The Lawyer’s Lie Chapter 01

The Lawyer’s Lie Chapter 01

Everyone in D.C. said Mr. Grant was hopelessly devoted to his wife, Clara Bennett.

For her sake, one of D.C.’s top defense lawyers—a man known for his uncompromising sense of justice—had agreed to defend his wife’s brother, Noah Bennett, against a rape charge and argue for his acquittal.

The alleged victim happened to be Wendy Wells, the junior associate and protégée he had personally mentored for years.

Everyone said the accused rapist would walk free. After all, Julian Grant had never lost a case.

But against all expectations, in less than two months, he lost both the trial and the appeal.

Worse, Noah’s sentence went from three years at trial to a death sentence on appeal.

Once the news broke, everyone waited for Clara to fall apart in public.

After all, on the day the trial verdict came down, she had just wrapped filming overseas after weeks on a closed set.

The moment she learned what had happened, she marched straight to the courthouse with signs, called in the press, and turned the whole thing into a citywide media firestorm.

Yet two weeks later, on the day the appeal verdict was announced, not a single reporter waiting outside the courthouse saw her.

The Clara Bennett they remembered as fierce, reckless, and willing to defy the law for her brother was now calmly making a phone call.

“Asher Blackwood, I’ll marry you,” Clara said. “Find someone to petition for a retrial for my brother, Noah.”

The other end of the line went silent for two seconds. “I have a more direct way. A retrial petition will be hard to push through, and Noah may have to stay in prison for a long time.”

“It won’t be difficult.” Clara lowered her eyes. “Noah was in an accident when he was a child. He has no male genitalia. He couldn’t have raped anyone.”

…

“We grew up in the projects. Noah is deaf and nonverbal, and he endured endless hardship and injuries trying to find work and take care of me. In one accident, his male organs were completely removed.”

“I knew that if people ever found out, Noah would rather die than live with it. So I swore I would protect that secret for the rest of my life.”

After a long silence, Asher asked, “Does Julian know?”

Clara did not answer.

Once Asher agreed, she pushed the door open and walked out.

A pale face stared back at her from the mirror. She stared at it for a few seconds, then forced a faint smile.

Julian did not know. Clara had only thought he did.

After all, an entire month had passed between the incident and the trial loss. He should have had countless chances to learn the truth.

If he had asked Noah, Noah would have told him. His innocence was at stake.

And after Clara rushed back, Julian had apologized to her right away.

He said the loss had only happened because the case was complicated, and that he would win the appeal.

Over the next two weeks, Julian was constantly moving between courthouses, prosecutors’ offices, and every agency that could affect the case.

Clara also threw herself into collecting more crucial evidence. Neither of them had even gone home, and she thought they were fighting side by side.

But during the appeal just now, when he faced Wendy’s counsel, he had nothing to say.

He had even lost the key surveillance footage Clara found, the footage that proved Noah had left right after arguing with Wendy.

Just then, her assistant, Mia Carter, ran in from outside and spoke hesitantly.

“Clara, there you are. We need to leave through the back. There are too many reporters outside.”

“Mr. Grant did everything he could. The other side brought in William Warren this time. Who could possibly beat someone like him when he comes out of retirement?”

Mia paused, then lowered her voice.

“But I thought the old man didn’t take cases anymore. I have no idea how Wendy got him to agree…”

Clara’s steps faltered.

“Exactly,” she said softly. “How could Wendy possibly have gotten him?”

But Julian could have gotten him to take the case.

Julian was Mr. Warren’s last and most favored protégé, and the two had once been as close as father and son.

Years earlier, Mr. Warren had looked down on Clara for being a D-list actress and refused to approve of their relationship.

Julian had insisted on marrying her anyway. He had knelt outside in the rain for a full day and night, but Mr. Warren never gave in.

Julian made his choice, and mentor and protégé had not spoken since.

If not for this case, Clara would have nearly forgotten what Mr. Warren looked like.

If not for this case, she would never have learned that the person Julian truly wanted to help was never her.

At the start of the appeal hearing, Julian had said he was afraid her emotions would disrupt the proceedings and told her to wait outside.

But all she had waited for was news of another loss. Unable to hold herself together, she rushed into the restroom and cried until her voice was hoarse. Then she heard someone outside on the phone.

It was Wendy.

“Julian, thank you for bringing in Mr. Warren for me and for destroying the evidence,” Wendy said. “Without you, without you staying with me day and night these past few days, I really wouldn’t have wanted to live.”

At that moment, Clara felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her head. Her mind went blank, and the blood in her body seemed to freeze.

Julian’s voice on the other end was still cool and distant, yet it carried a trace of indulgence.

“He hurt you,” he said. “Professionally and personally, I won’t let him get away with it.”

They talked for a long time, and Clara finally understood everything.

From Noah’s arrest to the indictment and everything that had happened since, two months had passed.

As Noah’s defense lawyer, Julian had not visited him once.

Julian had not even looked at the crucial evidence Clara had given him. He had thrown it away.

He had taken the case himself and kept anyone from notifying Clara only to stop her from hiring another lawyer.

He wanted to personally send the man who had hurt his precious protégée to death row.

And Wendy had framed Noah for one reason only. That day, Noah had warned her not to ruin Clara’s marriage.

Clara closed her eyes.

She remembered once mentioning to Noah by accident that Wendy clung too tightly to Julian, that it upset her and made her afraid.

She remembered rushing back in a daze after hearing that her brother had been sentenced to three years in prison. The news had struck her like a thunderclap.

At the time, she had only broken down and cried, “Noah could never do something like that! Wendy lied! She’s the one who should be in jail!”

“I’m going to find Wendy. I’m going to ask her what really happened!”

But Julian had cut her off with only a calm sentence.

“Don’t go to her. I know Noah isn’t that kind of person. I’ll win the appeal.”

“All you need to do now is trust me. What we need to do is make every second count.”

And she had trusted him.

Only now did she understand. When he said he would win, he meant he would win for Wendy.

And when he told her to trust him, what he had really meant was that he had trusted Wendy without investigating anything.

If he had met Noah even once, he would have had the chance to learn that Noah could not possibly have raped Wendy.

Mia kept urging her from behind, but Clara only walked faster until she ran straight into Julian.

He was still in his courtroom suit, his features cool and refined, his whole presence distant and untouchably elegant.

When he saw Clara’s pale face, his gaze paused for a moment before returning to calm.

“Where did you go?” he asked. “The sentencing paperwork needs a family member’s signature.”

Clara lowered her head and glanced at it. The sight stung her eyes.

She did not take it. Instead, she looked at the man standing in front of her.

Five years. She had looked at that face for five years.

When they first met, he was not famous yet, but anyone with eyes could tell he was destined for something bigger. A crowd of executives had been eager to make connections with him and kept pressing drinks on him.

She had watched him frown but turn no one down, and for some reason, she found it amusing. So she stepped in and took three drinks for him. Later, he asked her why.

She said, “Because you’re like my brother. You were clearly at your limit, but you kept pushing yourself anyway.”

Later, he helped her win a lawsuit and became her husband.

He had said, “Clara, I will never betray you.”

Clara continued to look at him in silence until Julian’s brows drew together slightly.

At last, she spoke, her voice calm.

“Julian, let’s get divorced.”