My Father Is on Trial

My father was a judge, but he fell in love with a killer.
His lover ran my grandparents down with her car.
He found her not guilty in court.
At the time, his power was absolute.
No one dared to go against him.
That homewrecker lived in luxury and got whatever she asked for.
My mother lost both her parents, suffered betrayal, and was driven mad by everyone's ridicule.
Thirty years passed.
I fought with everything I had and became a Supreme Court justice.
During graduation season, I sat on the interview panel as presiding justice.
Across from me was a poised, immaculate young woman.
She was the finest graduate the law school had produced this year.
Looking at that familiar face, I glanced down at the surname on her file.
When I saw it, I froze.
I stared at it for a long time.
Then I raised my head and looked at the young woman who bore a faint resemblance to me.
“We won’t be hiring you.”
Chapter 1
Seraphina Hale's perfect expression cracked.
She asked in disbelief, "What did you say?"
I closed the file in my hands.
"Ms. Hale, you failed the interview. Please leave."
The room fell silent.
The other interviewers kept looking down to double-check the candidate's details.
Seraphina had skipped a grade at ten, entered one of the world's top law schools at fifteen and led a student team to victory after victory at eighteen.
She had published dozens of papers in prestigious international journals and been invited to speak at major legal forums around the world.
A graduate with a record like that comes along once in a century.
The interviewers looked at one another, but none of them dared to question my decision aloud.
Seraphina took it all in.
She smiled, and the last trace of humility vanished.
In its place was the contempt and arrogance of someone who had been pampered all her life.
“Judge Veyra, I know who you are.”
She tucked her hair behind her ear and stood up slowly.
"You came from the slums, and yet you made it this far. You must have given up everything you had."
Her eyes traveled over me from head to toe, her meaning unmistakable.
“But my father taught me that the law should never tolerate injustice. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Her smile held both a threat and the certainty that she would get her way.
Looking at that faintly familiar face and listening to her speak of fairness, I closed my hand around my pen and looked at her.
“None of that gives you the right to waste the next candidate’s time.”
Seraphina scoffed, “It’s people like you who cause so many miscarriages of justice! You’ll regret what you did today! Just wait!”
She turned on her heels and left.
I was packing up after the interviews when Hugo Thorne, the well-known legal scholar, hurried in, leaning on his cane.
He was my professor and the person who had brought me into this profession.
"Elowen! What were you thinking? She has such a promising future!"
I helped him into a chair and was about to speak when Jasper Cole, the former chief justice, came storming in.
He threw Seraphina's file down on the desk.
"Elowen, do you have any idea who she is? Judge Hale's only daughter! Her father was one of the pioneers in the legal field while you were still in diapers! One word from him and all of us could be out of a job! Elowen, hire Seraphina, fix this now!"
I straightened up and looked at him.
"Too late. The hiring results have already been published."
Jasper's expression froze.
Hugo turned sharply toward me and let out a heavy sigh.
A second later, both their phones rang at once.
One caller was Beatrice Hale.
The other was Arthur.
At the sight of those names, my hand tightened around the folder.
The phones rang briefly, but neither of them answered.
I said quietly to Hugo, "I'm sorry to have dragged you into this mess."
As I walked out, Jasper's furious voice followed me. "Elowen Veyra, you are destroying your career!"
I did not answer. I pulled out my phone and sent Seraphina's file to my staff for verification.
I had waited too long for this day.
Whatever it took, Mom and I were not losing this time.
Chapter 2
That afternoon, Beatrice came to my office.
Jasper personally escorted her in.
Her white hair was carefully styled.
She was old, yet her face was completely free of wrinkles.
Every gesture spoke of a woman who had lived a life of luxury and never been denied anything.
"So, you are Judge Veyra."
She sat down across from me and looked me over.
She no longer recognized me.
"At least you're pretty."
I had seen that look once, years ago.
The first time she came to our house, she looked at my mother in exactly the same way.
The next day, she ran my grandparents down with her car.
"Seraphina is outstanding, but you turned her down. Why?"
She looked at me with open mockery.
"Women understand women. Tell me. What do you want?"
I looked at her calmly.
"And you are?"
Her flawless expression froze for a second.
Then her contempt deepened.
"Don't play games with me. Money, power—I can give you anything you want. Seraphina wants this position, she will get it."
I looked down at the file in my hands.
"A better candidate has been chosen and the results have been announced. Please leave."
A crack appeared in Beatrice's composure.
"I have seen plenty of girls like you. You think sleeping with a few men means you have someone powerful protecting you? You can't take on the Hales just by sleeping with a few more men! And this profession has no room for a woman as corrupt as you!"
