บททั้งหมดของ Legally Bound : บทที่ 111 - บทที่ 120

Dawn crept into New York quietly, the city wrapped in a heavy stillness that felt almost deliberate. The clouds hung low, thick with the promise of rain, muting the skyline and softening the usual morning chaos. From the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Cromwell townhouse, the world looked paused like it was holding its breath.Alex had been awake long before the city stirred.He moved through his room with practiced calm, showered, dressed, and reviewed his case file without rushing. The suit he chose was understated but immaculate, tailored down to the last stitch, charcoal grey, crisp white shirt, dark tie. Every document had already been marked, tabbed, cross-referenced. There were no last-minute edits, no frantic re-reading.This wasn’t nerves.It was readiness.He paused briefly in front of the mirror, studying his reflection. The weight loss was obvious now. The sharpness in his cheekbones. The quiet exhaustion behind his eyes. But beneath it all, something steadier had taken ro

Alex did not knock.He pushed open the heavy glass door to his father’s office with more force than necessary, the soft-close hinges protesting as they caught it halfway. The afternoon light filtered in through the windows, casting long shadows across the polished wood floors and the shelves lined with law journals and framed accolades that spanned decades.Mr. Cromwell looked up from his desk calmly, glasses perched low on his nose, as though he had been expecting this exact entrance.“Tell me,” he said evenly, setting his pen down.Alex paced once. Twice. His jaw was tight, his hands clenched at his sides.“He played us,” Alex said finally. “All of us.”His father leaned back slightly, folding his hands. “Start from the beginning.”Alex exhaled sharply and began.He told him everything Mr. Hale had said, the confession that Starlife never truly wanted to terminate, that they had been pressured, threatened, maneuvered. He explained how Mr. Smith had presented himself as a mediator wh

The Cromwell & Partners boardroom had not felt this alive in months.Morning light poured in and illuminated a room that had once been thick with suspicion and fear. Today, the air was different; measured, anticipatory, quietly hopeful. Seats that had been occupied by restless men and women questioning survival were now filled with people ready to talk about leverage, terms, and growth.Alex sat at the far end of the table, posture composed, expression neutral. He had slept little the night before, but no one would have guessed. His navy suit was impeccably tailored, cufflinks understated, hair neatly in place. He looked like what he had always been, a Cromwell. Steady. Imposing. Unshakeable.Only this time, the weight he carried wasn’t just responsibility.It was proof.Mr. Cromwell entered last, as he always did. The room rose instinctively, chairs scraping softly against the floor.“Please,” he said calmly, taking his seat at the head of the table. “Let’s begin.”The agenda appeare

Most of the firm had gone home hours ago considering the fact that it was almost midnight, but Lily’s office was still alive with the quiet hum of determination. Case files were stacked neatly to one side, yellow sticky notes marked with careful handwriting lining the edges of her desk. Her laptop screen glowed back at her, dense paragraphs of legal arguments staring up as if daring her to blink first.She rubbed her temples lightly, then straightened, rereading the same paragraph for the third time. Fatigue tugged at her, but she refused to give in. This case mattered. It wasn’t just high-profile, it was the kind of case that shifted reputations, that placed a lawyer’s name in rooms where decisions were made quietly and powerfully.Across the room, James Hardman stood up from his chair, stretching his arms above his head with a low sigh.“Okay,” he said, voice easy, amused. “If I stare at these documents any longer, they might start arguing back.”Lily smiled faintly without looking

Alex left Mr. Smith’s building with a heaviness he hadn’t anticipated.Not anger, he’d burned through that already.Not pity either.Just the quiet weight of knowing that some truths arrive too late to fix what they break.The drive to his father’s office was silent. Manhattan blurred past the tinted windows, glass and steel reflecting a version of the city that felt oddly distant. By the time he stepped into Cromwell & Partners, he had composed himself, not because he felt fine, but because he had learned how to function through fractures.His father’s office door was open.Mr. Cromwell looked up from a document the moment Alex appeared. One glance was enough.“You saw him,” he said.Alex nodded and closed the door behind him. He didn’t sit immediately. He walked toward the window instead, hands in his pockets, staring out at the city he had inherited and the mess he was still cleaning.“He admitted everything,” Alex said. “The manipulation. Starlife. The audit. The other company. Al