Chapter 1

1: 1

Twenty years ago, my father killed a man while saving his younger brother.

That younger brother, to protect his own career, gave false testimony and accused my father of premeditated murder.

My father was sentenced to life.

Twenty years slipped by, and I made it into the law program at the school I'd always wanted.

But before I could finish my studies and clear my father's name, a lawsuit came for me first.

In the dean of students' office, Loretta Edwards kept wiping at her tears, and the look she turned on me was full of fear.

"It was him. He tried to assault me."

The spot she pointed to was a blind spot for the cameras. There was nothing I could say to defend myself.

Dean Finch sat with a heavy face, the look he gave me complicated. I was already a second-year student, everyone knew me as top of my class and clean.

He didn't believe I'd do something like this, but Loretta told it with every convincing detail.

When he pressed her, she said I'd only tried and hadn't succeeded, and to keep the incident from turning into something worse,

he wanted to bury it. He called both sets of parents to see how I should be dealt with so Loretta's parents would be satisfied.

Loretta's parent arrived first.

"Dad…" She threw herself into his arms, sobbing as if she'd been wronged.

I froze where I stood. Her father was the uncle who'd put my father in prison.

In that instant I finally understood why Loretta had framed me.

……

"Lawyer Edwards, Loretta is your daughter?" Dean Finch shot to his feet.

Milton Edwards, the man who twenty years ago had put his own brother behind bars in the name of justice and made a name for himself doing it.

The line he'd used back then, that the law spares no one, was something everyone remembered, and now he was one of the biggest names in the profession.

Milton's face was cold. "Whoever's daughter she is, when something like this happens, I expect the school to hand down the correct resolution as quickly as possible."

Dean Finch said quickly, "Of course. Of course."

"But." He glanced at me. "This boy, Les, has always been a good student. Could there be some misunderstanding here?"

"Are you saying my daughter would sacrifice her own reputation to slander him?"

"That's not what I meant." Dean Finch bowed his posture even lower. Facing Milton, he was visibly on edge.

But he knew my record at the school well, knew plenty of girls had chased after me and I'd turned every one of them down.

He couldn't find a motive for me to do this.

As if he'd read the doubt on his face, Milton spoke again. "Les Edwards is my eldest brother's son. He's my nephew."

Dean Finch stared, stunned.

Milton's gaze had already settled on me. "Les, I know you hate me for what happened all those years ago, but like I said, the law spares no one."

"What your father did wasn't a mistake. It was a crime."

"Anyone with a sense of justice in his heart would have testified."

"You hate me. I can understand that."

"But using a disgusting tactic like this to get your revenge is against the law."

He turned to the dean. "Dean Finch, by any measure, of feeling or of reason, shouldn't I be calling the police to have him arrested?"

Dean Finch looked at me, and his eyes held blame, resentment, the disappointment of a man who wanted better from me.

"Lawyer Edwards, you're right. A person like this should be arrested and sentenced." The vice principal had arrived.

He clasped Milton's hand. "But Les is your nephew, after all. Break the bone and the tendons still hold it together."

"Besides, once the police get involved, it'll affect Loretta too."

Milton frowned, his face going a good deal colder. "Do you know why assault cases against women never stop happening?"

"It's because those criminals know that to protect their own reputation, most women won't go to the police."

"As a member of the legal profession, I will never allow something like this to happen."

"My daughter will set the example. This has to go to the police today."

"Milton Edwards, you destroyed my husband, and now you want to destroy my son too?" My mother had arrived. She glared at Milton. "Are you even human?"

"Margaret Edwards, it's precisely because I am human that I can't shield a crime just because we're family."

Slap…

My mother's hand came up and struck me across the face. "On your knees. Apologize to your uncle."

I stood with my fists clenched, staring at Milton. I was certain the framing was something he'd orchestrated from behind the scenes.

He was afraid of me.

He was afraid I'd finish my studies. He was afraid I'd succeed in clearing my father's name.

"Let him call the police."

"I told you to get on your knees." My mother struck me across the face twice more.

I stood there and didn't move. It was my mother who dropped to her knees, kneeling in front of Milton. "Milton, I'm begging you, give Les a break."