The more she spoke, the angrier she became. She slammed her hand on the desk.
The sound pulled my attention away from the case file I was reading.
Thirty years ago, she had pounded the table and used her unborn child to beg Arthur to acquit her.
Thirty years later, she slammed her hand on my desk and lectured me about justice.
The file crumpled in my hand. I looked up at her and smiled.
"Mrs. Hale, you seem to know a lot about sleeping your way to the top. Is that how you got here?"
Beatrice stared at me, then stood up.
"Judge Veyra, I'm just a mother who loves her daughter. How dare you slander me like this? You are not fit to call yourself a woman."
The commotion drew the attention of everyone outside my office.
A mother who loved her child.
Not fit to call myself a woman.
I thought about those words, leaned back in my chair and looked straight at her.
"Mrs. Hale, stop causing a scene and leave my office."
She was too angry to speak. Before she could leave, the office door suddenly opened.
"Elowen, you have disappointed me deeply!"
Hugo stood in the doorway and brought his cane down hard on the floor.
"Mrs. Hale is Judge Hale's wife. How could you speak to her like that? What will everyone in the legal profession think of us?"
Beatrice scoffed, folded her arms, and looked at me contemptuously.
Hugo came over and looked at me in disappointment.
"Apologize to Mrs. Hale."
I looked at that small, aging man.
He had defended the dignity of the law his whole life.
Yet he had no idea what the people he revered were really like.
I lowered my head and defied him for the first time.
"I will not apologize to her."
"Hire Seraphina for that position!"
I raised my head.
"That's impossible."
No sooner had I spoken than a voice came from the doorway. "Is that so?"
I will not forget that voice as long as I live.
Chapter 3
Arthur walked slowly through the door.
He wore a long dark coat and gold-framed glasses.
He carried himself with the authority of a man who had spent his life at the top.
He had grown old, but I would never forget his face.
The whole room went silent.
"Judge Veyra."
Arthur looked at me and said in a grave voice, "I am Seraphina's father."
He did not recognize me.
Of course not.
My mother and I meant nothing to him. He had cast us aside with a single word.
Naturally, he would not remember us.
I looked at him calmly.
"Mr. Hale. What can I do for you?"
Hugo rose to offer him a seat, but Arthur waved him off.
He came and stood in front of me, then bowed deeply.
"First, I must apologize on behalf of my wife and daughter. My wife loves our daughter dearly, and I am sure she said some harsh things just now. Please forgive her. Our daughter has been pampered her whole life. She does not understand how the world works. If she has been rude, I ask you to forgive her."
Everyone in that office was stunned.
Arthur Hale had once been the all-powerful Chief Justice, a man regarded as one of the founders of the legal profession.
Yet here he was, apologizing to someone as young as me for his wife and daughter.
And I was the one who had just rejected his daughter.
People outside the office began whispering.
Some of them had their phones out and were recording.
Beatrice shed a couple of tears right on cue.
"Arthur, you understand me. Everything I do is for Seraphina's happiness."
Hugo wiped his glasses and urged, "Elowen, this is how a person of true integrity behaves!"
What a loving husband. What a devoted father.
When Mom found out Arthur was cheating on her, he crouched beside her bed and told her she was the only woman he had ever loved.
He had sounded just as sincere and convincing then as he did now.
And then?
He stood in a courtroom and acquitted the woman he was having an affair with—the same woman who had killed my grandparents.
What a hypocrite.
I took a breath.
"Mr. Hale, get to the point."
He straightened up.
"Judge Veyra, I know it couldn't have been easy to come this far after growing up in the slums. So you should understand how hard Seraphina has worked to achieve everything she has. Hire Seraphina. And Beatrice and I will treat you like our own daughter. We will help you go as far as you want in your career."
Like their own daughter.
I laughed at that.
He discarded his daughter like trash thirty years ago.
Thirty years later, he suddenly remembered how to be a father—for Seraphina.
I looked at him and said each word slowly, "Mr. Hale, you really do love your daughter, but your daughter will never get this position."
Arthur’s expression darkened, and he let out a cold scoff.
"And why isn't Seraphina qualified for this position?"
I looked at him and replied calmly, "You should know better than anyone whether your daughter deserves it."
Before Arthur could answer, Beatrice lost her temper. "That is slander!" She strode forward and jabbed a finger at me. "My daughter is completely innocent. It's women like you who are destroying the future of the law!"
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
I looked up at her.
"Then there is something I would like to know. Since when did a housewife like Mrs. Hale become an authority on the future of the legal profession?"
