Chapter 226 - A Familiar Face

Halia looked up at the fancy, modern office building. For the last two weeks, she had been going to work in that office, Monday to Friday, like a real employee. It was a tough experience for a restless person like her; she couldn't believe that people could sit in front of the same computer all day. Fortunately, this was just a temporary experience. If she was forced to do this job until she retired, she would go crazy. 

Her mission this time was to investigate a few lawyers in the firm that were suspected of embezzling client funds. At first, it was hard to get noticed and all she was asked to do were small errands around the office. But finally, after two weeks of hard work, she gained the trust of one of her suspects and he even asked her to join him at a client meeting that day. She felt one step closer to cracking her case.

"Good morning," she greeted in a deep voice as she entered the building in a neat grey suit. As she looked around, she subconsciously ran her fingers across the mustache above her lip. 

Mustache?! Yes, that's right, she had a mustache and it had become a habit of hers to check if it was still there.

After all, the mustache was a part of her disguise. If it came off, she would be exposed.

The legal profession was a dirty and corrupt place, so before Halia was sent out on the field, she and Sean came to an agreement that it would be safer for her to act as a man, especially when many of the lawyers in her law firm were rumored playboys and perverts. As a result, the technicians at SPU helped her design a disguise and back story, and she became a male legal assistant at Morton & Partners Law Firm.

Initially, Halia assumed no one would fall for the disguise. She was clearly a girl. But after she stuck on a mustache, bandaged her chest to flatten it, and cut her long luscious black hair, no one doubted her. After all, it was trendy for young men to look metros.e.x.u.a.l and/or androgynous these days. She simply looked like a pretty boy.

"Hey, pretty boy, go fetch Morton a coffee," senior lawyer Roy Chen instructed as soon as he saw Halia walk in.

Halia nodded her head and walked over to the kitchen. Morton was the boss of the law firm and he liked to have his coffee dark with no milk or sugar. On the surface, it sounded easy to prepare for most people. But, the tough part was that he liked his coffee iced. Many legal assistants before Halia had failed to take into account that the first few ice cubes were bound to melt and they always ended up diluting the coffee too much. Many were fired because of this. 

Fortunately, Halia had the thoughtfulness of a girl and considered this when preparing the coffee the first time she was asked to do it. If she screwed it up, she could have been fired on her first day. Morton was impressed with her coffee skills and specifically asked for Halia to prepare his coffee every morning after that, and everyone in the office was grateful.

Morton took a sip of his coffee and smiled, "I heard Roy's taking you to a meeting today. You're doing well. Keep up the good work."

Halia nodded her head, "Yes, apparently, one of his clients passed away and he's sorting out the will with the client's family members."

"Oh, wills are no fun..." Morton sighed as he put down his cup and started typing on his keyboard.

Halia glanced nervously at the man. Her boss was known to have a bad temper; one wrong move could result in weeks of scolding. But, there was a certain charm to him. He was confident, good-looking, and very smart. 

"Roy has been at this firm for many years. Follow him well and learn what you can. You have a bright future ahead of you," Morton encouraged. This man was cold, domineering, strict, and serious, but he knew how to recognize true talent, and he saw potential in Halia. After all, she possessed the knowledge of a senior prosecutor from the SPU; an old man with much more experience than the 37-year-old Morton. Armed with this man's knowledge, Halia could technically be Morton's boss. But, of course, he didn't know this.

"Now, get back to work," Morton said gently with a slight smile in his eyes.

Halia was surprised by the man's gentleness. Everyone in the office was terrified of Morton, but why didn't he seem that scary at all? 

As Morton watched Halia leave his office, a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"Interesting," he whispered to himself.

...

That afternoon, Halia went with Roy to meet his client's family.

"My client passed away last year, but it took a while to sort out his funds and pay off his creditors. The man had outstanding fees, taxes, and funeral expenses that had to be paid off first. Now that it's all sorted, we can finally distribute the remaining money to the beneficiaries in his will. I've asked them all to meet us at Dynasty Restaurant," Roy explained as they arrived outside the famous seafood restaurant.

As soon as they entered, Roy led Halia to a private room in the back. There was a round table inside the room, and six people were already seated inside. The room was silent and there was a cold vibe in the air. It seemed, these people weren't on good terms with each other.

"Lawyer Chen, thank you for sorting everything and meeting with us," an old man greeted as he stood up.

Halia closed the door behind them and turned to look at the people in the room for the first time. As she scanned her eyes across the six family members, her eyes suddenly froze on one person and she subconsciously touched her mustache to check it was still there. 

The woman noticed Halia's odd gaze and asked Roy, "Who's this?"

Roy quickly pulled Halia beside him and replied, "This is my new legal assistant, Mars Wu. He'll be helping me with this case."

"Mars, this is the widow of the deceased, Marissa Qian..."

Halia lowered her head and nodded.

Marissa Qian...

She knew this woman well...