. Her office was right beside his, a space that always smelled faintly of vanilla

uet of fresh white roses on her desk, paired with an u

teased lightly as he made his w

e kind that didn't quite reach her eyes. For all her beauty and brilliance, Eileen had never had the best of luck with relat

y, what was all that about? As soon as I saw your mum wal

dge of his nose before recounting what had happened in his father's office. Eileen listened intently, her express

, your parents may never forgive you if you don't do this. Need I remind you that your legal future is at stake as well? Your father's nearing r

esides, like your parents said, Mr. Smith

is headed. He's always wanted me to marry her ever since

surprise. "Wait, what?" she said, lea

ed back in his chair

father was already giving legal counsel to Mr. Smith, who was just starting one of his tech subsidiaries. Wh

a wry smile. "Everyone teased me for weeks. I was mortified. I stopped talking to her, and never did ti

ing! After all these years, this is what it's about?" she said,

ll," Alex

a tree, K-I-" she began to

town to find another woman? That's insane. And even if I do find Lily, what makes you think she'd want to see me? From what I've heard from Mr. Smith, she's cut him

reak it to you, but your girlfriend will be the fi

admit. "Emily's not like that," he said defensively,

'm in a fix, my solutions come from either you, Da

say it, but there's only one option on the table. Take it, and maybe all this gets resolv

t that AB Partners has made an offer to Mr. Smith too. If he

ve brushed them off as competition, but Alex despised them. The last case he lost had b

red. "Ha! Maybe I should just ta

ew exactly which buttons to p

legals stumbled in, clutching a newspaper. Her face

or them to see. The bold hea

TE LAW FIRM -

glass building gleaming in the morning

stomach twisting. "I thought th

One of their senior lawyers had fabricated evidence in a high-profile case and lied under oath. When the truth came out

red more than his father. Known for his integrity "honest to a fault," the press used to say. Mr. Cromwell had been branded a hypocrite overnight. He didn'

. But now, Alex couldn't help wondering if Mr. Smith himself

l. The young woman nodded silently. Eileen sighed,

osed, the room w

," Alex said finally, running a hand

ut a loud sigh, his reflection flashing briefly