CHAPTER 1

RAIVEN flinched when he heard something that sounded like shattering glass. He immediately went out of his office, but then froze when he saw that the sliding glass door of his office was shattered again. While staring at the shattered door, all Raiven could do was let out a deep sigh.

"How many did this happen this month?" Out of his senses, Raiven asked a question into the void, but it was his secretary, Tiffa, who answered.

"Four times already, Attorney," she said, then gave him a sarcastic smile before speaking again. "You're just so kind, Attorney. That's why so many people love you."

Raiven ignored his secretary, who was also his mother's godchild and then walked towards the door to inspect it. "Shall we make our door wooden?" Raiven picked up the stone that shattered the glass door and unwrapped the paper wrapped around it. He read what was written there without any interest. 'I will kill you.' Raiven sighed, then walked over to his secretary's desk to place the paper there. "How many times has it been now?"

Grinning, Tiffa pulled out a medium-sized box from her desk cabinet, then placed it on top of the table, and opened it to show him the other letters. "The twentieth one already, Attorney, just this month. If not 'I will kill you' there praying for you to die and go to hell. You really are very famous now, Attorney."

Raiven ignored the sarcasms in Tiffa's voice and then pointed at the broken door. "Call someone to fix that."

"Yes, your highness," Tiffa immediately replied to her boss, who gave orders like a king.

Tiffa immediately frowned when her boss wasn't even fazed by her teasing, instead, he calmly went back to his office. Well, there's nothing new about that. Her boss was the most indifferent person she had ever met. It's as if his face can only show one emotion, and that is a poker face.

Even though her boss was a man, that didn't stop Tiffa from describing her boss's face as a 'resting bitch face'--- because it was the truth. Since she started working for her boss after she passed the bar exam, she hadn't seen him with a different expression. It was always the indifferent look-- like he didn't care at all. Well, he really didn't care. That was just who her boss was. He only showed a different emotion to his brother--- and that was frowning.

Just like their broken door. The people throwing death threats will only tire themselves out breaking their door, but the expression on her boss's face will never change.

The face of someone who doesn't care.

Meanwhile, inside Raiven's office, his phone rang. It was an unknown number, but he still answered it.

"Atty. Valiz speaking," he said.

"We know you have the SD card from that car's dash cam. If you don't want your body to end up on the sidewalk, give us the SD card."

Raiven rested his chin on his hand while listening to the person on the other line, then replied, "I don't know anything about the SD card you're talking about. Bye." That wasn't the first time he had received such a call.

But the person on the other line continued the threats, "If you don't return the SD card to us, I will kill you, you bitch--"

"Yeah?" Raiven yawned a little. "If you want to kill me, get in line." Then he ended the call. After a while, he opened his table's drawer and picked up the small SD card inside. After staring at it, Raiven sighed. "How could such a small thing bring me so much headache?"

Raiven placed the SD card in his wallet, then closed the drawer, and began working. He was now handling a homicide case, and of course, he was on the defendant's side and he was hoping that the content of that damn SD card could acquit his client. But it turned out that damn SD card was nothing more than a trouble. If he used it, he'd die--- Raiven knew that much. But even if he didn't use it, Raiven was sure that he was still going to die. He was just pretending not to care earlier, but he did. His life was important after all. Those organized criminals would not stop just because he told them he didn't have that damn SD card. So now, he had to work extra hard to make sure that his client would be acquitted without using it, and also be extra careful not to end up in a ditch somewhere.

Raiven was not a righteous individual, so he planned to keep the SD card to himself as a safety precaution. It was of his best interest. There was no guarantee that those organized criminals would let him go once he gave them the SD card. He would bet his life that those nasty pieces of shits would still kill him just for knowing the content of the SD card. The information inside the card could take down big names from politicians to men in uniform, and those big names would never let him live.

Raiven sighed. "Of all the things I could stumble upon, why does it have to be that fucking SD card?" Ah, my head is aching.

Raiven was still finalizing the best course of actions to take when his phone rang. It was his little brother, Raizen.

Kuya, are you busy? he immediately asked as he answered the call.

Raiven leaned back on the swivel chair then asked, "Do you need something?"

Raiven heard Raizen sigh before he spoke, "Did you piss someone off again?"

Raiven frowned. "I guess...? Do you even have to ask?"

His brother sighed. "There's a black car parked just meters away from your law office. There's someone inside with binoculars. I think they're watching you."

Raiven quickly stood up and secretly peeked outside from the side of the sliding glass window. There really was a black car there. "How did you know they have binoculars?"

"I'm the one responsible for your office's security and I have my ways." Raizen replied and then let out a sigh. "Kuya, how many times do I have to tell you to stop pissing people off? Are you still not satisfied with the death threats you receive every day?"

Raiven breathed out before leaning his back on the wall and sliding his hand inside his pocket. "Little Zen, you know what I do for a living. Pissing people off is part of my job."

Raizen sighed heavily. "That's why I keep telling you to stop defending criminals---"

"They pay well."

Raizen clicked his tongue. "You don't need money, Kuya!" Raizen was starting to get angry at his older brother again. This is always what happened whenever the two of them talked about that. "We don't need money anymore. We're already well off."

"You don't know when you'll need it." Raiven, who was staring at the ceiling, closed his eyes. "You know better than I do how important money is to me. Isn't it better to have it in case of emergency?"

Raizen no longer argued with his brother. He knew why his brother was obsessed with money. "Fine.... whatever. Just be careful, Kuya."

"I am careful," Raiven said to his brother.

"I don't believe you," said Raizen before he ended the call.

