"A guaranteed loss. What's even the point of going to trial? Defending someone like you is an embarrassment to my reputation."

I ignored his snide remarks and settled calmly into the defendant's seat.

Because I knew the truth.

This case?

I was going to win.

What I hadn't expected was that just before the proceedings began, Michael suddenly wheeled in an old man.

The old man had a tube running from his nose, his cheeks gaunt, his expression dazed and vacant.

This had to be the father he kept going on about, the one my grandfather had supposedly hit.

I glanced at him with a flicker of contempt. Michael really was pulling out all the stops to win this case. His father hadn't even left the ICU and he'd already wheeled him into the courtroom.

Once the trial began, Michael struck first, jabbing a finger at me and snarling through clenched teeth:

"My father is old. His legs aren't what they used to be. He was just walking down the street, minding his own business, when that reckless old bastard came barreling out in his car."

"The wheels rolled right over my father's legs. Both of them shattered. Broken ribs punctured his lungs. It took two days of emergency surgery to bring him back!"

His words, paired with the old man's empty pant legs dangling from the wheelchair, struck a nerve with everyone in the room.

The story had already gone viral online, and the trial had drawn a crowd of spectators eager to watch in person.

The gallery was packed. People pointed at me, shouting their accusations.

"That poor old man, at his age he should be living out his final years in peace. Instead he runs into these monsters."

"The one who actually did it doesn't even have the guts to show his face. What, is he planning to let his granddaughter rot in prison for him?"

"Maybe she's happy to take the fall. She still won't give him up. How touching. What a devoted little granddaughter."

Their curses cut into me like knives, but I set my jaw and fired back without flinching.

"You keep saying my grandfather hit him. So which one of you actually saw my grandfather behind the wheel?"

"You're going to condemn someone based on a license plate number alone? Don't you think that's a little reckless?"

The plaintiff's lawyer, clearly well-compensated for his enthusiasm, argued back fiercely.

"Our investigation has confirmed that the vehicle registered under plate number 0817 belongs to your grandfather."