Chapter 82: Unexpected Complications

Bam!

Damian’s office door burst open, making Clara flinch in surprise. She quickly turned around and saw him standing there with a thick case file in his hand and an annoyed expression on his face.

“They didn’t…” Clara gasped in disbelief.

“They did!” Damian sighed.

He stepped inside and kicked the door shut with his heel before walking over to his desk.

Bam!

He dropped the thick document onto the desk with a loud thud, the impact rattling everything on its surface before he collapsed into his comfortable leather chair.

“Does this affect our vacation plans?” she asked, her fingers crossed.

Damian shook his head, though an apologetic look crossed his face as he added,

“But we will have to work while on vacation… I’m sorry.”

Clara let her pen slip from her fingers. She removed her glasses and released a long sigh as she leaned back into her chair. Watching her clear display of annoyance, Damian could not help but smile. She looked cute even when she was upset.

“It’s not that bad since we are working together.” Damian added. “I don’t mind pulling an all-nighter with you.”

Clara’s annoyance vanished instantly, replaced by a deep blush. With a faint smile, Damian flipped open the case file and began reading. He was scheduled to meet the councilman in an hour, which meant he needed to understand the situation as quickly as possible.

When Damian first took on Twenty Shots’ case, he believed it was difficult and even cursed the firm for setting him up. But compared to the case now lying before him, that murder charge felt like child’s play.

Alderman Louie Delaney represented a wealthy yet rapidly gentrifying district. Publicly, he was known as a progressive reformer who constantly spoke about housing justice and anti corruption. However, prosecutors had suddenly charged him with three major crimes: bribery, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice.

The case began when a luxury real estate developer named Liam Halberg was caught in a federal investigation involving illegal zoning approvals. According to prosecutors, Halberg secretly paid Delaney 2.4 million dollars through shell companies in exchange for pushing through a controversial zoning change that allowed the construction of a massive riverfront luxury complex.

The project forced hundreds of lower income residents out of their homes. Publicly, Delaney claimed he supported the project because it would bring jobs and investment to the city. Investigators, however, believed the money trail told a very different story.

The payments allegedly passed through a chain of non profit housing foundations and political action committees before eventually ending up in a consulting firm secretly owned by Delaney’s brother. From there, prosecutors claimed the funds were quietly transferred into offshore investment accounts connected to Delaney.

The scandal became explosive because the project itself was already deeply controversial. Community activists had spent months protesting the development and accusing the city council of corruption.

But that was not the end of it, because the story soon took a darker turn.

One of the key witnesses in the federal investigation was Elena Vargas, a city zoning analyst who had previously testified internally that the zoning approval process had been manipulated. She had prepared a report showing that Delaney’s office pressured the zoning board to fast track the project while ignoring environmental violations.

Three weeks before she was scheduled to testify before a grand jury, Vargas died in what police initially ruled a car accident. However, new evidence suggested that the brakes on her vehicle may have been tampered with.

Federal prosecutors now claimed Delaney attempted to obstruct the investigation by ordering one of his campaign aides to intimidate Vargas. That aide allegedly hired a private investigator who had connections to organized crime.

The prosecution did not directly accuse Delaney of murder, but they argued that the intimidation campaign indirectly led to Vargas’ death. That single claim turned the entire case into a political explosion.

Delaney insisted he was innocent and claimed the charges were a political hit job orchestrated by rival politicians and developers who opposed his policies.

The prosecution’s evidence included bank transfers, campaign finance records, internal emails from Delaney’s office, and testimony from Halberg himself, who had agreed to cooperate with federal authorities in exchange for a lighter sentence.

However…

“Halberg’s testimony is unreliable. He has been under investigation for years and has every incentive to blame Delaney to save himself.” Damian said with a frown, and Clara nodded in agreement.

Even the calm and composed Clara looked deeply disturbed by the details of the case. Everything about it felt messy and outright nasty. These were the kind of cases she would never willingly choose to get involved in, yet she could tell Damian had no choice in the matter, especially considering his new promotion and position within the firm.

She felt sorry for her man, unaware that this was exactly what he wanted. The case was far more complicated than he had expected, but it was not beyond his abilities, especially with the powers he possessed.

And then there was another factor that gave him confidence that he could turn things around.

That factor was none other than Judge Helena Vance.

She was the judge presiding over this case.

Considering how she handled his first case, it seemed very unlikely that she would also be involved in this one. In the past, when Damian only cared about becoming a great lawyer within the Blacksheep firm, he paid more attention to learning the important names inside the firm rather than the judges presiding over courtrooms. But things were different now. He intended to enter the political arena.

Damian picked up his phone and searched her name. The information he discovered about the beautiful middle aged judge who appeared to have taken a liking to him genuinely surprised him.

Judge Vance had a reputation for handling complex and high profile cases. That alone explained how she ended up presiding over both Twenty Shots’ case and now Councilman Delaney’s trial. It was natural for court administration to assign politically sensitive cases to her because she was experienced and trusted to maintain firm control over the courtroom.

Once again, this woman had proven herself to be someone important, someone Damian needed to secure if he wished to rise higher in his legal career.

“Get me everything you can on Judge Vance. If you can get her number, that would be preferable.” he said, leaving Clara confused.

Why in the world would Damian want a judge’s personal information or phone number?

However, Damian said nothing further. He simply acknowledged in silence that he needed to meet this woman before his vacation began. Once again, his list of tasks continued to grow no matter how much work he completed.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep