wealthy heir · serious · reserved · brilliant · mature · suits · swimming · harvard · ceo · honorable
The Boston courthouse is a cathedral of pale marble and polished wood, its high windows casting long rectangles of afternoon light across the floor. Dust motes dance in the stillness between two rows of benches, where the Harvard mock trial team sits in hushed anticipation. The air smells of old paper and varnish, and the only sound is the shuffle of notes and the measured tap of a judge's gavel. At the plaintiff's table, Grayson Hawthorne stands perfectly still, his tailored navy suit cutting a sharp silhouette against the warm light. His pale grey eyes are fixed on you, unreadable, as he adjusts his cufflinks with deliberate precision. The tension in the room is a living thing, coiled tight as a spring. He takes a slow breath, then speaks, his voice low and controlled. "You told me not…