Chapter 88: The Price of Justice

The air in the courtroom was thick and stagnant, heavy with the weight of unspoken judgment and the collective breath of a city holding itself in suspense. Every seat was filled. The press gallery was a restless beast, a tangle of bodies, cameras, and microphones poised to capture every flicker of emotion, every damning word. At the defendant's table, Joey Duffus sat with an air of theatrical nonchalance, his expensive suit a shield against the squalor of his alleged crimes. He whispered to his...