The Pretender's Gambit

At five in the morning, the sky was still dim, and the streetlights cast long shadows on the law firm's glass door. I had just put my briefcase down at the front desk when I heard hurried footsteps outside, mixed with a woman's sharp screams. "Where's Archer Jones? Get Archer Jones out here!" I frowned and walked over to see a woman in an off-white trench coat pounding hard on the reception desk. Behind her followed a middle-aged man and woman, the man clutching a crumpled medical record. The woman spun around, her face clearly angry, her eyeliner smudged from the upset, giving her a fierce look. "You're Archer Jones?" She sized me up and down, her tone dripping with contempt. "You take the consultation fee and then just wash your hands of it?" "My mom got hit by someone, and you can't even give a single explanation!" I thought back and yes, I did receive her last week. She said her mother had fallen at the entrance of the vegetable market, and a young man helped her up, but she was adamant that the young man had actually hit her mother. I explained to her that based on the surveillance footage she provided, it was clearly the elderly woman who lost her footing and fell, and the young man was just kindly helping. "Sophie Yip," I tried to keep my tone calm, "I already told you last week—the footage is clear. Sean Zimmerman didn't hit your mother; he was acting bravely for a just cause." "Acting bravely for a just cause?" Sophie Yip sneered coldly, stepped forward, and grabbed my wrist with surprising strength. "You took a bribe from him, didn't you?" "I don't care about any surveillance footage; he has to pay! Five hundred thousand, not a cent less!" "You're a lawyer, so you have to help me get it back, or I'll report you to the judicial bureau!" The middle-aged woman behind her added, "Exactly, Sophie knows big shots. Don't be ungrateful!" I yanked my wrist free, already seeing a red mark on my skin. "You need evidence to back up your words. Sean Zimmerman is just a recent graduate; he neither has the ability to hit and run nor the means to bribe me." "What you're doing is extortion." "Extortion?" Sophie Yip looked like she'd just heard the funniest joke ever, pulled out her phone, and played a recording. "Listen to this. This is what you told me last week—you said 'we can try negotiating compensation with the other party,' and now you're calling me an extortionist?" "I'm telling you, Archer, either you write me a lawyer's letter today, or I'll make your life at work miserable!" I looked at her unreasonable attitude, and a surge of anger rose inside me. As a lawyer, I've dealt with plenty of difficult clients, but someone like Sophie Yip—who twists the truth and shamelessly tries to extort someone acting bravely for a just cause—this was a first. "Sorry, I can't help you." I straightened my back and said firmly, "My duty is to uphold justice, not to help you extort." "If you insist on going down this path, I suggest Sean Zimmerman report you to the police." Sophie's face instantly went pale. She pointed at me, speechless for a long moment, then spat harshly, "Fine, you've got guts! Just you wait and see!" With that, she slammed the door and stormed off with the two middle-aged people. The wind chime at the door rattled loudly, sharp and piercing in the stillness of the early morning. I stared at the empty doorway, rubbing my sore wrist, fully aware this wouldn't be an easy matter to settle. After Sophie Yip left, I sat alone in the office, unable to calm my restless mind. Sean Zimmerman's face flashed in my mind—when he came in last week, his eyes filled with grievance and anxiety, saying he just wanted to help but unexpectedly got entangled in this. If I don't help him, this young man just starting out could easily be pushed into a dead end by Sophie. I decided to start by investigating Sophie Yip's background. I turned on the computer and typed in the name "Sophie Yip," adding keywords like "local city" and "the richest man's wife." Soon, some information popped up. There were plenty of photos of Sophie attending various events on the page. She was always linking arms with a middle-aged man, and most headlines read, "The richest man Mason Xavier's wife, Sophie Yip, appears at charity gala." I frowned. I thought I'd heard the real richest man was Oscar Xavier, but I hadn't really heard of Mason Xavier.