"Jamie Parker, thirty-one-year-old woman. She was accused and arrested for the murder of her husband, David Parker. Mr. Parker was found in his three-story home at nine A.M. on Sunday morning. Time of death, seven A.M. Sunday morning." Mr. Kim stood in front of the conference table, his hand holding a clicker as he gave his presentation to his employees. "Mrs. Parker claims it was an act of self-defense. She says that she was defending herself from an abusive husband that would constantly abuse her sexually, mentally, verbally, and physically. The proof we have of that, however, is very limited." Mr. Kim took a deep breath, turning away from the projector and back at the table.

Every seat in that conference room was filled by competent attorneys. Jihye Kim, the owner of JKL Corporate law firm, looked at every attorney that paid attention attentively all throughout the presentation. Every single one had been handpicked by Mr. Kim himself. He had wanted to make sure that when he opened his office, he would be able to offer the best services for the best price, and once his work became well-known, he was forced to hire more lawyers to work under him as well as renovate his office. Now, he was the CEO of one of the best firms in the state if it wasn't the country.

"Isn't this the case that was being talked about this morning on the news?" Oliver Pruette leaned forward, his gaze on Jamie's mug shot on the projector.

"It is indeed, Oliver." Mr. Kim nodded grimly, looking at everyone seriously. "This case is going to be a difficult one. Not only is the press watching our every move but Mr. David Parker's company is very adamant on having Jamie Parker serving the longest sentence possible."

"I'm sorry, but... why?" Oliver questioned while scratching the back of his head, already frustrated with the case. "All of the evidence points against her, everyone's ready to hang her... sir, this won't look good for the firm here." He cautiously reviewed the documents in front of him.

"We don't have all of the evidence, Oliver," Katherine spoke up. She was a tax attorney and was quite used to picking on the family lawyer. "You're used to working with what you have." Katherine winked at a scowling Oliver before turning her attention to her boss. "However, Mr. Kim, I actually have to agree with Ollie here. The press is ready to hang her, the evidence that is out and known points against her. It's going to hurt this firm pretty badly once we lose."

Mr. Kim was about to speak up when Damien, who was bored already of watching the other two lawyers bicker like teenagers, spoke up, a pen being twirled in between his slender fingers.

"You said it yourself, Ms. Reed." He raised his deep green eyes to hers. "We don't have all of the evidence. Also, by the looks of it, there's a possibility that his associates are trying to play victim considering he was a major bully to his own wife. Imagine what that image would do to their reputation. Their company stocks would crash, their value would decrease, and so would their business and sales." Damien sighed, leaning back on his seat.

He didn't want to take on this case. What Oliver and Katherine had said was right. This case was rigged from the start. It would only hurt their workplace and their individual reputation.

"I understand a lot of you are concerned for the repercussions we might have to endure once we take this case and the public finds out, however, since when are we known to back down from a client?" Mr. Kim leaned on the table, looking at them all, silently intimidating most of them. "I just wanted to have this meeting to let you guys that we are taking. I will be the main defense attorney, but as you guys know, I could always use some fresh and new ideas and eyes to help do our best to win."

The attorneys that were listening to him felt at loss for what to say. Mr. Kim was their boss, as much as he respected his employees and vice versa, his workers couldn't flat out tell him how absurd his idea of winning this complex and public case was. Instead, they slowly began to trickle out of the room, their heads filled to the brim with the new information.

"This is ridiculous." Oliver said while still being seated. He was staring up at the projector, the picture of Jamie Parker's mug shot up on the screen. "Did you see everyone's faces? No one wants to do this." He looked at Katherine and Damien for their comment of agreement, but none was said. "Hello?"

"What are we supposed to do, Oliver?" Katherine sighed as she stood up and collected her things. "It's not we're the boss, nor can we approach him and say, 'hey, this case is too hard, why don't we leave it behind?' That's a fast pass to unemployment." She pushed her hand against her forehead as she looked at the Parker file in distaste. "I don't know anymore." She picked it up carelessly and brushed past Damien to leave the conference room.

Damien didn't even bother to look at Oliver as he left. He couldn't care less about what Pruette had to complain about now. Mr. Kim had decided to take on the case, and there was nothing and no one that could change the mind of that old and stubborn man. Instead, he would rather focus on resolving his own cases. He had plenty of those.

"Mr. Petrotti?" A paralegal that worked there, Joselyn Barnes, knocked on his office door and entered briefly. "Mr. Kim would like to speak with you in his office."

"Is it urgent?" Damien didn't even look up from his work, his pen sliding quickly as he signed a couple of contracts that he had fallen behind on.

"It seems like so, sir." Mrs. Barnes almost stammered out.

