This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.

Judge Harrison Pierce adjusted his black robes one final time before stepping into the courtroom that had been his domain for nearly two decades. The morning light filtered through tall windows, casting long shadows across the mahogany benches where attorneys, defendants, and families gathered to seek justice. At sixty-two, Pierce commanded respect with his silver hair, sharp blue eyes, and the kind of gravitas that made lawyers tremble when they approached his bench. What none of them knew was that the scales of justice had been tipped in his favor for the better part of a decade.

The case before him today was routine enough—a drug possession charge against Marcus Williams, a nineteen-year-old college student from the wrong side of town. The evidence was clear, the arrest clean, and the defendant had no significant criminal history. Under normal circumstances, Pierce might have considered probation with community service, perhaps a drug treatment program. But these were not normal circumstances, and Marcus Williams was about to become another casualty in a web of corruption that reached deep into the city's power structure.

Pierce's gaze moved to the defense attorney, Janet Morrison, a young public defender with fire in her eyes and an unfortunate habit of believing in the system. She had prepared her case meticulously, researching precedents and crafting arguments that might sway a fair-minded judge toward leniency. What she didn't understand was that fairness had been bought and paid for long ago, and the price had been Pierce's soul.

The prosecution was led by District Attorney Robert Carmichael, a man whose political ambitions were matched only by his willingness to compromise his principles to achieve them. Carmichael had been Pierce's law school roommate, and their relationship had evolved from friendship to mutual exploitation over the years.