I Was gonna post one chapter every 2 to 3 days .But since there are a lot of reviews and I cant just post 3 or 4 chapters a day .I will be posting one chapter a day for week or 2 weeks
Thank you for the good reviews .If you are worried that this fanfic will be dropped it wont .
Since all it need is one patreon member to make it weekly updated (it got few members already ) and I have the outlines for the next 80 chapters.
Chapter 5: The Morning Routine
The alarm went off at 5:47 AM.
Not 5:45. Not 6:00. Exactly 5:47, because that gave me thirteen minutes to shower, dress, and make coffee before the building's hot water died at 6:00 when everyone else woke up.
I killed the alarm on the first ring and swung out of bed.
My studio apartment in Murray Hill was small enough that I could see the entire space from the mattress—kitchenette in one corner, desk against the opposite wall, bathroom door cracked open showing a sliver of tile. No decorations. No personal touches. Just law books alphabetized on a shelf, case files stacked in color-coded folders on the desk, and a closet with five identical suits in rotation.
Red folders: urgent. Yellow: this week. Blue: background research.
Control in a profession that rewards preparation.
I made coffee while the shower ran hot—cheap instant grounds that tasted like burnt rubber, but caffeine was caffeine. While it brewed, I pulled up my tablet and scanned overnight legal news.
Supreme Court had denied cert on three cases. Second Circuit issued a ruling on securities fraud that would affect Morrison Financial's compliance strategy. Southern District approved a settlement in a pharmaceutical liability case that set new precedent for punitive damages.
The System flagged relevant items automatically.
[BLACKMAIL ARCHIVE: UPDATING]
[MORRISON FINANCIAL - RELEVANT PRECEDENT IDENTIFIED]
[PHARMACEUTICAL LIABILITY - PATTERN ANALYSIS STORED]
I dismissed the notifications and stepped into the shower.
Thirteen minutes later, I was dressed—charcoal suit today because Louis had mentioned a meeting with banking clients who preferred conservative presentation. Navy tie, Windsor knot, leather shoes buffed to a shine that caught the weak morning light filtering through my single window.
Not obsession. Strategy.
The coffee was still hot when I grabbed my briefcase and headed out.
The subway at 6:30 AM was packed with the early crowd—bankers, lawyers, restaurant workers finishing night shifts. I wedged into a spot near the doors and pulled out my phone, reviewing case notes for the Morrison contracts Louis wanted by nine.
A paralegal two feet away complained loudly into her phone about discovery deadlines.
"I don't care if it's only Thursday, Jenkins wants everything by tomorrow morning, which means I'm pulling another all-nighter—"
A junior partner across the car practiced opening statements under his breath, mouthing words without sound, hands gesturing in tiny movements.
The System cataloged it all passively.
[OBSERVATION LOGGED: PARALEGAL - DISCOVERY STRESS PATTERNS]
[OBSERVATION LOGGED: JUNIOR PARTNER - PRE-TRIAL PREPARATION ANXIETY]
I didn't need the information. But the System stored it anyway, building patterns, learning the rhythms of how lawyers moved through the city.
The train rattled through the tunnel, lights flickering as we passed under the East River.
By 6:58 AM, I was walking through Pearson Hardman's marble lobby.
Through the glass windows facing the street, I spotted Mike Ross jogging up the sidewalk—tie crooked, jacket flapping, hair a mess like he'd rolled out of bed ten minutes ago.
7:24 by my watch. Twenty-six minutes late.
We crossed paths at the elevators. He was breathing hard, fumbling with his ID badge.
"Morning," he said, flashing that easy smile.
"Morning."
The elevator arrived. We stepped in together, and I pressed the button for our floor.
Mike leaned against the wall, still catching his breath.
"You're here early."
"Same time every day."
"Yeah, I keep meaning to do that. Just... mornings are hard."
Because Harvey lets you get away with it.
I nodded but didn't respond. The elevator climbed in silence.
