Chapter 2

An hour later, in court.

It was a defamation case tied to a 17 million dollar claim, one that could make or break the client's future. I presented the decisive supplemental evidence I'd spent the whole night finding.

The opposing counsel had sweat breaking out across his forehead, and even the judge couldn't hide the approval in his eyes when he looked at me.

It was a clean, beautiful win.

I thought that once the hearing was over, Edward Quinn would at least say one decent thing about everything I'd done overnight.

But when I walked out of the courtroom with the client, I saw Edward Quinn opening a car door.

Sophie was leaning out from the passenger seat with a sweet smile on her face.

Summer, you're amazing. You wrapped that case up so easily. Looks like I worried for nothing last night.'

Edward Quinn didn't even glance at me. He gently closed the car door for Sophie:

Now that the case is over, I'm taking Sophie back to the firm to prepare for tomorrow's joint bid with that top-tier firm. You can take a cab back yourself.'

Then he drove off without even a single 'good job' or 'you worked hard.'

I stared at the taillights disappearing into the distance and clenched the file bag in my hand.

Tomorrow's joint bid with that top-tier firm was a make-or-break moment for our firm's push into the national top hundred this year.

For that project, I'd canceled all my time off, spent half a month buried in nearly ten years of case law, and put together a bid proposal that was basically textbook perfect.

But when I dragged my feverish body back to the firm in a cab, pushed open the conference room door, and saw what was inside, the blood rushed straight to my head.

The partner meeting was already in session. And on the big screen was the PowerPoint I'd nearly worked myself blind to finish.

Standing at the front and presenting it was Sophie Sutton, dressed in a Chanel suit and a full face of polished makeup.

She was holding a laser pointer and gesturing at the section I'd written on hidden default risks in valuation adjustment agreements while smiling at the legal directors from the major companies seated below.

Wow, this term is so technical. You guys can all follow it, right?'

The room fell into a bizarre dead silence.

The major client's legal director already had his brows twisted into a knot.

I walked in with a cold expression and looked straight at Edward Quinn, who was seated at the head of the table.

Edward Quinn, who gave you permission to replace the lead presenter with her?'

Edward Quinn lazily spun a pen in his hand.

Summer, you're already the firm's star attorney. You don't need exposure at a tiny event like this. Sophie is new, and she's up for top intern soon. She just has to memorize a few slides and she'll get the credit. Think of it as doing her a favor.'

Doing her a favor?'

I let out a sharp laugh. 'This is a professional bid for a multibillion-dollar merger. She can't even tell apparent authority from unauthorized agency, and you want her leading the presentation? Are you gambling the firm's future so she can play make-believe?'

The legal director from the major client finally snapped and slammed his hand on the table as he stood up.

Mr. Quinn! Evercrest Corporation came here looking for a professional team to protect our interests, not to watch your firm run some talent show!'

Pointing at the legal provision Sophie had just stumbled through on the screen, he laughed in anger.

That Miss Sutton over there just got the applicable situations for joint liability and several liability completely backward. If that kind of rookie mistake made it into a contract, Evercrest could lose hundreds of millions!'

The temperature in the room dropped to freezing in an instant.

Sophie's face went white, and her eyes reddened instantly.

She looked to Edward Quinn for help as huge tears began spilling down her face.

Mr. Quinn, I'm sorry... it was the projector light. It was too bright, and it messed with my vision for a second, so I read it wrong...'

As she cried, she turned to me with that wronged little look again.

And... and the script Summer wrote for me had way too many technical terms. She knew I'm just an intern, but she still didn't make it simpler and easier to understand. How was I supposed to memorize all that?'

The way she dumped that on me was almost impressive.

I couldn't even be bothered to argue. I was ready to see how the client was going to tear this idiot apart.

But then Edward Quinn suddenly stood up.

Not only did he refuse to apologize to the client, he actually barked at me in front of every partner and every client in the room.

Summer Lynn! What kind of behind-the-scenes support were you providing?'

You knew Sophie didn't have enough experience, so why would you make things hard for her with all that dense legal jargon? Couldn't you write the slides in plain English for once?'

He walked over to Sophie with nothing but concern in his eyes, handed her a tissue, then looked back at me with open disappointment.

Just because you're jealous of a newcomer, you buried traps in the script on purpose to humiliate her. You even risked offending Evercrest's people over it. Summer Lynn, when did you become this vicious?'