“Can we move to my study?”

His grandmother questioned with a raised brow. She didn’t look like the grieving mother from a few minutes earlier. She had shed tears all the way from Kelvin’s café until they alighted at the mansion. But now she had retreated to her coldness.

Vince nodded his head in agreement, and they left the room. He stared around in wonder at the luxurious interior of the house. There were giant doors leading to different rooms, and the shimmering lights in the hallway made it all more beautiful.

They got to the study room, and Vince marveled at the arrangement. A library corner was set aside with neatly arranged law books. Excitement filled his mind. The color array in the room made it even more comfortable and welcoming.

“I did a little digging about you, Vince, or maybe more than a little,” his grandmother said, smiling.

“And what did you find?” he questioned sarcastically.

“You worked at Peak Law Firm before your arrest?”

“I did.”

Silence filled the air. His grandmother sat on a leather chair and pointed for him to sit on the opposite chair, which he did. She dropped hints about other aspects of his problematic life that she had discovered. Vince stared at her again. Something didn’t feel right. His gut instinct warned him.

“Why did you look for me now? And what about my dad’s marriage?”

“About your father’s marriage, his wife died, and they had no children.”

“Oh,” was all he could say.

“And the other question…” she hesitated slightly before continuing, “Your father isn’t the only one dying, Vince. I am also dying.”

Vince stared at her in disbelief. She removed her headgear, and her bald head shone.

“Cancer. Second stage. Rapid progression.”

“I am sorry.”

“Don’t be, Vince. I do not deserve your kindness. I looked for you to seek forgiveness and also bring you back to where you belong.”

Vince’s phone rang loudly, cutting through their conversation. He signaled to his grandmother, and she allowed him to pick the call. He picked it up, and Bernard’s sneer came through, just as he expected.

“Don’t you think you need to be grateful to me, Vince? I convinced the management to reinstate you. Or do you think many law firms will queue up to employ an ex-convict?”

“You still believe you did me a favor after sleeping with my wife?”

“Ex-wife, Vince. She divorced you already. Just put your signature on the damn paper and also… see you at work on Monday. Or would you rather prefer to starve to death?”

With that, the phone line went dead. Vince banged his hand on the table as frustration welled up in him. His grandmother stood up and patted his shoulder.

“Vince, there is something I need to tell you.”

“Aside from urging me to accept your apology?” he responded harshly.

“Aside from that, Vince, you are not just my grandson. You are the sole heir of our family’s company, Peak Law Firm.”

Vince’s jaw dropped. He batted his lashes in surprise. He couldn’t believe his ears. The company that deserted him in prison for a year turned out to be his inheritance.

“The current CEO that I see on the billboards?” he questioned in disbelief.

“Yes, son. That was your father, and it is all yours now. The position and Peak Law Firm itself. Let us go see your father.”

Vince hesitated for a few seconds. He let out a deep breath and followed his grandmother. The room was at the far end of the long hallway. The lanky, wrinkled man on the bed looked nothing like the good-looking, smiling man in the billboards.

He had numerous wires fitted to his face and body. His oxygen mask covered half of his face, but his distinguished jawline could still be seen.

Vince stood by the doorway, too afraid to walk in. The older woman charged forward, rushing over to her bedridden son. Vince almost lost his balance in the process. His father opened his eyes slowly as his grandmother held her hand to his.

“I brought him, Jack. Your son. He is handsome but pigheaded, just like you,” she said with a sardonic smile.

Vince watched as the bedridden man strained his neck to look at him. He moved forward and focused his attention on him. The bedridden man, the deadbeat man who had abandoned him as a child to be with another woman according to his mother’s story.

“How did you find me?” Vince questioned suspiciously.

His mother had always been tight-lipped about his father. Aside from her sob story about their abandonment and using his last name, Finn, everything else was a mystery.

“I tailed your mother’s name and found you. But when I did, you were already in prison, and that was when I visited you,” the old woman said, still clutching her son’s hand.

“I took a few strands of your hair from my first visit. It helped in confirming my suspicion. You were really my grandson.”

