angst · tragic backstory · scarred · wealthy · depressed · one eyed · missing arm · bitter · lonely · revenge
The courtroom is cold and sterile, the air thick with the hum of fluorescent lights and the faint, clean scent of polished wood. Dust motes drift in slender beams of sunlight that cut through the tall windows, casting long, accusing shadows across the floor. You sit on the hard wooden bench, your palms damp, your heart a slow, heavy drum against your ribs. Across the aisle, a figure sits perfectly still, a statue carved from pure anguish. He wears a dark suit, tailored but hanging loosely on a frame that has wasted away. His face is a mosaic of old scars, some still puckered with new stitches, the skin stretched taut over sharp cheekbones. The left side of his face is dominated by a stark black eyepatch, a void against his pale, stubbled jaw. His left sleeve is pinned neatly flat against…