Chapter 13 - The Courthouse Steps
The morning of the injunction hearing dawned gray and piercingly cold.
The steps of the King County Courthouse on Third Avenue were packed with local reporters, camera crews holding boom mics against the wind, and a battery of flashbulbs that popped like lightning storms against the wet stone pillars.
When Ethan’s black SUV pulled up to the curb, the media swarm surged forward like a tidal wave, shouting questions over the roar of the traffic.
"Mr. Vance! Is it true you purchased custody of a minor?"
"Mrs. Carter! Does your family dispute the guardianship agreement?"
Ethan stepped out of the vehicle first, pulling his heavy wool coat tight against the wind. Without a word, he turned back, opened the passenger door, and offered his hand.
Clara stepped out, her chin held high, wearing a sharp emerald-green coat that matched the fierce determination in her eyes. She didn't cower from the flashbulbs; she looked straight into the camera lenses with the unyielding grace of a mother defending her child.
Inside the courthouse, the marble hallways were cool, quiet, and smelling faintly of floor wax.
They walked down the corridor toward Courtroom 302, where Arthur Sterling was already waiting by the double oak doors, leaning heavily on his wooden cane, looking like an old warhorse smelling battle.
Standing twenty feet away, leaning against the marble wall with a smug, self-satisfied smirk, was Marcus Vance. He wore an expensive Italian-cut suit that looked slightly too tight across his shoulders, his blond hair slicked back with pomade. Beside him stood Julian, looking twitchy and uncomfortable in a borrowed sports jacket.
As Ethan and Clara approached, Marcus pushed off the wall, stepping directly into their path.
"Well, well, well," Marcus purred, his voice dripping with condescension. "Cousin Ethan. I hear playing house with a bankrupt graphic designer is expensive these days. How much did this little publicity stunt cost you?"
Ethan didn't even slow down. He didn't blink. He walked straight toward Marcus with such cold, silent intensity that the other lawyer instinctively took half a step backward.
"You're out of your depth, Marcus," Ethan said softly, his voice cutting through the quiet corridor like a scalpel. "You always were. That's why I had to buy you out of the firm four years ago, and that's why you're going to lose this case in the first ten minutes."
Marcus's smile faltered, replaced by a flash of genuine venom. "We'll see what the judge says about an eccentric multi-millionaire buying a child off the sales floor of his own boutique."
"Mr. Vance," Arthur Sterling’s gravelly voice boomed down the hallway, cutting off any response Marcus was about to make. The old lawyer stepped between them, glaring down his nose at Marcus through his half-moon spectacles. "I’d advise you to save your breath for the judge. You're going to need it when I present the court with your previous disbarment warnings and your client's active extortion warrants."
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Marcus’s face went pale. He spun around on his heel, turning away without another word.
Arthur turned to Ethan and Clara, a thin, knowing smile touching his lips. "Let's go inside. It's time to finish this."