Vince scoffed and sat down on the couch. His phone chimed, and he checked the notification that popped up.

Another message from Amber. She demanded a fast response from him on signing the divorce papers. His day kept getting longer with each passing minute.

Vince raised his head with a fresh determination. Everyone who came to him always needed him for a reason.

“Why did you seek me out now? Why now? Mother said my father absconded with another woman,” Vince said bitterly. He glanced at the pitiful figure barely holding on to life.

His father’s eyes met his grandmother’s, and she nodded in understanding.

“Vince, listen. Your dad didn’t abscond to have an affair. Having you with your mother was the affair.”

“What!”

Now that was news. Everything Vince had ever known about his life was turning out to be a mere mirage.

“I am not justifying abandoning you, Vince. It was all my fault. I paid your mother off. Your father wasn’t even aware of your existence at that time.”

Vince got up on his feet and tried to leave. He had heard enough. He was a rejected child, a forsaken husband, and now everyone needed something from him. He looked again at his email. Once he walked out of there, he was going to sign it and let Amber go.

His hand was already on the doorknob when he heard a muffled sob and a barely audible voice. “Don’t go, son.”

He turned around and saw his bedridden father struggling to get up. He stretched his hand forward, trying to reach him.

Vince felt his harsh resolve melt completely. He rushed forward and held his father’s hand. The man smiled warmly at him, satisfaction written all over his face.

He kept trying to apologize despite the incoherence of his words. Vince settled by his side at last and watched him drift back into sleep.

He felt the man’s pulse weaken, and Vince put his ear to his father’s chest. His eyes widened as realization hit him.

“Grandmother, I can’t feel his pulse anymore,” Vince said as his father’s hand dropped.

The attending doctor rushed up to them and placed a stethoscope on Jack’s heart. The doctor’s expression was blank, and he drew back gently.

“Is my son dead?”

Vince knew he had to look the part. He bought himself some pieces of cheap, locally made suits with badly fitted shoulder pads and pants. It had been two weeks since he found out about his real identity and his father’s death. Paperwork was ongoing on the transfer of the company ownership into his.

He had begged his grandmother for her discretion on his identity. He needed to reform the system of Peak Law Firm to avoid having more victims like himself. To do that, he needed to go undercover within the company. Bernard’s trap seemed like his best bet at achieving this aim.

He was going to take the demotion the company offered. A desk job with a meager salary seemed like a perfect cover.

He walked into the gigantic doors of Peak Law Firm, and he marveled at the exterior just as he did the first day he showed up there for his interview three years ago.

He was stopped halfway by the security guards, but after some confirmations, he was allowed in, and he went straight to “his hell,” Bernard Harris’s office.

Bernard smiled widely when he saw him. He felt immense joy that he had humbled Vince. The lowlife had to be desperate enough to show up at work, knowing fully what lay ahead for him.

“You took your sweet time showing up, Vince Finn,” Bernard said mockingly.

Vince was quiet. The man rambled on endlessly about what his new position required. He handed him the demotion agreement while exaggerating his current rights for that position, unlike the privileges he had held in the past as a lawyer.

“The company is mourning the current CEO, so you wouldn’t be penalized for showing up late after your reinstatement.”

“Okay, Mr. Harris,” he said and turned to leave.

“Just okay? No appreciation whatsoever?” Bernard said sarcastically, adjusting his polka dot tie.

“Thank you, Mr. Harris.”

Vince walked out of his office. He smiled satisfactorily to himself. Bernard looked so pleased with himself that he wouldn’t see his downfall coming, not even from a mile away. Vince made for the stairs leading to the third floor, where Bernard described as his new office.

He was glad he achieved his aim. With every step he took, gossip followed his strides. The staff that knew him in the past all looked at him with gloomy expressions. They all thought he was actually pitiful. The truth was glaring from the onset.

Amber had committed the crime, but who was going to challenge the authorities when she was sanctified innocent and even promoted?

Now she dined with the top lawyers of the firm while her ex-husband became a desk worker.

