"I'm not doing this case," Jamila's clipped rejection made her senior lawyer, Luke, look at her strangely.
"You can't just say you won't do this case, Mila." Luke groaned in frustration. Jamila remained unfazed by his distress, like it was just another day.
"I'll have to come up with loopholes in the system to turn twenty billion dollars worth of black money into white." She leaned back against the chair, casually crossing her legs. "I don't want to do that."
Luke pressed his lips tightly. Her confidence and audacity were what made her unique, and also a great headache. Yet, regardless of such laid-back behavior, she was one of the top-performing lawyers in the firm.
Which made it too hard even for the Chairman to fire her. She was that good.
Luke rubbed his temple, trying to come up with any useful incentive that might convince her to take the case. Then something clicked.
"Mila, if you successfully close this case," Luke's voice dropped conspiratorially as he leaned closer, "you'll get a 30% bonus instead of 20%."
Jamila's eyes glinted with smug satisfaction. "Cash?"
"In whatever form you want."
Her lips turned into a full-blown smirk. "Since you're begging me to do it, I'll help out this time."
Luke rolled his eyes at her choice of words, but she wasn't entirely wrong. He was pleading with her to take the job.
Because when it came to exploiting the gray areas of the legal system, no one could beat Jamila Hassan in Blue Stack Law Firm, one of the leading firms in London.
"Whose money will I be whitening?" she asked lazily.
Luke inhaled sharply, his shoulders stiffening. "You know the Laurents of Geneva, right?"
Jamila's eyes shot up with sudden interest. She knew Nova worked at Laurent & Cie. What a sudden turn of events.
"It's the second young master of the Laurent family.
.....Julian Alexander Laurent."
A strange twist hit her stomach. A shiver ran down her spine. Jamila couldn't understand her body's sudden reaction. She unconsciously clutched her skirt.
"Julian Alexander Laurent."
That name tasted oddly sweet on her tongue. She shook her head. She knew she needed to rein in her habit of crushing on every good-looking man. Sometimes Jamila wondered if she'd end up in hell for all the crushes she'd collected here and there.
Later that day, Luke's assistant informed her that Julian would be coming personally to hear her plan for handling his case.
Jamila shoved down the unease in her stomach under layers of logic and caffeine. At 3:30 PM, sitting alongside two other lawyers who would be working with her, Jamila kept tapping her heels against the floor.
The meeting room had wooden walls and elegant carvings, with two massive glass windows overlooking the London skyline in a stormy afternoon light.
"I'm nervous," whispered Mimi, the woman beside her. "The Second Young Master is a well-known charmer… and a lunatic killer, too." She wiped her sweat nervously. The man beside her looked equally tense, files neatly arranged before them. The sky rumbled outside, adding a tense undertone to the atmosphere.
Jamila, as always, showed no hint of nerves. She'd sat at tables where she'd been threatened by real-life psychopaths and mafia bosses.
This money-laundering case wasn't even a big deal.
The glass door opened. Five tall guards in black suits entered first, followed by a relatively older man in Armani. His eyes swept the room before he held the door for the main guest.
Jamila, Mimi, and Oscar stood up, ready to greet the second heir of Europe's most powerful family, Julian, the infamous rake himself.
But the man who entered next made Jamila step back, rethinking everything she'd expected from this meeting.
Julian's emerald-green eyes fell on Jamila. Though his expression stayed neutral, it didn't escape her notice...
The flicker in his eyes, the brief surprise, and recognition. His handsome face softened slightly, so subtly that no one else could have caught it.
His black sweater hugged his muscular frame, emphasizing broad shoulders beneath a leather blazer. His high-waisted pants made his waist look slimmer, his long legs only adding to his striking presence.
Julian was taller than everyone in the room—six-foot-three, with a straight, commanding posture that reeked of power and wealth.
Jamila remembered the guy she'd had her first New Year dinner with in London, the one whose eyes had looked so lonely as he watched families inside the restaurant.
She had thought he was just a poor guy. Maybe another international student. So she'd treated him to Turkish dinner and paid for it.
In her entire life, she had met countless men, but none had caught her attention quite like Julian did that night.
And now—
that same "poor guy" turned out to be the son of the richest man in Europe!
Her throat went dry with the weight of that realization. Embarrassment crept through her bones under Julian's curious gaze, waiting for her next move.
The two other lawyers waited for her to break the silence. None of them dared to speak first.
Jamila inhaled sharply, calling upon Allah's ninety-nine names in her mind before lifting her chin and meeting Julian's gaze head-on.
"Welcome to Blue Stack Law Firm, Mr. Laurent. I'm Jamila Hassan, the one in charge of your case."
Her voice was professional and calculated, hiding the tremor in her knees.
Julian's lips curved into a faint, amused smirk, a predator's smile that made Jamila's heart skip a beat.
"It's a pleasure meeting you, Ms. Hassan."
His voice was deep and smooth, laced with quiet authority. And Jamila knew from the look in his eyes…
He remembered her.
And this wasn't going to end like any of her other cases.