Mike looked stressed—tie still askew, shirt wrinkled like he'd grabbed it off the floor. Whatever Harvey was teaching him, punctuality wasn't part of the curriculum.
The doors opened. Mike headed straight for Harvey's office. I went to my desk.
A yellow sticky note was waiting for me.
Louis wants the Morrison contracts by 9. - D.
Donna's handwriting. Efficient, clear, the kind of penmanship that came from writing a thousand notes a day without wasting a single stroke.
I'd interacted with her maybe three times since starting—brief conversations in the file room, passing acknowledgments in the hallway. Harvey's secretary. His gatekeeper. The person everyone said was impossibly competent and always three steps ahead of the chaos.
Worth observing.
I grabbed the Morrison file from my desk and headed toward the file room to pull the contract copies Louis needed.
Donna's desk was positioned outside Harvey's office like a fortress checkpoint. She was already on the phone—coordinating Harvey's schedule based on the rapid-fire way she spoke—while simultaneously reviewing what looked like a brief, red pen making quick corrections.
Multitasking that would've made most people's heads explode.
She glanced up as I passed, caught my eye, gave a small nod.
No smile. No words. Just acknowledgment.
Mutual recognition of people who show up prepared.
I nodded back and kept walking.
By 7:30 AM, I was settled at my desk with the Morrison contracts organized in the order Louis would need them—original agreement, amendments, compliance addendums.
The bullpen was still mostly empty. A few early-bird associates trickled in, grabbing coffee from the break room, settling into their cubicles with the resigned energy of people facing another fourteen-hour day.
Louis emerged from his office at exactly 7:30, surveyed the bullpen, and his gaze landed on me.
Already working. Already prepared.
He gave a small grunt of approval and disappeared back into his office.
This is the foundation.
Not flashy wins. Not mentor relationships built on charisma.
Just relentless, undeniable competence.
I opened my laptop and started drafting the compliance memo Louis would need for this afternoon's client call, and the System hummed quietly in the background, learning my rhythms, cataloging my patterns.
[ROUTINE ANALYSIS: CONSISTENT PREPARATION YIELDS PREDICTABLE ADVANTAGE]
[PUNCTUALITY: +15 MINUTES AVERAGE OVER PEER GROUP]
[ORGANIZATION: REDUCES TIME WASTE BY 23%]
[ASSESSMENT: SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE EDGE]
I dismissed the notification.
Tell me something I don't know.
The morning rolled forward, and I worked.
By 8:30, the bullpen was full.
Jennifer Park arrived with her usual severe efficiency, already on her phone negotiating something. Kyle Durant showed up at 8:45, coffee in one hand, bagel in the other, looking like he'd partied too hard last night.
Mike was in Harvey's office, visible through the glass walls, both of them laughing about something.
And I was three hours deep into work that actually mattered.
Louis appeared at my desk at 8:50.
"Morrison contracts?"
I handed him the folder.
"Organized by execution date. Compliance addendums are flagged with the sections that need review before the client call."
He flipped through it, nodded once.
"Good. Conference room at two. You're presenting the compliance update."
My stomach tightened.
Another client presentation. Getting comfortable with this.
"Understood."
Louis left without another word.
I leaned back in my chair, rolled my shoulders, felt the familiar weight of preparation settling over me.
Morrison Financial. Compliance memo. Two PM presentation.
The System offered probability calculations I didn't ask for.
[WIN RATE CALCULATOR: PASSIVE ANALYSIS]
[SUCCESSFUL PRESENTATION PROBABILITY: 71% (±15%)]
[FACTORS: PREVIOUS SUCCESS WITH CLIENT, THOROUGH PREPARATION, LOUIS'S CONFIDENCE]
I ignored it and went back to work.
The morning passed in a blur of emails, contract reviews, and the low hum of associate conversations around me.
And somewhere in the mechanical rhythm of it all, I felt something that might've been satisfaction.
This is working. Louis trusts me. The path forward is clear.
Not Harvey's path. Not the golden mentorship everyone else wanted.
But mine.
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