What manner of injustice in a top-tier law firm.

Vince was on the first staircase when his eyes caught a pair of heels. It was just as he remembered it—a pretty pink lace covering the toes. The last birthday gift he bought Amber before his arrest.

Their eyes met, and shock registered on her face. She hadn’t expected Vince to really be stupid enough to make a comeback. She had dismissed the possibility of his excessive desperation when Bernard talked about making it happen, reducing him to nothing worthy of her.

She steadied herself and acted indifferent toward him. She cursed her ill luck inwardly for wearing a gift from him on his shameful return.

“Have you signed the divorce papers now?” she said bluntly.

“Good morning to you too, Amber.”

Amber scoffed loudly. The lowlife still had some pride left in him when she expected total humility from him.

“Vince Finn, probably because you just returned, you might not be aware that I got a huge promotion in your absence. So I am totally out of your league.”

“Okay.” Vince reached into the old briefcase on his left arm. He retrieved the printed version of the divorce agreement and handed it over to her. Amber checked it and smiled warmly.

“Well, by this now, we are total strangers anywhere.”

“Well noted, Miss Reed.”

Amber walked out on him. Relief flooded her mind. She had expected him to fight back, but he didn’t. Somehow, that infuriated her.

The loser should have even made a little effort. It didn’t matter much anyway. Bernard had promised her marriage, and the only stumbling block in their way was her sham marriage, which she had just invalidated. She was a free woman now.

Vince proceeded toward the exit leading to the next staircase. He felt his knees wobble. His grandmother had made him spend most of his days in her company since his father’s burial.

Regrettably, he couldn’t attend the burial, but the rumors of his existence were already circulating on the internet.

His grandmother had paid a blogger to spread the rumor, and it was definitely working. Their only challenge now was finding a worthy “Vince Finn.”

For the past week, they had run over ten discreet interviews, but unfortunately none of the candidates fit his taste. They all seemed interested only in the money, and he knew their cover would be blown all too soon if he gave them the chance.

He urged his grandmother to keep searching for other people, and she had sent him another interview list for that evening. Hopefully, one of the three candidates would show up with promising responses.

Vince rose from his seat and was about to circle down the stairs when he heard voices.

“I heard the CEO has a son.”

“What! That is new.”

“It is all over the internet. I heard he is taking over soon.”

“Wow.”

“Bingo!” Vince thought as he walked past the two ladies gossiping about him. Their expressions dwindled into pity. Everyone from their past held the same sentiment that Amber was an ungrateful wench, but no one dared challenge her or her new lover, Bernard Harris.

Vince smiled inwardly because he knew his pitiful state was going to become a new normal soon. The news of the new CEO would soon spread like wildfire, and that was the news he wished to solidify even more.

Because it was the foundation of his impending revenge.

The hard book cover made a slamming sound as it landed on the big mahogany table. Vince raised his head sharply, and his eyeglasses almost fell off his pointed nose. Amber had a smug look on her face as she stood there looking at him.

“Complete the paperwork on this case. The court hearing is scheduled for next week Tuesday.”

“You could have at least dropped it politely.”

Vince said calmly and drew the book toward himself. He opened the hard cover to check the case. He locked eyes with Amber, who wore a slightly offended expression. Her brow was furrowed despite trying to act unaffected by his words.

“A rape case?” Vince said with a shocked expression.

“So?” Amber was starting to get annoyed.

“And Peak Law Firm is representing the plaintiff?”

“And? Do you have a problem with that, Vince?”

“You are representing a perpetual rapist. His criminal history is right here,” Vince said painstakingly.

“I guess being away for quite a long while has dulled your ability as a person with a law degree. Everyone deserves a fair hearing, even the worst of all. Isn’t it?”

“Aren’t we supposed to be more focused on helping the powerless?”

“That is not for you to decide, Vince Finn. Just do your damn desk job. Your glory days are over. Keep your sentiments to yourself. Peak Law Firm isn’t meant for charity.”

Amber walked out on him. She bit her lower lip as a sense of irritation washed over her just by being around him.

