An Extraordinary Lawyer’s Subspace - Chapter 178
Only Noblemtl
【Episode 178 – Million Dollar Scratch】
After a brief meeting with the senior partner, Marcus headed to the conference room.
Mark Swain, my colleague and opposing attorney in the Alan Peet case, was scheduled to come to see me.
Kaider Dutton Hill Litigation Team Conference Room.
“How have you been, Mark? I see you’ve been taking your magnesium supplements well. Your face looks great.”
Marcus Hornby, as always, starts off with a put-down joke.
However, the motive is relaxed. Mark Swain, sitting across from me, has an unusually sly smile on his face.
“You look haggard. Is something bad happening?”
“Hahaha- Did you smoke one before you came? To get your courage?”
“Do you smoke one whenever you need courage?”
The momentum is strangely good.
I thought you would show up with a solemn look like an envoy of a defeated nation···
It even looks lively.
Although he doesn’t show it on the outside, Marcus Hornby is unhappy with the way negotiations are starting.
“So? Did you come here to come to an agreement?”
“no.”
“Then why did you come here? Is this the way you came to spend your time since there’s nothing going on?”
“There’s no use provoking them. They won’t come to an agreement.”
“Don’t you know exactly what your client is saying? If he misses this opportunity, he’ll never dream of a tax-free million-dollar settlement again.”
“You think you know everything? That everything in the world has a price, and that if you just call it, it will be in your hands? You’re wrong. There are things in the world that money can’t buy. For example, values like human dignity, which you’ve forgotten.”
“Oh- Mark, Mark, Mark. What are you trying to do? You’re even trying to pity your innocent client.”
“I feel sorry for you, Marcus.”
“Mark, since you still don’t seem to know, let me tell you as a motivation. Everything in this world has a price. That’s the truth beyond facts. Our lawyers’ job is to negotiate a deal so that everyone is happy.”
Mark Swain looked at his colleague Marcus.
I didn’t think I was this materialistic when I was in school.
No. It was just that his true nature did not come out.
“I guess you didn’t understand what I was saying. Well, let me explain it to you. Marcus, it’s going to cost us $100 million to buy our client’s dignity.”
The story of not being able to live.
“If you want forgiveness instead, apologize sincerely now. Then I can write a letter to the court asking for leniency.”
“And then you want me to give you a million dollars? You want an apology and a million dollars? That can’t be happening. Either keep your dignity or take the money. Your choice.”
I came here just in case, but as expected, there was no communication.
Yale Law School classmate Mark Swain stood up.
“Mark, you’ll regret it. I guarantee it. The moment your client takes the stand, I’ll make her look like the greatest whore of all time.”
“Maybe so. You’re talented in that area. Of course, it might not be so.”
“No, I will never make you do that.”
Mark Swain, who was about to refute his words, stops himself when he sees the look on Marcus Hornby’s face.
It’s fun.
The guy is excited.
Usually it’s the opposite.
I don’t feel bad.
Swain changed the subject.
Actually, there was a reason why he had been grinning from the moment he came in.
“You met Vanessa?”
“!”
Vanessa, my Yale Law School classmate,
Do Ha-young.
Mark Swain knows that Marcus has feelings for Ha-young.
Mark dated Gloria (Sooyeon) for a long time.
“You said you didn’t even remember me?”
“···.”
“Hahaha- Your pride must have been hurt. Oh- Marcus, Marcus, Marcus.”
“If you’ve said everything you wanted to say, just get out.”
“That’s what I was doing. Oh, by the way, did you hear that? Vanessa’s boyfriend is in Boston with her. The client is Aramco, right? His name is Han…”
I never thought I’d hear that name again here.
This time I really got scratched.
But before he could swear, his colleague Mark Swain had already left the office.
The smile that spread across his face seemed to be visible even from behind his back.
A deep wrinkle formed between Marcus Hornby’s eyebrows.
It was a million dollar scratch.
I also received it from my meeting with Vanessa a while ago.
-*-
“Huh? The name of the lawyer you met at Kaiser Dutton was Marcus Hornby?”
At around the same time, Beomsang and Hayoung in Boston were talking about the same topic.
“I didn’t know that person was Ha-young’s friend. If I had known, I would have at least greeted him properly.”
“Friend? No. He was a friend of Sooyeon’s boyfriend, but I don’t know him well.”
“Oh, really?”
“yes.”
“But you said we met a while ago? In New York during spring break.”
“My sister said she got help with the Hyogyeong Industry case and went out to introduce me to someone, and I saw her there. We hung out together a few times when we were in school, but we weren’t close.”
That’s right.
