"You’re hungry?"
Seeing Hugo pause, then nod, made Kiara’s face twitch slightly.
Was she a vending machine to him now?
Kiara frowned, her heart sinking as she started to see Hugo as a younger version of Stephen. But unlike Stephen, who wouldn’t stop talking, this one seed like he wanted to play a guessing ga with her.
She sighed in defeat. "I still have so snacks in the office. I’ll probably make sothing from there."
"Tch." Hugo clicked his tongue and pulled up his visor, looking at her with a deadpan expression. "I am hungry, yes, but I’m not asking you to feed . Though that’s nice of you, and I don’t mind if you do."
"Oh."
"Hop in," he said, reaching for his visor again. "Grace called and told to take you to her office. She’s taking the case, but she also needs..."
Hugo trailed off, looking back slowly as Kiara sohow magically appeared in his backseat.
"That was... quick."
"Let’s go," she urged, tugging the hem of his jacket. "I’ll do whatever she needs. Anything."
"Hah." He let out a short, shallow laugh before sliding off the extra helt hooked on his arm, then passed it to her. "I know you would. Here."
Surprised, she gazed down at the smaller helt he handed to her. A small smile crept onto her face before she took it and put it on. The pleasant scent of the helt — a mix of floral shampoo and faint feminine cologne — quickly filled her senses.
Is this soone else’s helt?
Her thoughts were cut off when Hugo spoke.
"You ready?"
"Uh, yes."
"Hold tight," he yelled. But with the helt on, his voice sounded muffled. Kiara barely had ti to brace herself as he revved up the motorbike and spun it off its stand.
Kiara grabbed onto anything she could to avoid falling. It was a good thing she was used to her scooter, so riding a bigger bike wasn’t a huge problem. But still, with how fast he took off, she realized one thing:
She had never ridden her scooter this fast before.
Perhaps, she wasn’t used to riding a two-wheeled vehicle as she thought she was.
****
When Kiara and Hugo reached the law firm in the heart of the city, her legs wobbled as she almost crawled off the bike, her soul still halfway out of her body.
"I swear... it usually takes around half an hour to get here from the warehouse." Her face paled as she weakly removed the helt, shooting him a bitter look. For a second, she had truly believed they wouldn’t make it.
The thirty-minute ride at a normal speed had turned into fifteen minutes. And it was still morning!
Hugo grinned, pulling up his visor slightly just to say, "I had an ergency."
"..."
She huffed, keeping her thoughts to herself. When she tried to hand the helt back to him, Hugo lightly pushed it back toward her.
"Keep it," he said. "I’ll be back."
With that, he quickly left without further explanation — his "ergency" seemingly involving a desperate visit to the toilet.
Kiara, however, could only wonder what kind of ergency could justify driving like that.
"I want to think nature’s calling, but that’s just rude," she murmured, hugging the helt to her chest as she shook her head. Slowly, she turned around and gazed at the sophisticated entrance of the firm.
Everything, from the bottom to the top floors, was made of glass, letting sunlight flood the surroundings. She had heard of this law firm before — or at least, its previous na, before the firm had changed partners.
Kiara, after all, was the daughter of a well-known lawyer and a respectable judge. She was well aware of her parents’ biggest competitor in the industry.
Pressing her lips into a thin line, Kiara nodded to herself.
"This is not about ," she whispered. "Hugo trusts her, so I’m sure she can help. At least, that’s what I want to believe."
Without hesitating any longer, she walked into the building to look for Grace.
Her confidence in Grace wasn’t exactly rock-solid. Grace was a corporate lawyer; this type of case wasn’t typically within her expertise. Even so, she was the only brave one willing to take it.
Kiara could only hope they could negotiate a reasonable fee.
****
Finding Grace’s office wasn’t hard. Everyone seed to know who she was, and Grace had already inford the right people about Kiara’s arrival. One of Grace’s assistants led her to a corner office.
"Just go in," the assistant said with a kind smile. "She’s waiting inside."
Kiara smiled back and nodded. "Thank you."
"You’re welco."
The assistant returned to her cubicle just outside the office.
Taking a breath, Kiara faced the door. She mustered her courage and knocked twice. When she heard a faint "Co in," she carefully pushed the door open.
Peeking her head in, she stepped inside, scanning the brightly lit room. She spotted Grace in the corner, adjusting a vase filled with sunflowers.
"Oh, you’re here!" Grace’s voice was casual, glancing over her shoulder and motioning for Kiara to take a seat. "Sit down."
Kiara forced a smile and carefully took her seat, watching Grace arrange the vase one last ti before crossing the room to her desk.
"I know Hugo already told you I’m taking the case," Grace said, gathering a handful of papers from the desk and sitting across from her. The papers landed on the table with a faint thud.
"But taking the case isn’t the problem," Grace continued. "I need you to convince Cassandra Smith to fire her current lawyer and hire ."
Kiara gulped and nodded. "I can do that."
"Good." Grace nodded approvingly. "Once she hires , I’ll et with her. But I have a few conditions."
"Attorney, if this is about the fee—"
"I’m taking the case pro bono," Grace cut her off, raising her hand slightly.
Kiara’s brows shot up in surprise. "Pro bono?"
"Yes," Grace said, nodding. "Don’t thank , though. This decision isn’t out of the goodness of my heart. It’s strategic. This case is huge. The last thing I want is to be accused of gaining anything from it."
She kept her tone steady as she added, "And with that, you also need to convince your friend to treat my words as her bible. Once she hires , she must cut ties with Senator Smith and the entire Smith family. If you can convince her to do that, I’ll take the case and we can discuss strategy."
Kiara swallowed hard. Grace was as direct as ever. But she understood Grace’s reasoning without needing further explanation. Cutting ties with the Smiths could an many things: implicating them, pushing the bla onto them, or simply severing the political entanglents tied to the case.
Either way, that wasn’t Kiara’s concern.
"I can convince her," Kiara said firmly, her eyes full of determination. "Leave it to ."
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