"You bitch!"
My colleagues outside turned to look.
Arthur slammed his hand on the desk. "Enough!" He pulled Beatrice behind him and glared at me. "Abuse of power. Disrespect. Utter contempt for those around you. This profession has no room for someone like you! Tomorrow, I will file a complaint with the Department of Justice. And I will have you removed from the Supreme Court!"
With that, he and Beatrice stormed out.
Everyone who witnessed the scene gasped.
Hugo looked at me, sighed heavily, shook his head and left.
And I smiled.
A real smile.
The verification of Seraphina's academy record had come back.
My phone's screen lit up, showing a photograph of my mother holding me and smiling at the camera.
I touched the screen.
Thirty years ago, I was too small to protect the people I loved.
And far too weak to get justice.
Thirty years later, everything was different.
Arthur, this time, you're the one going on trial.
Chapter 4
Three days later, the courtroom gallery was packed with reporters.
Cameras were everywhere, recording the proceedings without permission.
One camera had even been set up in the best spot in the room to livestream the hearing.
I glanced at the screen.
The title read, “Judge Hale Returns to Correct a Miscarriage of Justice and Root Out Corruption in the Legal Profession.”
Even after all these years, Arthur still had enormous influence.
Arthur sat in the center of the bench, dressed in his judicial robes with a gavel before him.
Seraphina and Beatrice stood together to one side, arm in arm.
Their eyes were slightly red, and both looked quite emotional.
I walked slowly to the defendant's table and waited for the show to begin.
"Today, on behalf of the Department of Justice, I am bringing charges against Elowen Veyra. I will now present the evidence against her."
His voice was firm and authoritative, his expression solemn and impartial.
Seraphina's résumé appeared on the screen first.
At eighteen, she had led her student team to more than a hundred victories.
She had published dozens of papers in leading international journals.
She had been invited to prestigious legal forums around the world.
She had also given dozens of lectures at universities.
"As you can all see, Judge Veyra rejected an exceptional candidate for personal reasons."
The reporters immediately began whispering among themselves.
Comments flooded the livestream.
[Has Judge Veyra lost her mind? Where did she even come from?]
[I was lucky enough to attend one of Seraphina's lectures. She's brilliant.]
[How did Judge Veyra ever become a Supreme Court justice? I want to know the truth.]
Seraphina read the comments on her phone and smirked at me.
Then two security videos appeared on the screen.
The first showed Seraphina talking during her interview about her father's belief in justice, while I remained unmoved.
The second showed Arthur bowing to me in my office and apologizing for his wife and daughter, only for me to reject his request.
The courtroom erupted.
The livestream comments went wild.
[Seraphina is so brave! Like father, like daughter.]
[Judge Hale is a legend in the legal profession, but he lowered himself enough to apologize to that trash?!]
[Elowen Veyra is a disgrace to the legal profession!]
[People like her are the reason qualified graduates can't find jobs!]
Arthur raised a hand for silence, then continued, "We all know that Judge Veyra comes from a poor background. So how did a girl from the slums rise all the way to the Supreme Court? Perhaps there is more to her success than meets the eye."
"Let us call our witness, Jasper Cole."
Jasper took the stand. He looked around, took a breath and spoke.
"Elowen has always been very close to Professor Thorne. She claims they have nothing more than a mentor-student relationship.
"But I saw something very different. During the last judicial selection, Elowen was constantly visiting Professor Thorne's home."
The room fell silent.
The livestream comments flew by.
[She slept with an old man to get ahead? Disgusting.]
[Elowen Veyra is a slut!]
[Kick her off the bench and out of public office!]
[She should go to prison and never come out!]
Hugo sat in the gallery, surrounded by reporters staring at him.
He wanted to explain, but in the end, he only gripped his cane and sighed heavily.
Arthur watched the scene unfold with obvious satisfaction.
He cleared his throat and continued, "Finally, we have learned that Judge Veyra's mother is mentally unstable. Can someone raised in a family like that really be trusted to uphold the law?"
Then he played a video.
My mother appeared on the screen, her clothes dirty and her hair disheveled as she begged every passerby to give her justice.
My hands curled into fists.
"Based on the evidence presented today, the Department of Justice hereby removes Elowen Veyra from her seat on the Supreme Court. Seraphina Hale will replace her. Is there any objection?"
He looked around and raised his gavel.
"Wait."
My voice cut through the courtroom.
His hand stopped.
I raised my head and looked straight at him.
"Judge Hale, look at the woman in that video. She's the wife you abandoned thirty years ago. Do you really not recognize her?"