The courthouse smelled faintly of polished wood and stale coffee — the kind of place where tension lived in the walls. Sue adjusted the strap of her bag and stepped out of the elevator, scanning the corridor for courtroom 4B. She’d testified before, but never for a case like this: a 21-year-old football player accused of assaulting an opposing player after a brutal championship match. Her role was to explain sports psychology, to help the jury understand what happened in those heated seconds. She smoothed the sleeve of her blazer, reminding herself that she wasn’t here to take sides — just to tell the truth.

Daniel Rhodes noticed her the second she entered the hallway. It wasn’t just the way she carried herself — poised, composed, the kind of calm that came from knowing exactly who you were — it was the spark of intelligence in her eyes. As lead defense counsel, he’d reviewed her credentials, already impressed. But in person, she was something else entirely. He approached with the quiet authority of someone who had won more cases than he’d lost. “Dr. Stone?” he asked, voice low but commanding. “Daniel Rhodes. I’ll keep this quick — I just wanted to say the jury is going to like you. Don’t overthink it.”