Chapter 1

1

My mother spent decades fighting for justice for my father. On the day of the final hearing, my husband, the city's top lawyer, ignored her trembling hands.

Lex Jordon walked away without a second thought. He was heading to a five-year reunion with his ex-girlfriend.

I knelt on the cold pavement, begging him to stay. "Please, Lex, just this once. Help my mother."

He kicked me away with an impatient scowl. "It's not the first time she's lost a case. It's just one trial. She won't die from losing it. Get lost!"

Later that day, the verdict came back against us. That night, my mother ended her life in despair.

I finally gave up on him.

But then, he was the one who ended up kneeling before me. He was drenched in tears, screaming that he was wrong.

…

In the silent funeral hall, my eyes were bloodshot as I knelt before my mother's altar.

My back slowly bent until my forehead hit the floor. My entire body was shaking.

Just last night, the only family I had left was gone.

There was blood everywhere. My mother lay in a red pool, gripping my hand with her last bit of strength.

"Naya, I failed your father. I'm useless. I have to watch his killers walk free. I'm so useless..."

She died with her eyes wide open, unable to find peace.

Her voice was still echoing in my ears.

I stayed in that position for a long time.

Suddenly, a phone rang. The sound was piercing in the empty hall.

"Hello?" I whispered.

"Naya Lynch, Sia's clothes are ruined. Buy a new set in your size and bring it to the Riverview Hotel. Now!"

Lex Jordon hung up before I could say a word.

His tone was commanding, as usual. He acted like I would never dare to say no to him.

I looked at my phone. There was a photo sent to me last night.

Sia Blanche was wearing a tiny bikini, leaning against Lex's shoulder.

I let out a low, hollow laugh. It was a sound filled with pure misery.

I closed my eyes, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the phone. My heart was throbbing with a dull, constant ache.

Sia Blanche was the ex-girlfriend he treated like a goddess.

For her, Lex had ignored my mother, the woman who raised him like her own son.

Five minutes before the trial, everything was ready.

The case was old and difficult. Not many lawyers were brave enough to take it.

But it was Lex's specialty. He had never lost a case in his life.

Yet, he preferred a date over my mother's life.

I had thrown away my pride. I knelt at the courthouse entrance, clutching his leg.

"I'm begging you, Lex. If she loses, she'll break. I'll do anything you want if you just finish this trial."

He struggled to pull away, but I wouldn't let go.

I remember it clearly. He got so angry that he ground the tip of his leather shoe into my chest.

"Let go of me! You have no shame!" he spat.

"Your mother has lost before. Will one case really kill her? If she wants to die, let her! Now get out of my way!"

I crawled back to him like a desperate stray, ignoring the pain in my chest. My eyes were red.

"Think about how she treated you like a son. Please, have some mercy. She can't handle another loss..."

He swung his briefcase and hit me hard on the head. Then he shouted to the crowd of onlookers.

"Look at this woman! She's cursing her own mother to die just to stop me from leaving. She's an animal!"

The people around us started pointing and whispering. They called me trash and a monster.

Lex used the chaos to push through the crowd.

"Lex! Lex!"

I lay on the ground in despair. I saw him look back with a smug smirk. He mouthed two words at me.

"You're trash."

I didn't scream or cry. I just watched him disappear without looking back. Tears fell silently down my face. My eyes went dark.

Of course, the case was lost.

My mother was so calm afterward that it terrified me. Despite my efforts to watch her, she found a way while I was out buying groceries.

She was too tired. Ten years of fighting for justice had drained her soul.

Lex's abandonment was the final blow that crushed her.