Even though she was married, she was not immune to his good looks. He was tall, had broad shoulders, tan skin, was quite muscular, and his features were cut to almost perfection. The only other thing that intimidated her and other workers at the firm more than his good looks was his cold aura and personality. He acted as if there was nothing more to life than right or wrong. His work was the only thing they ever saw him be passionate about.

"You may leave now." He dismissed her with a single hand wave. Barnes instantly nodded and scurried out.

"It's colder in there than in Antartica." She expressed to her co-worker as they both cracked smiles while looking at Damien through the glass door.

"It's such a shame that he's so rude." Another paralegal, Hope Ines, sighed in despair before jumping into action. "He's on the move." She quickly scurried to her computer and sat down. Barnes followed suit, her back straightening out even more so as he approached them.

"I need copies of these." He laid three files in front of Barnes and left without even a 'thank you' or 'please'.

Barnes waited until he was out of view and earshot to grab at her chest. "Would it kill him to use polite words?" She stood up and quickly rushed to the printing room.

Meanwhile, Damien was taking a seat on the sofa that Mr. Kim had in his spacious office.

"You wanted to see me." Damien watched as Kim nodded. He was carrying a file in hand, and Damien prepared himself for another case. Seeing how he was one of the best prosecutors of the firm, he often found himself in the same position where Mr. Kim would rely on him for the difficult and large cases. Thus, Damien often found himself drowning his work, not that he minded anyway. He really had nothing better to do.

"Yes, I did. Here, this is a case that I want you to take." Kim handed the younger lawyer a thin file, and Damien frowned. Usually, the important cases had up to five different folders used to cover all of the necessary documentation and information. This one barely had five sheets of paper inside. "You know I have a granddaughter, right?" Mr. Kim sat down across from Damien as Damien opened the file.

The files had many words that stood out to Damien. Malpractice, breach of trust, IIED... "What is this?" Damien looked up at Mr. Kim who didn't seem too happy.

"A bunch of bull. Ella Cortesa is someone who I consider like a niece, and she's currently being sued for absurd reasons."

Damien stared at Mr. Kim. First the Jamie Parker case, and now this?

"Have you been day drinking again?" Damien scoured the office for an open bottle of wine or any sort of alcohol.

Kim narrowed his eyes before stretching his foot to kick Damien's. "I'm being serious."

"Then am I joking?" Damien dropped the file onto the coffee table in front of him. "I'm a prosecutor, not a defense attorney, Mr. Kim." Damien made a move to lift himself from his seat. He was finished having this conversation. It was clear that his boss had lost his marbles for today.

"Damien, please. Ella is being falsely charged. The only wrong thing she did was care for her client too much." Kim picked up the file again and passed it to Damien. "I'm asking this as a friend that you please take this case. I trust that you can resolve this well."

"You're my boss, and this is an easy case. Anyone can resolve this well." Damien ignored the file being handed to him. "You could hand this to the interns and they would have no problem winning this court case."

"If this is such a piece of cake, then why won't you take it?"

"Mr. Kim, I'm a busy man, I don't have time to spend on meaningless court cases." Damien began to walk out, no doubt in his mind that he was doing the right thing. Why would he waste his precious time on something so useless and easy?

"This involves the sheriff of the district here." Mr. Kim taunted.

Damien was known for his powerful prosecutions where he would annihilate whoever he was up against in court. He executed the perfect blows and evidence to successfully put criminals behind bars. His favorite target? Well-known and respectable people communities. He was known for bringing down CEOs of large companies, corrupt government officials, anyone large and in-charge that didn't deserve their place, Damien would take them down without fear or remorse.

"That's why I'm giving you this case, Damien. Not only does it involve my granddaughter but it involves corrupt officials. I know I can trust you take care of my Ellie for me." He almost pleaded.

"My answer is no." Damien looked at his watch impatiently. "And I actually have to get going, so if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with a client." He curtly bid farewell and left, closing the office door behind him soundly.

"That darned Damien." Mr. Kim sighed, taking a seat slowly back on the sofa. The reason he had hired that cold and curt young man was because he saw himself in him. Kim had been like that as an adolescent and young man after his parents divorced. Then, to add the cherry on top of the cake, a decade later, his 'happy' marriage fell apart when his wife confessed to having extramarital affairs and then slapping him across the face with divorce papers. Well, she didn't actually slap him, but to him and his ego, it felt like a slap.

He had given her everything: money, a house, luxurious items, trips, basically everything a woman could ask for! Well, everything except time and dedication and love. That was his grand mistake. He saw that future for Damien, and it scared him. Kim knew how much he had screwed himself over, and that was something he didn't wish upon Damien, so he took the intern in. He helped Damien grow into the fine young man he is now, however, the cold demeanor never left the man.

