dropped on us, it didn’t seem like the appropriate time to bring up something like that.
“The only way out of this is to argue that you signed under duress,” Ciara continued, resuming her pacing once again. “If we can argue that the timing of the prenup is a lile too convenient, perhaps the judge will invalidate it. Three days to your wedding seems too suspicious. The timing raises so many red flags. We could also argue that he manipulated you into signing it. After all, he was a wealthy businessman with years of experience. You were young and in love and not aware of the consequences of your actions. We could also question procedural fairness, which should be easy if he had a lawyer at the time and you didn’t. My gut tells me that’s the case, so we could argue that you were being naive when you signed it. We still have some hope.”
At the moment, it didn’t feel like we had any hope. But something about her statement made me shift uneasily. Marcus had always had a lawyer ever since he was a teenager. Carlos used to tell me stories of how much trouble he would get into during his college days with Ethan, and how they always had a lawyer on speed–dial. It would make sense that he had probably spoken to his lawyer before he manipulated me into signing those papers. And it wasn’t just that. It was the confidence with which he handled this case, and the arrogance he displayed whenever he was talking about it that made me believe something was definitely off.
Not to mention the whole fiasco with the camera.
“Ciara?”
“Hm?”
“I think I know why Marcus has been ahead of us this entire time,” I said, causing one of her eyebrows to shoot up immediately. Three minutes later, we were barrelling down the hallway of J.P. Steele, until we arrived at his office and Ciara practically kicked down the door. David looked up in shock and he hung up the call he’d been on and stared at us incredulously.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “How did the hearing go?”
“Cut the bullshit, Cowell,” she spat, shutting the door behind us. “Is this really what you’ve resorted to? Using backhanded tactics to try and screw me over? Where is your integrity? Or was that so easily bought by the Reynards?”
I could see the exact moment his facade cracked, and the way his shock melted away to be replaced by a sadistic grin, much like Marcus. My mouth went dry at the sight, and the realisation that I’d been played this entire time was gut–wrenching.
“Don’t hate the player, Walters,” he chuckled. “Hate the game. Surely you didn’t expect me to bite the hand that feeds me, did you?”
“I could have your license taken away for this,” she spat. “You deliberately fed information about our case to the other party. You tried to sabotage our case from the very beginning.”
“Anything you say is inadmissible in court,” he shrugged. “You have no evidence to support your claim. And who will the judge believe? The wannabe hotshot lawyer who somehow managed to screw up every major case she handled, and yet she struts around this building like she owns the place, or the guy who actually tried to help a friend and recommended a pro bono attorney to her when she needed him? The guy who stepped away from the case due to a conflict of interest and he made sure that there was no evidence of contact between him and his former client?”
“You’re a snake,” she said, balling her hands into fists. “And you’re going to pay for what you did.”
“Too late, sweetheart,” he chuckled, his gaze shifting towards me. “Surely you didn’t think I bought your groceries for no reason, did you? Maybe you should have checked some of those boxes before they were stashed away. Or you should have checked the bathroom in your apartment after I used it. That whole place is bugged. We know your case inside and out, and we know every strategy that you might try to pull. There’s no use trying to
+25 BONUS
Chapter Sixteen
outsmart either of us, ladies. The sooner you accept that reality, the better.”
Ciara looked like she was about to explode. She grabbed his mug and smashed it against the wall, seething as she stormed out of the room. I couldn’t bring myself to move, and I simply stood there and stared at him silently. For a moment, he looked like he was going to say something But then he shrugged and leaned back into his seat with
a smirk.
“You were never going to win, Liv,” he said. “You must have realised that already. I suggest you ask Marcus to settle, and be done with all this crap. You’re not cut out for his. You’re swimming with sharks, and you’re going to get killed if you keep this up.‘
“Does Brenda know?”
He blinked at me confusedly, and then a flash of terror swept across his face.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“You’re right,” I said. “I wouldn’t. Because unlike you, I do not turn around and stab the people I thought were my friends in the back.”
I knew I’d struck a chord, because for once in his life, David had the decency to look ashamed.
“You can’t expect me to bite the hand that feeds me,” he said. “I’ve been with the Reynards since I was just a rookie lawyer trying to make a name for himself. Micheal Reynard gave me my shot, and I can’t turn my back on his family now.”
“I understand,” I said, an emptiness spreading through my entire chest. “I just wish I’d put my trust in a man who knew the meaning of integrity, and he wasn’t so cheaply bought.”
“Half a million dollars is not cheap, Olivia,” he said.
“It will never be enough,” I replied. “The part of your soul that you sold for that will never return. And I hope Brenda leaves you when she realises what an evil person you are.”
I didn’t wait to see his reaction. I walked out of the room without a second glance at him, keeping my head high as I made my way out. I headed back to Ciara’s office, where she was standing by the window and staring out at the street below. She didn’t even turn as I entered, and I didn’t bother saying anything. We both felt exactly the same way, hollow and defeated. And in that moment, no one understood my pain like her.
“I should have seen this coming,” she said quietly. “From the moment he brought the biggest case of his career to me, I should have realised that I was being setup. I know you think I’m a cutthroat lawyer who has never lost a case before, but the truth is that I’m a fraud. I’ve had more losses than wins, and I’m basically a joke in this firm. They only let me handle the minor cases which even a monkey couldn’t screw up. And here I thought I could actually do this.”
She sighed as she turned to face me, and I was surprised to find tears in her eyes
“I was going to prove them all wrong, you know?” she sobbed. “I was going to show them that I was a serious lawyer, and I could handle something as big as this. I was going to make them take me seriously. And that was hubris If I had been able to see past my own arrogance, then none of this would have happened.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” I said. “The odds were stacked against us from the beginning.”
“Olivia, I’m so sorry,” she said through the tears. “I promise I will do everything I can to make sure we win this
case.
12
“No,” I said. “I’m tired of doing this. I’m tired of this back and forth game. I’m not cut out for this. The chances of winning anything when the odds are so heavily stacked against you are virtually nonexistent. I’m tired of all this, Clara. I just want to rest.”
Chapter Sixteen
“What are you saying?” she asked.
“I’m saying I want to settle.”
