The gavel struck once, echoing like thunder through the courtroom.
"Objection—sustained."
Selene Vale lowered her hand, her black suit creasing as she straightened. Every eye in the chamber was on her—the fresh-faced defense attorney with a voice too sharp and a will too stubborn for her own good. She was twenty-four, barely out of law school, and already hated by half the city's legal elite.
Because Selene didn't take rich clients.
She took the cases no one wanted.
Murderers who claimed innocence. Workers crushed by corporations. Families silenced by bribes.
Today, her client was a trembling factory boy accused of burning down the warehouse that had chewed up his father and spat him out in a coffin. The prosecutors smirked. The newspapers had already painted him guilty.
But Selene wasn't here to play safe. She slammed down a stack of papers.
"This," she said, her voice slicing through the murmurs, "is proof that the company faked safety records. My client didn't start that fire—your negligence did."
Gasps rippled. The judge leaned forward. The opposing lawyer's smile faltered.
Selene felt her heart hammering. She lived for this—standing where no one else would, speaking when silence was easier. For one fragile second, she thought she might actually win.
And then she saw it.
In the gallery, a man in a gray suit stood up. No expression. No hesitation. He reached into his coat.
Selene's eyes widened.
"Gun!" she shouted—
The blast cut her words in half.
Pain exploded in her chest. She stumbled, clutching at the red blooming across her blouse. Her client screamed. The courtroom dissolved into chaos.
She fell to her knees, blood soaking her palms, and all she could hear was the echo of her mother's voice—*"Justice isn't about winning, Selene. It's about fighting for those who can't."*
Her vision blurred. The world dimmed.
And yet—something strange flickered at the edge of her sight. Veins of light. Golden threads, glowing faintly in the cracks of reality itself, like laws written into the universe. They wrapped around her, pulling, dragging—
Selene's lips curved in a bitter smile as darkness claimed her.
"Guess my case… isn't over yet."
The courtroom vanished.
And Selene Vale's trial was only just beginning.