Chapter 2

The next day was the weekend, so I told my mother I was going out shopping with a friend and left the house.

I followed the map to the legal aid center.

I gave my name, and a young woman came over to greet me.

“You're Ms. James, the one who called yesterday for a consultation?”

I nodded and followed her into an old office.

A woman in her early forties sat in the chair, short hair, black-framed glasses, sharp and capable looking.

The nameplate on the desk read: Director Jemima Perry.

“Hello, Ms. Perry.”

“Sit.”

Director Perry stood and led me over to the couch.

She was smiling warmly, not the stern lawyer I'd pictured.

“Why isn't the client here?”

“My mother's paralyzed, bedridden. It's hard for her to come.” I explained quietly. “And I'm not fully sure we can win yet. I don't want to worry her.”

Director Perry nodded, and the look in her eyes softened a little.

“All right. Let's talk after we've looked at your materials.”

I took the files out of my bag one by one.

“This is my mother's divorce ruling from back then, and the debt ruling.”

“The repayment records for the last ten years.”

“My mother's medical records, and the forensic report rating her injury Level One severe.”

“The power of attorney and the settlement waiver signed during the divorce case.”

I laid out every document, hesitated a long moment, then spoke.

“Something about the settlement waiver doesn't add up.”

Director Perry looked up from the originals. “Tell me more.”

The hands I'd rested on my knees clenched without my meaning them to.

“My mother was pushed down a staircase by the mistress and left paralyzed. There's no way she'd have signed a settlement waiver.”

Director Perry sharpened at once. “You think your father forged the settlement waiver?”

I nodded, my voice cold as ice.

“He's capable of anything.”

Back then he was the one who cheated during the marriage, and the court still ruled my mother the party at fault.

I was placed with my father, but Deborah Whitney didn't like me.

She made me eat leftovers and beat me on every kind of excuse.

I couldn't fight back. All I could do was run to my grandmother and cry.

Looking back now, I hate my own cowardice.

I should have fought back, should have made a scene and clung on, should have gone and fought the mistress for what was rightfully mine.

If I hadn't been a burden, my mother and grandmother wouldn't have had to suffer so much.

My eyes burned. I forced the tears down.

And placed all my hope on Director Perry.

Director Perry handed the settlement waiver to her assistant.

"Have Zion take a fast look at it.”

The assistant turned to go, then Director Perry called her back.

She snapped a photo of a document with my father's signature on it. “And compare it against Stan Lambert's handwriting.”

I watched Director Perry, goosebumps rising along my arms.

A few more people came into the office. One of them wore reading glasses and looked to be in his early sixties.

The others called him Director Elijah Pruitt, warmly.

Ten minutes later they finished talking, and a student beside them had already pulled up a slide deck.

Director Perry's voice was crisp, and worried I wouldn't follow, she took out paper and pen to map it out for me.

“Cordelia, if everything you've told me is true, I can run four tracks at once.”

“Track one, a civil retrial. Based on the bank records you've provided, that's enough to overturn the five-million-dollar joint marital debt ruling.”

I let out a breath. That was good news.

“Track two, a retrial of the divorce case, to overturn the wrongful finding that “the wife was the party at fault in the marriage.” We can start from their child. The child was born the second month after the divorce, and that alone proves your father cheated during the marriage.”

Director Elijah added from the side. “We can also charge bigamy. IVF requires a marriage certificate, or the hospital won't open a file for them.”

As he spoke, Director Elijah glanced at me.

“As for the claim that your mother had an affair, we'll submit a retrial petition and have the chat screenshots your father filed back then re-examined.”

I nodded.

Director Perry went on:

“Track three, a criminal appeal, to void the invalid settlement waiver and reopen the intentional injury charge against the third party.”

“Track four, hold the man accountable for his false filing, and bring a separate civil suit for personal injury compensation.”

I looked at the clean structure on the paper and asked the question that mattered most.

“Are the odds of overturning it good?”

Director Perry tapped the desk. “Ninety percent.”

“Thank you.”

A weight lifted off my chest.

“But don't celebrate too soon.”

Director Elijah pushed his glasses up.

The weight I'd set down rose again.

“The other party is your biological father. In terms of public opinion and family ethics, you'll face a certain amount of pressure.”

Clearly he'd seen plenty of cases where a family suing each other suddenly made peace and shook hands.

My eyes filled with resolve and hatred.

“Even if the whole world points its finger at me, I'm going to win my mother back her justice!”