The courtroom was silent, but the air was thick with the unspoken truth that everyone knew but no one dared to speak. Judge Harrison sat high on his bench, a figure of absolute authority, yet beneath the black robes was a man compromised by debts that didn’t appear on any financial disclosure form.
I stood at the counsel table, my hand resting on a stack of documents that proved, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the corporation across the aisle had defrauded thousands of pensioners out of their life savings. The evidence was irrefutable. The law was clear.
But as I looked into the judge’s eyes, I saw the verdict before he even opened his mouth. It wasn’t a look