Damien, on the other hand, felt perfectly fine with himself. He had previously overheard his own mother crying to his father about how she feared that he would never break out of his cold walls. Damien knew that it hurt his mother to see him be like that, and that was the reason why he had very briefly dated his childhood friend, Selena.

In fact, that same night, Damien had agreed to have dinner with his parents. His mother was constantly calling and inviting him over, but very seldom did he actually do it.

"Damien, son, glad you finally decided to take some time for your old folks here." Damien's father greeted him inside.

"Please don't speak like that, Padre. (Father)" Damien grimaced at his father obviously fake country accent. "Where's Madre? (Mother)" He followed his dad into the living room where his mother was gushing about something to Selena.

"Damien!" His mother jumped up, rushing to pinch his cheeks.

"Madre, per favore. (Mother, please)" He gently wrapped his large hands around her wrists and pulled them down. He proceeded to kiss her hair. "Selena." He greeted her with a small smile as he sat beside her.

"Nice to know you're still alive." Her bright green eyes sparkled as she laughed.

Damien ignored her comment, looking away from her flushed face to his parents. "Sorry I arrived a bit late, work is work." He apologized to his mother, who was smiling quite warmly at Selena and Damien.

"We assumed as much." His father shrugged, looking cautiously at Selena.

"Selena, honey, I think you had a bit too much to drink." Damien's mother frowned in concern at the young woman.

"I'm fine." She denied, her hand waving clumsily and lethargically. "I'm just tired." Her words were even slurred.

"Damien, why don't you drive her home?" His mother instantly jumped at the chance of pushing them together.

Damien sighed, not in the mood to deal with his mother's poor match-making skills. He took a curt glance in Selena's direction. Her uselessly dark and long lashes were preventing him from looking at her eyes, but he could tell by the pinkness that she was definitely in no condition to drive herself home.

"You ought to checked out for alcoholism." He grumbled as he helped her into his vehicle. "Buckle up." He closed the car door and waved goodbye to his parents, who were watching the young couple from their porch.

"I'm just sad, that's all." Selena mumbled quietly, she rolled to face Damien but her eyes closed.

"Alcohol won't solve your problems for you, Sel." Damien grunted as he began the journey to her house. He didn't bother asking about her 'sadness' because he knew that was just drunk Selena. She wasn't depressed, she just became sentimental whenever she got tipsy or drunk.

The rest of the ride was quiet, only the sound being Selena's soft breathing and the car's engine. Once Damien had parked in her driveway, he reached to shake her shoulder gently.

"Sel," he quietly murmured as to not startle, but she didn't budge. "Sel," he tried a little louder, and her lashes fluttered. Damien's removed his hand from her shoulder. "We're here." She slowly began to regain her sense, her eyes losing themselves in her surroundings.

"Can I tell you something?" She whispered into the night, her eyes still lost ahead of her.

"What?" Damien noticed her fidgeting hands in her lap.

"I think... I think there's something wrong with me." She managed to say as her voice cracked. Her typically green eyes darkened as she breathed in shakily.

"Are you sick?" Damien frowned, looking at her face to try to read her expression, but who was he kidding? He had never been good at reading people's emotions.

Selena shook her head, her blonde hair moving gently with her. "It just hurts." She turned to look at Damien, their green eyes clashing. "Can you see me?" She felt a traitorous tear slip out, and that only worsened from there.

"Sel, what's going on?" Damien rubbed a hand down his face. Women in tears made him uncomfortable. He wasn't entirely too sure how to deal with it all. "Did someone hurt you?"

Selena hesitantly nodded, a broken smile fixating on her thin lips. "I have... I tried to wait because they say good things happen to those who wait, but I'm tired. What's wrong with me, Damien?" She searched his distant eyes for an answer. "Why can't you like me back, at least?"

"Selena, don't do this." Damien finally understood where this was heading towards. "Stop hurting yourself."

"You're hurting me, Damien!" She cried out loudly now. "What is so awful about me that you can't give me a chance? Are you hiding a girl? Am I not good enough?"

"Selena, you know you're a great woman, but I'm not the man that you want me to be. I can't give you all of those emotions and ties attached to a relationship."

"You can't, or you won't?" Selena defied him, watching as he took a deep breath. "All I'm asking is that you open yourself up to us, to let me in." Selena wiped at her tears carelessly, her dark mascara rimming the bottom of her eyes, creating a dark line down her smooth skin. "That's all, Damien."

Damien watched as she left his car. Once she was safely inside he drove off.

His intentions were never to lock people out or hold himself in, it just happened that way. It was difficult for him to see the reason behind having emotional attachments to a person. To give his all to a person who could potentially leave him... he didn't see the point.

He doubted he would ever see it.