Chapter 2

Brenda kept pressing me for answers.

I sat on the cold floor and began to tell her Mom's story and mine.

In the beginning, Mom wasn't the legal legend she later became.

She was just a struggling single mom with a child, an intern pouring tea and running errands at a law firm.

No connections, no husband.

The man who abandoned us had thrown us out of the house like trash.

The winter in the north was bone-chilling.

Mom, dressed in a thin business suit, huddled on the cold streets, shivering, holding me close.

I knew Mom was starving, so I bravely begged for a piece of bread and shoved it into her mouth.

In that desperate situation, Mom unleashed an astonishing will to survive.

From then on, Mom was reborn.

She won an industry award at thirty, became a law firm partner at thirty-five.

By forty, cases she handled were making national headlines, and she collected accolades effortlessly.

That man who'd kicked us out years ago knelt, begging for her to take him back.

But she stood before him, coldly handing him a lawsuit.

"I know exactly who treated me well and who kicked me when I was down."

"From this day forward, Aubrey and I, we have nothing to do with you."

"I will give Aubrey the best life, and no one will ever bully her."

From then on, Mom soared to new heights, yet she never thought of leaving me behind.

No matter how busy she was, she always made time for me every day.

When it was time for college, she turned down multi-million dollar cases to help me study.

When I was looking for a job after graduation, she pulled every string she had to pave the way for me.

I worried I might become a burden to Mom.

But she looked at me and said,

"Aubrey, that year in the snow, if it wasn't for that half-eaten bread you gave me, I wouldn't have made it."

"From that moment, I swore I'd make sure you lived a life of utmost comfort and opportunity."

"Aubrey, you are my life; no matter how high I fly, you are my only weakness."

She was that kind of person: extremely principled.

Once she decided on something, she saw it through to the end.

It was true when she was fighting a case.

It was true when she was raising me.

And it was true even when she sacrificed her own kin for the sake of 'justice.'

"Sacrificed her kin?"

Hearing this, Brenda's eyes widened in disbelief.

"You two relied on each other, such a deep bond, and she still sent you to jail?"

"What kind of huge crime did you commit? Murder? Arson?"

"Was it like on TV, where you became some big drug lord?"

None of that.

My crime was aggravated assault.

By the time I was twenty-two, Mom was an unshakable authority in the legal world.

She was no longer content with commercial victories.

She began to dedicate more of her energy to what she called "social justice."

She didn't care for money, nor power.

Instead, she pursued fame with an almost obsessive fervor.

Whether they were wealthy elites or high-ranking officials, if they broke the law, Mom took them all on, sending them straight to prison.

What she was most proud of was her reputation for never showing favoritism or bending the law.

"That impartiality is what put me at the top of my profession."

"The law is equal for everyone, and even my own family must face consequences if they break it."

"There's no room for compromise in that process."

She said she loved the law.

And she loved the thrill of holding people's fates in her hands even more.

In the realm of the courtroom, she was the goddess who controlled everything.

Guilty or innocent, life or death - it was all up to her.

I didn't understand Mom's grand philosophies.

Then, one day, Liam Miller, a student Mom was sponsoring, suddenly looked up.

"You're right, I admire that spirit too."

"Justice knows no bias, it only demands a clear conscience."

"Look how well I did in the mock trial today; it's all thanks to your excellent guidance."

On a stifling summer day, buzzing with unseen activity, my fate began to change.