During her time at Yale Law School, Ha-young wasn’t particularly interested in Marcus Hornby.
Even more so now.
“He was handsome···.”
“Who is it?”
“That guy Marcus Hornby.”
“is it so?”
“no?”
“I don’t know. My sister said something like that too.”
“He’s handsome. He’s a blond, blue-eyed, handsome man.”
“yes?”
“Oh, I mean, I mean, the typical white, pretty boy type with blond hair and blue eyes···.”
“Do you like that style?”
“Yes? No! Why would I… I like women!”
“Ah- I see. So Mr. Han likes women-.”
“Huh? Of course. So, Attorney Do… Attorney Do likes men, right?”
“No.”
“??”
“I like Han Beom-sang.”
I ate one.
···
“But, things have gotten a little awkward.”
“why?”
“It looks like we ended up bringing in the case that Attorney Marcus was handling.”
“You said there were different opinions. Aramco preferred Mr. Beomsang’s opinion.”
“That’s true, but···.”
“Isn’t that okay? Are you saying that it was because of me that things got awkward?”
“Um… yes. I might meet Sooyeon from Alan & Paul again, and then….”
“I don’t think we’ll meet again, but even if we do, would that be a problem? If you find that awkward, you’ll probably find that person funny.”
Beomsang has nothing more to say in response to Hayoung’s reaction.
To her, he was just a classmate whose face she knew.
-*-
puck!
After finishing his meeting with Mark Swain, Marcus Hornby returned to his room and kicked the corner of the desk.
My pride was damaged.
‘Why did that guy have to be my boyfriend…’
Recently, Marcus Hornby met Do Ha-young (Vanessa).
During their school days, Marcus was interested in Hayoung.
However, that doesn’t mean that I have been secretly admiring it from then until now.
However, she was a woman who always made me wonder in a corner of my heart, ‘How has she changed?’
So, when I heard from Gloria (Soo-hyun) that she had come to America, I was hopeful that the opportunity would come.
Then, as luck would have it, she happened to have something to help with regarding the FBI investigation into a case she was in charge of, so she used that as an excuse to naturally arrange a meeting.
Of course I thought you would remember me.
Even though we weren’t close, we had talked at parties like wine and cheese and hung out with Mark and Gloria.
however,
“Marcus Shelby? Marcus Shelby, right?”
She couldn’t even remember her last name properly.
It was bearable up to that point.
Because it’s been 7 years since we last met.
but,
““He’s someone I work with in the same office. He’s a really cool guy. There’s nothing he can’t do.”
I had a boyfriend.
And it just so happened that he was the lawyer sent by the Aramco vice president.
The boyfriend said to Marcus,
“I think it would not be a bad idea to go ahead with an agreement after carefully considering what would be a better decision for Aramco by looking into the circumstances in detail.”
He said.
thud!
Not satisfied with just kicking the corner of the desk with his foot, he then slammed his fist into the desk.
My pride is hurt.
Objectively speaking, it’s not really like that, but I feel like I’ve been robbed of both my work and my love.
Until then, he had no intention of doing anything stupid.
I really believed that things would go wrong and Aramco would come back to me with a case.
I definitely wanted to show it then. Who was right, who was the better man.
But, unfortunately, the moment he was waiting for never came.
Less than a month later, another victim appeared,
Instead of covering up Omar Sayed’s crimes, Aramco decided to follow Han Beom-sang’s advice and apologize.
network
The city in the subspace had all the conveniences of the modern world that I knew.
The only thing missing was the Internet.
“The entire city has entered the subspace.”
To test this hypothesis, we compared it with major cities in the United States.
The city in the subspace resembles them and yet does not resemble them.
The reason I limited it to the United States was because most of the city’s signs were in English and I saw stores that only existed in the United States.
Just in case, I compared it to famous major cities in Canada, England, and Australia, but it was a city that does not exist anywhere on Earth where I live.
What was more interesting was the fact that iconic buildings from major cities like New York and California coexisted there.
Now the hypothesis that “someone built this city within this” has become a bit more convincing.
I was more curious about the answer to the question ‘how’ than the question ‘who’.
‘Does that mean I can build these things in my subspace too?’
I explored the city steadily and safely.
Still not a single person was in sight.
But that doesn’t mean I just wandered around.
Little by little, the territory was expanded slowly.
I created my own map and checked the areas I had confirmed and areas I wanted to confirm.
Shopping malls, schools, hospitals, parks, etc.
Seriously, that city had it all.
Except people.
As I explored each area like that, I discovered a very useful building.
“Capitol Building?”
It was the United States Capitol.