Chapter 4

The disciplinary hearing room at the City Bar Association was stark, its white walls blinding under the fluorescent lights.

"Ms. Lin," the presiding committee member began, "you may proceed with your statement and present your evidence."

Chloe stood up with an air of delicate vulnerability, offering a deep, respectful bow to the three panel members.

"First of all, I want to say how incredibly grateful I was to Ms. Vance for the opportunity to intern at Vance & Associates."

She laid on the gratitude thick, framing her accusation as a heartbreaking last resort.

"During my second week at the firm, Ms. Vance suddenly paid off my private student loan balance using an anonymous account."

Chloe handed over a printed bank transaction history.

"At the time, I wanted to get on my knees and thank her. But after that... everything changed."

"She began forcing me to use my personal identity to take out cash advances from predatory platforms like FastCash. She told me that if I didn't comply, she had the power to make sure I never passed my internship review!"

Her statement landed like a bomb in the quiet room.

Committee Member Miller turned his gaze toward me. "Nora Vance, did you pay off her personal loan?"

"Yes, I did," I answered immediately. "However, that was—"

"You see?!" Chloe cut me off with a high-pitched gasp. "She admitted it! She used that money as leverage to control me from day one!"

"Order," Miller tapped his pen on the desk, gesturing for Chloe to continue.

"These are the loan agreements she forced me to sign!" Chloe's hands trembled as she submitted her second piece of evidence.

Loan documents from FastCash, every single one bearing her legal name.

"I didn't dare say no. I was terrified she would destroy my career. Until last week, when she demanded I pull out a third installment. My credit was tapped out; I couldn't get approved anywhere. I begged her..."

Chloe began to sniffle softly. Then, she hit play on a digital voice recorder.

An edited audio clip echoed through the room.

First came Chloe’s tearful, pathetic pleading: "Ms. Vance, I really can't do this anymore... Please, I'm begging you, just let me go..."

Immediately followed by my cold, impatient voice: "Get lost."

The air inside the hearing room turned to ice.

"Just because I told her no," Chloe sobbed, wiping her eyes, "she forced me to process a fraudulent invoice to get her cash!"

"I don't even know the vendor listed on that receipt! I only found out later that our firm litigated against that exact company last year, and the lead counsel on the matter was Ms. Vance herself."

She turned to face me, her expression a masterclass in terror.

"Ms. Vance, that company was your opposing party. How could a first-year intern like me ever get hold of a fake receipt from your former legal enemy?"

"You planted that invoice on me to frame me from the start!!"

Ha. I finally understood why she had the guts to submit that specific receipt.

From the very beginning, her goal was never to pocket five thousand dollars. Her goal was to frame me.

The committee members turned their eyes on me, their stares piercing and unforgiving.

"Attorney Vance, how do you respond to the allegations presented by Ms. Lin?"

Chloe lowered her head, hiding the faint, triumphant smirk touching the corners of her lips.

I had been waiting for this exact moment.

Calmly, I stood up. I didn't look at the three committee members; I looked straight into Chloe’s eyes.

"My response is simple."

Reaching into my leather briefcase, I pulled out a high-resolution color photograph and slammed it onto the conference table.

The gloating smirk and theatrical tears vanished from Chloe’s face instantly.

"Chloe, you claim you don't know the vendor on that invoice?"

"Are you telling this committee you don't recognize your boyfriend of three years, Leo Wang?!"