Chapter 2
My days were calm and fulfilling. I thought the Reed family would vanish from my life forever.
Until that day, when my assistant knocked on my office door.
“Mr. Vance, there’s a Ms. Brooke Reed outside. She specifically asked to see you.”
“She said she wants to hire you as a consultant for a major commercial fraud case her corporation is involved in.”
Hearing that name, my heart still gave an uncontrollable lurch.
I took a deep breath, suppressing the surge of emotion, my voice calm and steady.
“Let her in.”
A tall woman, dressed in a sharp business suit, walked in.
Her face had shed the awkwardness of youth, becoming even more captivating and refined.
Brooke froze the moment she saw me.
Her deep-set eyes were wide with shock and disbelief.
She never would have imagined that the rising legal star she had gone to such lengths to hire would be me, the boy she had personally abandoned twenty years ago.
After a long moment, she finally found her voice, her tone full of doubt.
“You… you’re Alex Vance, the prosecutor?”
I nodded. “Ms. Reed, please have a seat. However, you might be mistaken. I am a prosecutor; I don’t handle private cases.”
She seemed not to hear me, scrutinizing me instead.
“Are you really a prosecutor? How confident are you that you can handle our case well?”
Her attitude made it sound like I was some kind of charlatan chasing fame.
My assistant, Chloe, could barely stand it, blurting out, “Ma’am, Mr. Vance is one of the top prosecutors in our system. His time is extremely valuable…”
I looked at Brooke, a faint, almost imperceptible curve on my lips.
“It seems Ms. Reed doesn’t have much faith in my professional abilities.”
“In that case, this meeting is over.”
“Chloe, please show our guest out.”
Brooke’s face instantly darkened.
She gritted her teeth, but in the end, said nothing, turning and slamming the door behind her as she left.
Chloe stomped her foot in frustration.
“Mr. Vance, that woman is so rude! Who does she think she is?!”
I just smiled nonchalantly.
“It’s fine, just a client who doesn’t know what’s what.”
For me, it truly was just a trivial little incident.
After work, Brooke suddenly appeared at the entrance of the Department of Justice building, blocking my way.
Her face held a complex, somber expression.
I instantly frowned. “Something wrong?”
She stared at me, her gaze unyielding. After a long silence, she squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth.
“Alex Reed, I’m warning you.”
“No matter who you are now, don’t even think about using this case to harm Tyler.”
I almost laughed in exasperation.
Twenty years ago, she had cruelly prevented me from returning to my biological family. Now, she was calling me Alex Reed again.
She came to me herself, yet her first impulse was to warn me not to harm Tyler?
Why did she think I would waste my time on someone like him?
I looked at her as if she were an unreasonable lunatic.
“Ms. Reed, my surname is Vance, and my name is Alex Vance. Please don’t get it wrong.”
“Furthermore, I don’t know you, and I certainly don’t know your brother.”
“As a prosecutor, my duty is to uphold justice, not to frame others.”
“So, why would I harm a complete stranger I don’t even know?”
Brooke froze, a flicker of bewilderment crossing her face.
“You… you don’t remember me?”
She seemed unable to accept this fact, her voice unconsciously rising.
“Twenty years ago, at the orphanage entrance! I was the one who stopped you…”
She stopped mid-sentence, seemingly finding her past actions too shameful to articulate.
I watched her embarrassment, feeling only speechlessness and disgust.
Of course, I remembered.
I remembered every look of revulsion she gave me, every hateful word she uttered.
I remembered how she had personally pushed me away, severing all my illusions of family affection.
But I chose to pretend I didn’t.
I feigned a moment of deep thought, then adopted an expression of dawning realization.
“Ohh—”
I deliberately drew out the sound.
“So it was you.”
I looked at her, smiling innocently.
“I’m really sorry, but events from twenty years ago are so distant. I’ve long forgotten them.”
“After all, I have so many important case files to review every day. Who has time to remember petty little things?”