At nightfall, dinner passed in a subtle atmosphere.
The three girls ate obediently, keeping their eyes fixed on their plates and chewing soundlessly.
Their behavior was so unusually docile that, on any other day, it would have been cause for immediate concern; however, Sarah and John seemed to interpret it from a completely different angle.
"They sure are behaving wonderfully," commented Sarah with a radiant smile while she cut a piece of steak and placed it on her husband's plate. "It seems the 'toy' I brought them from the warehouse was a total success. I knew it would keep them entertained."
"Pft–..."
Lief, who was drinking water, almost spat.
"Ahem."
John suddenly cleared his throat, setting his silverware on the table, and his expression turned solemn as he turned his head toward his son.
"Lief, there is something I need to discuss with you."
Lief looked at him, instantly feeling a knot in his stomach.
He knew that tone of voice...
"...What is it?"
"You're not going to school tomorrow."
"Huh?" Lief's internal alarm went off.
"I've already called the administration to excuse your absence," continued John, completely ignoring his confusion. "Tomorrow you have an important mission: you are going to take your mother on a trip to the state of Florida."
"WHAT?!" Lief dropped his fork. "To Florida?! Dad, do you have a map? Do you know the distance from here to there? It's crossing the whole country!"
Indignation made him raise his voice.
A trip to Florida would be thousands of miles. Even driving non-stop, it would take days. Did they see him as a long-distance truck driver?
"Don't be dramatic, honey." Sarah wiped the corner of her lips with her napkin, maintaining her impeccable composure. "We aren't going to drive all the way there. We're going by plane. You will only be responsible for taking me to the airport, flying with me, and once in Florida, renting a car to act as my temporary chauffeur and personal assistant. That's all."
'That's all?' Lief thought ironically, feeling a violent throb in his temples.
Chauffeur and personal assistant? The job description didn't sound much better than that of a truck driver.
Basically, he was going to be the errand boy.
"Mom, I remind you that I'm still a high school student," he tried to argue, clinging to his last line of defense. "I have classes, exams, academic responsibilities…"
"Lief," John interrupted him with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Who are you trying to fool? The public school curriculum is a joke to you. Missing a few days won't affect your grades in the slightest. Look at it as... field practice. It will be excellent for your personal development and your resume."
"..."
Lief opened his mouth to retort, but closed it again upon realizing it was useless.
He slumped against the back of the chair, defeated, letting out a long sigh loaded with frustration.
Why did the adults in this family operate with such twisted and capricious logic?
First his mother, who brought home cursed and highly dangerous police evidence as if it were a board game for her daughters.
And now his father, who decided to interrupt his formal education to turn him into cheap labor and a bodyguard.
He felt his status in the family hierarchy plummeting.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed movement.
The three girls still had their heads down, but their shoulders were trembling rhythmically.
They were making an effort to contain their laughter!
Breathing deeply, controlling his emotions, he decided not to reason any further on this topic.
Resigned, he picked up his silverware and calmly cut a piece of steak.
He chewed slowly, taking his time to let the tension at the table settle, before swallowing and looking his father in the eyes.
"I'll go," he finally conceded. "But I have conditions."
"Oh?" John arched an eyebrow, setting his wine glass on the table with interest. "We're listening."
"I want all expenses for this business trip to be on you, including my personal expenses there. Also, I need extra monetary compensation. Consider it a fee for emotional damages, detriment to my education, and fees for labor assistance services."
If he couldn't avoid forced labor, at least he would make sure to squeeze every last penny out of the situation.
"..."
John and Sarah exchanged glances and a glint of complicit amusement crossed their eyes.
"Deal," agreed John without hesitation. "The case your mother has taken has substantial fees. Your 'compensation' is a drop in the ocean compared to the final billing."
Upon hearing that, Lief's mood improved considerably.
If there was money involved, the trip stopped being a sentence to become a business opportunity.
Dinner ended without further incidents.
Back in his room, Lief looked out the window toward the quiet night of the city.
He felt like a firefighter on permanent watch.
He had barely just extinguished a paranormal fire in his own living room and, without time to breathe, they were already sending him to put out a judicial fire thousands of miles away.
He sighed and pulled a suitcase out of the closet.
"Florida..." he murmured while throwing clothes inside. "At least there will be sun, beaches, and girls in bikinis. Take it as a paid vacation."
It was the only consolation he had left.
…
The next morning, the sun hadn't even grazed the horizon when Lief was dragged out of bed.
With a pair of marked dark circles and a coffee in hand, he found himself behind the wheel of the family car, driving his mother toward Los Angeles International Airport.
Early morning traffic was scarce, allowing for a smooth ride.
Through the rearview mirror, he saw the orange sun starting to rise, dyeing the sky. Lief rolled down the window a bit, letting the cold morning air hit his face to finish waking him up.
