Chapter 21
T
Chapter 21
The news of Owen’s critical condition came on the third day of Amelia’s presence at the international court.
At that time, she had just finished a seven–hour long debate, fighting for a huge compensation for the fishermen who had been affected by pollution from multinational companies.
As he walked out of the courtroom, his assistant hurriedly handed him a phone. On the screen, there was only a short line of text: “Mr. Hayes‘ old injury has become infected, and the doctor has issued a critical condition notice.”
Amelia’s footsteps faltered for a moment, but quickly returned to normal. She locked her phone screen and calmly instructed her assistant to arrange a return flight.
She didn’t receive the letter until late at night in the hotel room.
The envelope was plain white, but the handwriting was so familiar that it stung her eyes. She stared at the signature for a long time before slowly opening it.
The letter was very short, only three lines: “In my life,
Won countless cases,
Only lost you.
The pen tip is still sharp, but the ink color has faded a lot compared to before, as if the person writing has lost some strength.
Amelia stared at the few lines of text, suddenly remembering a night
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many years ago.
At that time, they had not divorced yet. She stayed up late to organize files for him, and prepared hot coffee and midnight snacks for him.
Two people stood facing each other, creating a moment of silence in the study. She looked at the file on the table, and caught a glimpse of the dark blue in Owen’s eyes.
The case was very tricky, and he had been working on it for three days.
“Do you think we can win this time? she asked softly.”
He chuckled softly, his voice filled with her familiar confidence: “When have I ever lost?”
Yeah, when did he lose?
She looked at confident Owen and felt that she could spend her whole life taking care of him like this.
But later, things changed.
They still took that step.
She closed her eyes, folded the letter in half, then in half again, and then fed it into the shredder.
Amid the buzzing of the machines, the assistant pushed open the door and reminded her that the press conference was about to begin.
Amelia stood up, straightened her suit collar, and walked towards the stage under the spotlight.
I didn’t look back again.
I went to the store yesterday and bought some groceries. After that, I met
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up with some friends for lunch. We had a great time catching up and reminiscing about old times. Later in the evening, I watched a movie at home before going to bed. It was a relaxing day.
Years later, a new statue was erected on the central lawn of NYU School
of Law.
It was a bronze sculpture of a female figure, with her eyes slightly lowered, holding a code in her left hand and reaching forward with her right hand, palm facing up, as if silently supporting some heavy belief.
There was a line of words engraved on the base.
Justice never bows down. – Amy
On the day of the statue unveiling, the School of Law was packed with people.
Amelia stood at the front of the crowd, wearing the simplest black suit, without any jewelry, only a small scale badge pinned to her chest.
A young student stood on tiptoe and looked around, whispering to their companion, “Is that the legendary female lawyer? I heard she won an international environmental protection case and also pushed for the revision of the ‘Anti–domestic Violence Law.”
The companion nodded and then lowered his voice to add, “But I heard that she used to have a relationship with Owen…”
“Owen? The ‘god of legal aid“? Hasn’t he already-”
“Shh!”
“Don’t mention it, those things are long gone.”
The discussion came to a sudden halt.
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An elderly professor with white hair stood next to the statue, answering questions from reporters.
The reporter keenly caught the whisper just now and asked, “It is said that Ms. Thomas and the late lawyer Owen were once a golden duo in the legal world, and even had a marital relationship, is that true?”
The old professor pushed his glasses up and scanned the crowd, finally resting his gaze on Amelia’s serene profile.
“No, he shook his head slowly, “she has always belonged only to the law.”
Amelia’s expression did not change at all, as if they were discussing a complete stranger with no relation to her.
After the crowd gradually dispersed, she stood alone in front of the statue, reaching out to lightly touch the cold inscription. As the sun set in the west, her shadow stretched long, all the way to the gingko tree at the end of the lawn.
In a daze, she seemed to see a tall, thin figure standing under the tree, with a black windbreaker blowing up at one corner, just like the day they brushed past each other at Houston Court many years ago.
But she knew, there was actually nothing there.
Just like the letter that had long turned to fragments, just like those words that were never spoken.
She withdrew her hand and turned away.
In the distance, the setting sun was blood–red, as if sighing like an old friend.