Raiven stared at the screen of his cellphone, when his brother ended the call, then glanced outside his office again. The black car was no longer there. Honestly, he was used to receiving death threats and being watched that it didn't bother him anymore, but if those men were from that syndicate who wanted that damn SD card...he sighed heavily.

Is this my karma?No.... I don't believe in such thing.

Raiven stepped out of his office and spoke to Tiffa, who looked like she had just finished cleaning the shattered glass door. "Tiffa, take a leave of absence starting today."

Tiffa furrowed her brows at what she heard. "Why, Attorney? Did something happen?"

"It'll get dangerous here in the next few days or weeks."

"Then I'll stay!" Tiffa said firmly. "I can't just leave you that easily, Attorney. I'm your loyal secretary---"

"Leave with pay---"

"Yes, your highness! I will leave at once!" Tiffa immediately agreed with a grin. Who would refuse a leave with pay?

Raiven crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his secretary with his poker face on. "What happened to' I'm your loyal secretary'?"

Tiffa grinned at her boss. "Money is important, your highness."

Raiven had nothing to say against that and nodded. "Agreed, now leave. I'll call you when it's not dangerous anymore, inform the others as well."

"Yes, your highness!" Tiffa even saluted to Raiven before hurrying to go out of the office.

Raiven shook his head and look at the others who was working on their desks. He has other employees, but they were still outside, working. He planned to send them home as well. This mess was his to carry alone.

Raiven went back to his office, sat at his chair, and immediately started reading, looking for something he could use to prove his client's innocence. The next hearing was scheduled next month, and he had to be prepared.

Raiven lost track of the time while engrossed in reading. When he looked out of the window, the sky had grown somewhat dark. Seeing the night sky, he got up, prepared his things and the book he needed to look into tonight for his case, and then he left his office after locking up.

As Raiven walked towards where he parked his car, he immediately sensed two presences behind, following him. He let out a faint sigh while continuing walking towards his car, pretending not to notice.

Halfway to his car, Raiven received a call from his brother.

"Two men behind you." Raizen immediately informed him.

"I know."

"Can you handle them?"

"Don't worry about them, just secure the CCTV footage for me. I don't want to be set up."

"On it. Bye."

"Bye," Raiven also said goodbye, then ended the call and put the cellphone back in his pocket while continuing to walk.

As he approached his car, he felt the tip of a gun pressed against the back of his head. Raiven had expected that. Some people would've shit their pants by now, but not him.

"Where is the SD card?" asked the man holding the gun on the back of Raiven's head, while his companion just loitered around since Raiven wasn't really a threat to them. To them, Raiven was just a weak lawyer like the others they had taken down.

"Give us the SD card if you don't want us to blow your skull apart," said by the second man, who was casually keeping his hands in his pocket.

"Hands up!" ordered by the man who was pointing the gun at Raiven.

Raiven immediately complied. He let go of the case he was holding along with the bag containing books and a folder, then slowly raised his hands.

The two thought the lawyer was already trembling in fear because he remained silent, but unknown to them, Raiven was perfectly calm.

"Face forward!" shouted the man pressing the gun to Raiven's head. "Face forward, I said!" he barked at Raiven when he didn't comply right away.

Raiven sighed and said, "Okay, don't regret it."

The two men were expecting a slow and scared turn, but to their shock, the lawyer made a quick one, too quick for their eyes to follow. In a blink of an eye, the lawyer had already twisted the wrist and fingers of the man holding the gun and disarmed him. In panic, the guy who was calm earlier fumbled to pull his gun out, but it was already too late. Raiven already used the gun he disarmed from the guy to hit the back of their necks multiple times until both men fell to the ground, unconscious.

Raiven didn't want to kill the two guys, he just wanted to beat them unconscious. After making sure that they were now incapable of fighting back, Raiven calmly disassembled the gun and dropped all the parts on the ground before picking up his attaché case and bag, and then he slide himself inside his car.

Leaving the two men behind, Raiven drove home. But to his shock, he found two firetrucks in front of his burning house.

Raiven parked his car and massaged his temple while watching his burning house. Good thing he didn't have maids and he lived alone. So much trouble for such a small SD card. But he was not surprised that those nasty pieces of shits did this. It was some kind of a warning to him.

Sighing, he started his car again and left the scene. Who knew who was lurking around his house just waiting for him to arrive? While driving towards his condo, his brother called.

Raiven knew that his brother would just scold him, but he still answered the call and put it on loudspeaker while driving.

"Kuya! Your burning house is on the news!" Raizen exclaimed, sounding panicked.

"Yeah."

Raizen was stunned by his older brother's reply. "Yeah? That's all you have to say."

Frowning and confused, Raiven asked, "Is there more I should say?"

"Your house is on fire!" Raizen snapped. "And I'm pretty sure it's not from a normal cause!"

"Yeah, so?" Raiven asked calmly. "There's nothing I can do about it---"

"How about you act like how a normal person would act?!" Raizen was so pissed at his older brother. "That's your house! Don't you care?!"

"I do, but what's the use? I still have a condo anyway," he answered nonchalantly. "I'll stay there for the meantime while you sort out my burn house. Can I count on you on that?"

Raizen calmed himself before letting out a deep breath. "Okay, leave it to me."

"Thanks."

"Lie low for a while," Raizen's plea to his older brother.

"I'll try."

"I'll send security---"

"Don't bother," Raiven stopped his brother, "I can take care of myself. Just take care of my house."

Raizen was forced to agree. "Fine, take care, Kuya."

"I will, you too." Raiven replied, then ended the call and drove faster towards his condo.

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