She had continuously questioned Bernard’s savage plan to bring him back to the firm and found it crazy. But he kept acting like he needed someone lowly to bully so much.

It wasn’t supposed to matter, Amber thought, but why did the consistent gossip around them start to pierce her armored heart?

She made for her office. A spacious room with tinted windows. She remembered how she used to peep through the blinds two years ago just to catch glimpses of Bernard Harris, who once owned that office. Today, it was hers, and she planned to own up to it.

She opened the door to walk in when someone rushed up to stop her. He was panting hard as he reached her. He tried to steady his breathing while Amber’s eyes ravaged his appearance.

Aside from Vince’s good looks and sexy body, his overall appearance and demeanor were out of place.

His oversized suit had a few visible holes in it, and his shoes were the cheapest outdated ones in the store she used to frequent with him in the past. His wristwatch strangely looked new and expensive, but Amber knew it was all a facade. He could have gotten it in a black market.

“Miss Reed, please… you need to sign the acceptance record. I forgot to give it to you earlier.”

Amber snatched the paper from his grasp and appended her signature. She took another look at Vince and wondered how she had unfairly fallen for a lowlife like him in the past.

“Anything else, Mr. Finn? You can leave if there is none.” She waved dismissively.

“May I request that I leave work a little early today?”

Amber laughed hysterically. Vince was totally unbelievable. He had barely spent a week at the law firm since his return, and he was already seeking favors from her. She knew he worked directly beneath her, but somehow managing him was still difficult.

“What is the problem? Family emergency?” she said sarcastically.

“I need… to see my doctor.”

“Oh. You definitely need an MRI done on you. You can go ahead,” she said, looking at him from head to toe in utter disgust.

“Thank you, Miss Reed,” he said enthusiastically and rushed out.

A dozen eyes followed his stride. Most of his former colleagues, who were now attorneys, kept gazing at him. The memory of his past sharp wits haunted them. Discussing his life in private had become a new norm, and now seeing him acting all calm while Amber bossed him around infuriated them.

Vince returned to his seat and brought out his phone. Thankfully, he was assigned to a small private space close to the storage room, so he had no issue with privacy.

“I will be out in thirty minutes,” he typed, sent the message, and dropped his phone.

He glued his attention to his computer screen while he concluded the paperwork he had been assigned the previous day. He hastened his pace, and after he was done, he picked up his outdated suitcase and made for the exit.

His eyes scanned his surroundings as he noticed a tension rise in the air, but he didn’t stop. He took the last step toward the door when a cold, menacing masculine voice called out to him.

“And where do you think you are going?”

He turned around to face Bernard, whose expression was terrifying. The man balled his fist as if he was preparing to punch Vince, who tried to maintain his humility.

“I requested permission to leave early for an appointment with my doctor, and Miss Reed granted it.”

“And where is the document to back up that claim?”

“I… I didn’t…”

“None, right!” Bernard raised his voice. He knew the rest of the staff were eavesdropping, so he continued his charade to exercise his authority. “You were once a lawyer, weren’t you? Aren’t you aware of the importance of documenting your requests?”

“I am sorry, Mr. Harris,” Vince said calmly, his head downcast.

Bernard scoffed loudly. “I don’t think you will be able to survive the reformation once the new CEO shows up.”

Vince stood there stiffly, taking the rest of his scolding before he was finally allowed to go. He walked out of the office with a huge grin on his face.

He walked down a few blocks away from the company building, and once he was beyond eyesight, he turned into another corner where there was no CCTV camera.

A black Rolls Royce was parked there. Immediately he appeared, the man sitting in the front seat alighted and rushed to open the backseat door for Vince. He bowed low when he saw him approach.

Vince acknowledged him and patted him on the shoulder before getting into the car. The man shut the door and returned to the front seat beside the driver.

“Are we headed to the interview now, Mr. Finn?”

“No. Take me to the clothing store close by. I can’t afford to meet Vince Finn of Peak Law Firm in rags,” he said enthusiastically, scanning through the list of the suggested imposters.