"Mom," he broke the silence, keeping his eyes on the road. "Since we are in such a hurry and you've recruited me by force, could you explain to me what is so special about this case? You are a high-profile lawyer. Why fly to the other side of the country personally?"
Sarah, who had been reviewing a thick stack of documents under the car's reading light, looked up with a serious expression.
"Because it is a thorny and morally repulsive case," she replied, closing the folder on her lap. "My client is a fifteen-year-old girl named Barbara. She accuses a highly prestigious teacher at her school of having kept her after class under the excuse of private tutoring, only to abuse her."
Lief nodded, automatically switching to lawyer mode.
"I see the problem. In these cases, the burden of proof is a nightmare," he commented drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. "I assume there are no eyewitnesses or cameras, and if time has passed, direct physical evidence will be circumstantial or nonexistent."
"And if the guy flatly denies it, it becomes a classic case of 'his word against mine'. And given that he has 'high academic prestige' and she is a teenager, the school and public opinion will instinctively incline to protect the reputation of the institution and the teacher."
"Exactly," Sarah nodded, visibly satisfied with her son's sharpness. "That is the first obstacle. But there is something worse. The girl's parents informed me that the teacher has hired the most aggressive defense money can buy in Florida. A lawyer named Kevin Lomax."
"Kevin Lomax...?" Lief frowned.
The name resonated in his memory with an unsettling familiarity.
"Yes," Sarah confirmed, and her voice took on a grave tone. "He is a legend in the southern legal circuit. Since his debut, he has taken sixty-four cases to trial... He hasn't lost a single one."
Looking out the window, she watched the planes taking off in the distance.
"He is a specialist in achieving impossible acquittals in criminal cases with dubious evidence. He has a supernatural talent for manipulating jury psychology and destroying the credibility of the victims."
"He never loses."
"..."
Lief let out a low whistle.
"Sounds impressive... So the girl's parents panicked over this guy's reputation and hired 'The Queen of Impossible Cases' expecting her to work a miracle."
"Basically," Sarah rubbed the bridge of her nose, revealing for a second the pressure she was carrying. "They almost went broke to pay my fees... I can feel their desperation, Lief. If I lose... I will have destroyed that family's life... I have to win!"
"..."
The car fell into silence.
Lief understood the pressure.
This wasn't about ego, it was about real justice for someone who had no other defense.
He turned the steering wheel to take the exit toward the departure terminal and looked at his mother out of the corner of his eye.
"Mom, relax," he said with an arrogant smile. "Since someone wants to challenge your throne, destroy him. You have a record of 88 consecutive victories and that Lomax guy has barely played 64 games... Compared to you, he is still a rookie playing in the minor leagues."
Sarah turned her head and upon seeing the absolute confidence on her son's face, the pressure weighing on her eased considerably.
"You just know how to be a flattering loudmouth," she said with a smile, shaking her head, although the glint in her eyes showed the comment had worked. "However, I admit I am curious. I want to see Kevin Lomax with my own eyes."
Upon hearing that name again, the smile on Lief's face remained static, but his fingers tensed imperceptibly on the steering wheel.
Kevin Lomax...
!
The name finally clicked in his memory, fitting like the last piece of a puzzle.
He knew he had heard it before, and not on the news.
It came from the movie The Devil's Advocate.
He remembered the plot perfectly: a young lawyer, undefeated, talented, and dangerously vain. A man who never lost a trial, not only because of his skill, but because his boss, a charismatic tycoon named John Milton, always pulled the strings from the shadows to ensure his victory.
And Milton's true identity was none other than...
SATAN himself.
He looked subtly at his mother, who remained absorbed in her papers.
Sarah Connor... The undisputed queen of the contemporary legal world.
A living legend who had built a record of 88 consecutive victories based on logic, obsessive preparation, and a surgical ability to dismantle lies on the stand.
She represented the pinnacle of human justice.
But if this Kevin Lomax was the real incarnation of his fictional counterpart... if he really had the "Devil" watching his back or tipping the scales of probability in his favor, then this ceased to be a simple abuse litigation.
Sarah was not heading to a trial... she was heading to an ambush.
This was going to be a head-on collision between the strictest human law and a cheating supernatural force.
'This just got good,' thought Lief, feeling a pang of genuine excitement running down his spine.
Now he was grateful he had come.
"What is it?" asked Sarah suddenly, without looking up from her documents.
She had noticed the change in the car's atmosphere.
It wasn't anything obvious, but her instinct picked up on the sudden tension and the reflective silence that had fallen over him.
"Nothing," lied Lief, relaxing his shoulders and leaning back in the seat with his usual lazy attitude. "I was just thinking that this trip to Florida might end up being much more entertaining than I had originally calculated."
________
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