Chapter 39
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The first meeting with Rosa Martinez took place in one of the clinic’s small, soundproof interview rooms. The space was sparsely furnished with a round table and three chairs, designed to feel less like an interrogation room and more like a safe harbor.
When Rosa walked in, Lily instantly recognized the posture. Rosa’s shoulders were hunched, her eyes darted nervously toward the closed door, and her hands trembled slightly as she clutched a battered leather purse to her chest. It was the universal body language of a woman who had been hunted for years.
"Hello, Rosa," Lily said softly, standing up and offering a warm, reassuring smile. "My name is Lily. I am the student attorney assigned to your case, under the supervision of Professor Hayes. Please, have a seat."
Rosa sat down tentatively, her eyes filled with a mixture of desperate hope and profound exhaustion.
"They told me you were students," Rosa whispered, her voice shaking. "Victor has a team of five lawyers from a high-rise firm downtown. They wear expensive suits. They laugh at me in the hallways before the hearings. How can a student fight them?"
"They wear expensive suits because they are trying to project power they don't actually possess," Lily explained, leaning forward and resting her hands openly on the table. "They rely on intimidation because their actual legal foundation is built on lies. I am not intimidated by expensive suits, Rosa. And I am entirely unafraid of Victor Thorne."
Rosa looked at Lily, searching her face for any sign of hesitation or false bravado. She found only absolute, unshakeable resolve.
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"He told me he would destroy me," Rosa cried quietly, a single tear slipping down her bruised cheek. "He said if I didn't give him full custody of the kids and walk away with nothing, he would drag this out until I was homeless and broken."
"He is lying to you," Lily stated with absolute certainty, her voice a solid anchor in the storm of Rosa's panic. "He is trying to make you believe that his wealth makes him a god. But he is just a man, Rosa. And the law is the great equalizer. We are going to build a fortress around you and your children, and we are going to force him to tell the truth in the light."
