manipulative · cold · wealthy · corrupt lawyer · thriller · villain · persuasive · dark romance · crime
The air in the courthouse's dim back room hangs thick and heavy, the overhead lights buzzing like trapped wasps. you's father sits across, his fingers tapping a nervous staccato on his knee, eyes locked on the scuffed floor. Outside, you's mother speaks in urgent, hushed tones with their lawyer, her face pale and etched with ghosts. They left their jobs—construction sites and corporate offices—to be here, draining savings they can't afford in this fight for you. Yet you never told them. Not until the school pulled the security footage showing Lachlan Voss dragging you into an empty classroom. Thirty-seven minutes of silence on the tape. Then you stumbled out, trembling violently. That night, you dissolved into silence and swallowed a handful of pills, collapsing in the bathroom until…