their grandson?
Martha’s expression changed.
She glanced at Walter and suddenly said, “Well…
Clara was Ethan’s woman for all those years.” Walter looked at her.
“And Martin is her father, so technically…
our families are connected.” Walter quickly caught on.
“That’s right.
We’re practically family.
Making things too ugly would only give outsiders something to laugh about.” He nodded repeatedly.
“Actually, as long as Clara gives us the boy back…” He paused.
“It’s not like we can’t show Martin some mercy.” Martha immediately became more confident once Walter agreed with her.
“And Clara will still have to take care of us afterward.
Ethan’s gone now, so who else is supposed to support us when we’re old and arrange our funeral?” Derek studied the couple for a moment.
“So what you mean is…” Walter lifted his chin.
“Why don’t you talk to that lawyer again?” “Isn’t there some document the victim’s family can sign?
A statement of forgiveness or something?” He waved a hand grandly.
“Tell them directly.
If Clara gives us the child and agrees to take care of us in our old age, then we’ll be generous and stop pursuing Martin so aggressively.” Derek thought for a moment.
Then he nodded.
“All right.
I’ll try.” November 4th.
9:30 PM.
Lena Quinn had not gone to the office that day.
Then again, the small firm associated with her family consisted of only a handful of people, so no one particularly cared whether she physically appeared there every morning.
Instead, Lena had spent the day at the Taoist temple where she lived with her parents.
The temple stood on the outskirts of Greenwood City.
Very few people came there to burn incense or visit, which meant it was usually exceptionally quiet.
That evening, Lena sat at the dining table in her pajamas.
Across from her were her parents, Professor Thomas Quinn and Margaret Quinn, both dressed casually.
Lena stared blankly toward the window while her chopsticks repeatedly poked at the rice in her bowl.
Legal?
Could that really be legal?
She frowned.
No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t sound legal at all.
Was Adrian lying to me?
Her hand suddenly stopped.
The chopsticks struck the side of the bowl.
Clink.
Both of her parents looked up.
Lena ignored them.
No.
That doesn’t make sense either.
She resumed poking at the rice.
There’s no benefit to lying about something like this.
He isn’t stupid.
If the plan were obviously illegal, it would destroy his own case too.
Several days had passed since her conversation with Adrian at the police station, yet her mind still refused to settle.
What he had said was simply too outrageous.
Steal the child.
Threaten the other side.
Completely legal and compliant.
What law was supposed to make that combination work?
Lena frowned again.
Clink.
Her chopsticks struck the bowl a second time.
Her parents looked up again.
Lena remained lost in thought.
A few minutes later, she finally put down her chopsticks.
“I’m full.” She stood and walked away.
Thomas and Margaret watched their daughter disappear down the hallway before slowly turning toward her bowl.
Only half the rice had been eaten.
The rest had been mashed so thoroughly by Lena’s chopsticks that it had almost turned into a sticky paste.
Margaret stared at it thoughtfully.
Where had her daughter learned to make rice cakes like that?
And why had she been doing it at dinner for several days in a row?
Lena returned to her room, closed the door, and collapsed face-first onto the bed.
Adrian’s words were still circling through her mind.
They had been for days.
Even when she tried to sleep, she found herself replaying the conversation until she became too irritated to rest properly.
She buried her face deeper into the pillow.
No.
No matter how many times I think about it, stealing a child has to be illegal.
And then there’s the threat.
Wouldn’t that be coercion?
Her expression became miserable.
Then she rolled slightly onto her side.
But he was so confident.
There has to be some legal basis.
Right.
Then another thought came.
No, wrong.
But maybe…
Right?
Lena squeezed her eyes shut.
“Argh!
This is so annoying!” She took a deep breath and glared at the ceiling.
“Does that man always leave people hanging like this?
Even if he hadn’t finished organizing the precedents, he could’ve at least told me what he was thinking.” She grabbed her pillow.
“It’s been days!” “Why hasn’t he sent me anything yet?” Her irritation grew.
“So this is what the ‘moral paragon of the legal profession’ is like?” Lena clenched her teeth, straddled the pillow, and began hitting it.
Each blow squeezed air through the fabric with a faint whoosh, as though the unfortunate pillow itself were protesting.
Then, almost as if Adrian had heard her complaining from across the city, her phone vibrated on the bedside table.
Buzz.
Lena stopped.
She looked over.
A new message had arrived from the number she had saved for Adrian.
She immediately picked up the phone.
[Adrian Cole: Finished organizing everything.] A second message appeared.
[Adrian Cole: Want to see it?] Lena froze.
Then her eyes lit up.
Finally.
Legal, was it?
She was going to see exactly how he intended to make stealing a child and threatening people legal.
The pillow was spared any further abuse.
Lena sat on top of it and quickly typed a reply.
[Send it.
I want to see!] Adrian’s response came shortly afterward.
[Come to Blackwood & Reed tomorrow.
I’ll be waiting for you here.] Lena replied immediately.
[Okay!] She lowered her phone.
Her curiosity was now beating almost as hard as her heart.
Lena raised an eyebrow and muttered to herself, “Fine, Adrian Cole.” “Let’s see how you’re going to make this legal.”