A room on the second floor of the villa. Men’s and women’s clothes are scattered on the floor, black stockings are torn and half-hanging on the sofa. Vincent Fletcher leans lazily against the headboard, smoking a post-coital cigarette, satisfaction written all over his face. The girl beside him has seductive eyes, still savoring the moment. The phone vibrates, Vincent takes a drag from his cigarette and calmly answers. Eric Donovan respectfully says, "Brother Fletcher, The Rhodes Family just held a press conference, announcing the annulment of their engagement with The Jennings Family. Also, there’s a rumor online that Adrian Jennings was seen with a popular actress entering a hotel, suspected of cheating." "Ha." Vincent laughs dismissively, "Thought he was some great lover, turns out he’s a notorious playboy, just like his father." Eric asks, "So what about The Rhodes Family then...?" Vincent lowers his eyes, thinking for a moment, "Keep an eye on them; maybe they’re just faking the breakup to deceive me." "Okay, Brother Fletcher." "Pay particular attention to Talia Rhodes’ whereabouts, report any action to me immediately." Talia took a day off at home to adjust her state and returned to the law firm to work normally. These past two days have been calm, with no inexplicable incidents happening. She and her family are all doing well. Talia tugged at the corner of her mouth, feeling a bit bitter inside; it seems breaking off the engagement has its advantages, at least that madman Vincent won’t harm her or her family anymore. As she walked into the law firm, colleagues greeted Talia one after another. Talia responded politely with a gentle smile, stepping into her office wearing black mid-heeled leather shoes. The firm has a dress code; employees must wear professional attire and black leather shoes. Today, Talia is dressed in a black suit, her long hair pinned up at the back of her head, concealer hiding her dark circles, and classic red lipstick brightens her complexion. Her appearance today is entirely different from the previous days, and no one can tell she’s just been through a breakup. The supervisor assigned her three new cases, and Talia quickly dove into work, analyzing the case details. After Jane Young resigned as the previous supervisor, Lily Coleman stepped in as the new one. Lily Coleman didn’t target Talia Rhodes under anyone’s influence, nor did she have personal grievances with Talia, making Talia’s work more content. After work ended, Talia decided to work overtime to finish what she was doing, turned off the lights, and prepared to leave. Suddenly, she heard a subtle sobbing outside. She frowned slightly, closed the office door, and went out to explore. Follow current novels on novel•fire.net The crying came from the assistants’ working area. Lawyer assistants don’t have separate offices; they’re all concentrated in the working area, separated by partitions. Talia approached, only to find that the crying person was none other than Claire Yorick. "Claire, what’s wrong?" Talia asked, concerned, in a gentle voice, "What’s happened?" Claire Yorick grabbed a couple of tissues and wiped her tears messily, "Lawyer Rhodes, I’m, I’m fine..." Talia pulled a chair from a nearby desk and sat down. "Why act tough in front of me? Tell me, let’s see if I can help." The girl’s eyes were red; after a moment of silence, she sniffled and said, "It’s not a big deal, I..." At this moment, two colleagues passed by. Claire Yorick was afraid of being overheard and quickly stopped talking. Talia immediately understood, "Is it inconvenient to say here? Do you have any plans for tonight? If not, let’s have dinner together?" "I don’t have any plans yet." "Okay then, pack up, let’s go for dinner." Talia chose a BBQ place based on Claire Yorick’s preferences. The place had a stylish decor, dim lighting, creating a great atmosphere. Claire Yorick had heard of this high-end BBQ restaurant, supposedly costing thousands per person. The girl showed a hint of embarrassment on her face, "Lawyer Rhodes, isn’t this place too expensive?" Talia smiled, "I’m treating you, don’t be formal with me." After Matthew and Luna Willow’s sibling episode, Talia and Claire Yorick became closer; now, they’re not just ordinary colleagues but friends. Claire Yorick still felt a bit uneasy, "Isn’t this a bit... improper?" "You’re in a bad mood, and as your friend, I’m feeding you a feast for joy; what’s improper about that?" The young girl pursed her lips lightly, accepting Talia’s goodwill, "Then thank you, Lawyer Rhodes." "After work hours, why call me Lawyer Rhodes? So formal. Just call me Talia, or Talia Rhodes is fine." Claire Yorick smiled, "Okay, Talia Rhodes." Talia found a seat by the window and sat down, "The view here is nice; you can see the nightscape." "Hmm." Claire Yorick, a bit reserved, sat across from Talia. "Order anything you like." Talia handed the menu to Claire. Claire waved her hand, "Talia Rhodes, you order, anything’s fine with me." Understanding her shyness, Talia nodded and took back the menu, ordering a few signature BBQ dishes and some vegetables. The raw meat was quickly brought over; there was no need to grill by themselves, the waitstaff did it all. Once the meat was cooked and placed on the plates, Talia politely thanked the waiter and let him leave. "Tell me, what happened?" Talia asked. With no strangers around and the mood set, Claire Yorick opened up her heart, "It’s nothing major; I just got scolded by Lawyer Gable today." Chelsea Gable was Claire Yorick’s mentoring lawyer; Talia hadn’t interacted much with her, but she’d heard colleagues privately say that Chelsea Gable’s personality was unpredictable. She’s extremely gentle when in a good mood and tends to take it out on assistants when she’s feeling down. Previously, a boy who joined the firm with Claire Yorick quit absent-mindedly after being scolded twice by Chelsea Gable. He didn’t need to intern at the firm as he hadn’t passed the legal examination, so he just walked out in stride, but it wasn’t the same for Claire Yorick, who had passed the exam and registered her certificate in April, needing a year of internship before leaving. This meant she couldn’t leave until next April. Talia asked, "Why did she scold you?" "There’s a divorce case client who’s particularly difficult, hard to communicate with." Claire Yorick sighed, her face filled with worry, "I asked her for evidence, she ignored me. I called her, and she was very uncooperative. Lawyer Gable blamed me for not knowing how to communicate with people. The client was unsatisfied with the complaint I wrote and kept asking to add emotional distress compensation, demanding thirty thousand." "The key is her situation doesn’t relate to emotional distress compensation; it can’t be claimed, not to mention, the thirty thousand asking price is high and will increase her litigation costs. I explained this to her, but she wouldn’t listen and insisted I write it. I hadn’t encountered such a situation before, so I asked Lawyer Gable, and she scolded me for being brainless and verbose, saying I couldn’t communicate with people." "Later, Lawyer Gable personally called the client to communicate, explaining exactly what I’d said before, yet she still blamed me for not being able to communicate; she herself got frustrated with the client and vented on me, calling me to her office and throwing a big fit at me. I couldn’t take it, so I explained a few things, and then she said I was arguing back and scolded me again." As she spoke, Claire Yorick’s grievances welled up, causing her to cry again. Talia grabbed a few tissues and handed them over, "There, there, don’t cry. Why not be my assistant? I’ll talk to the supervisor." Claire Yorick suddenly looked up, "Is that possible?" "Of course it is. You’re registered at the firm, not under Lawyer Gable; you can work for any mentoring lawyer." Claire Yorick smiled sincerely upon hearing this, "Thank you, Talia Rhodes." "Alright, don’t cry now, cheer up." After they finished eating, Talia got up to pay. Just after taking a few steps, a couple approached her. "Talia Rhodes?" The man’s enchanting eyes held a smile as he greeted Talia. Talia looked at him, perplexed, "Who are you?"