Do You Understand What It Means to See Through Something Without Exposing It
Avery Hayes had run through a thousand different ways Caleb Sterling might react, but him breaking their unspoken rule and messaging her directly was not one of them.
She'd spent the last few days building the hype herself. Right after breakfast near campus, she'd snapped a picture of the entrance to the University of Finance and Economics and posted it on X with a simple caption: #TomorrowsBattlefield#.
The day before, she'd posted a picture of her admission ticket for the Bar Exam, which had kicked off a flurry of comments from fellow students and a few of her old colleagues from Westlake General Hospital.
"Whoa, that's a huge leap! Medicine to law? How does your brain even handle that?"
"Oh my god, Dr. Hayes, you're actually taking the bar..."
"Didn't you just quit your job?"
Those last two comments were from her former coworkers. Their use of "Dr. Hayes," combined with her X handle, was all it took for the internet to connect the dots: she used to be a doctor.
"Huh, I thought your handle was just a random name," one user wrote. "But seeing these replies... did you study law while you were in med school?"
Avery scrolled through, tapping out quick replies to her old colleagues before she started to close the app. Just as her thumb hovered over the icon, a new notification popped up: a direct message.
She opened it. The message was blunt. "I'm Caleb Sterling. That message earlier. Was that you?"
His directness made her frown. *Damn it, can he not take a hint?*
She knew someone as smart as Caleb must have figured out she was the one who sent him the dirt.
The photo of his aunt, Lorraine Sterling, having dinner with staff from the court's judicial supervision office, followed by that audio recording...
the implication couldn't have been clearer.
She'd sent the information through back channels for a reason: she wanted nothing to do with him.
But he'd understood perfectly and decided to call her out on it anyway.
Avery scoffed and, without a second thought, blocked him. She'd sent the material, sure, but she'd never admit it.
On Caleb's end, the reply never came. He sent a few more messages, all of which went undelivered, and finally got the picture. He stared at his phone for a long moment, a sneer twisting his lips, then forwarded the intel Avery had sent to his own people.
Same old trick, just in new packaging. As long as it worked, that's all that mattered.
Bryce Sterling was going to prison. He was sure of it now.
Before, he'd never had an opening, but Bryce himself had handed him one on a silver platter.
To not take it would be a waste of all the years he'd spent swallowing his resentment.
Sleeping with his woman, making him look like a fool for nearly five years while he played the part of a spineless coward, bending to his every whim...
The rage had been bottled up for so long. It was finally time to let it out.
This Dr. Hayes... she was an interesting woman. Since she wanted to see this through, he'd be more than happy to give her a hand.
As for the little task his dear uncle had given him yesterday? Heh. Dr. Hayes could go wherever she wanted. He was just a construction boss; what power did he have to track someone down on a whim? Surely, his uncle would understand how difficult his situation was.
Avery had no idea what Caleb was plotting. The autumn morning air had a crisp chill to it as she left the breakfast spot, hailed a cab, and headed for the NYU School of Medicine to visit her old mentor, Professor Finch.
Unfortunately, her timing was off. When she arrived, she learned he was out of town for an academic conference.
Disappointed, Avery left the gifts she'd brought with his housekeeper and headed back out.
It figured. Academics never had any free time.
Professor Finch was getting on in years and had just had surgery, but he was already tangled up in work again before he'd even had a chance to properly recover.
By the time she got back to her hotel, it was past ten. With the bar exam tomorrow, she decided against any last-minute cramming and just flopped onto her bed, scrolling through X.
And that's when she understood why Leo Foster had called Caleb a mad dog.
*Damn, he really is crazy.*
She'd only sent him the information that morning, and just a couple of hours later, he'd already plastered it all over the internet. He'd even sicced a handful of troll farms and marketing accounts on it to make sure it blew up.
If he wanted to leak it, fine, but he didn't even bother to blur the photo. The picture of Lorraine Sterling dining with members of the judicial supervision office was just... out there. Uncensored. Those were court officials. The Westlake City Courthouse was about to have a massive headache.
Before Bryce's case was decided, the photo wasn't hard evidence of anything. Posting it now just fueled speculation and rumors. To make matters worse, the marketing accounts had slapped outrageously clickbaity titles on the posts.
#FAMILY OF HOSPITAL ATTACKER MEETS WITH PUBLIC OFFICIALS#
#HOSPITAL ATTACKER'S FAMILY OPENLY brEAKS THE LAW#
#THE STERLING FAMILY INTERFERES WITH JUDICIAL SENTENCING#
The term "hospital attacker" was already a hot topic. Every post Caleb's people made included those words, and with the boost from major accounts, all three headlines shot into the top ten trending topics in no time.
The comment sections went ballistic. Lorraine's earlier visit to the hospital to threaten her was dug up and started circulating again.
"Holy crap, openly bribing case officers? They really think they're above the law."
"People of Westlake City, is the Sterling family really that powerful there? First they threaten people at the hospital, now they're tracking down court officials?"
"@WestlakeCityCourthouse #Please strictly investigate the people in this picture."
"I heard the doctor refused to sign a letter of forgiveness. @TheWestlakeCityPolice, please protect the victim."
"What the Sterlings are doing is already illegal. This is interference with sentencing."
Avery stared at the unblurred faces on her screen, her eyes wide. Just what you'd expect from a mad dog. He was a loose cannon who didn't give a damn about the consequences.
Except for Lorraine, everyone in that picture worked for the court.
If the Westlake City Courthouse didn't issue a statement, this would absolutely shred the public's faith in the judicial system.
As a former lawyer, Avery still held that credibility in high regard.
She knew the world had its share of corruption, but she still wanted to believe in the fundamental fairness of the law.
That was why she hadn't acted after taking the photos.
She was waiting. They were her ace in the hole.
If Bryce got the maximum sentence, the photos would be proof of the court's integrity.
If he got off easy, they would be her leverage to demand a retrial.
Any move was possible as long as it didn't damage the credibility of the system itself.
She sighed and finally shut her phone, deciding to stop looking. While she believed in upholding judicial fairness, she had to admit Caleb's reckless move was, indirectly, helping her.
A trending topic this explosive, especially one involving the courts, probably wouldn't stay up for long.
But the public outrage was already white-hot, shoving the Sterling family right back under the microscope.
With the family getting dragged through the mud all over again, she doubted Warren Sterling would have time to worry about her anymore.
Credit where it was due, though. Caleb actually had some brains. He hadn't released the recording of Warren and his grandson trying to intimidate her. By releasing the photos instead, he'd cleverly distanced her from the situation entirely.
Warren Sterling thought he had so much free time, did he? Well, now Caleb had made his move. The family's food company wasn't just weathering an external storm anymore; it was under attack from the inside out. They were surrounded.
She just hoped Caleb would put in some real effort and use this whole mess to carve out a bigger piece of the Sterling empire for himself. By the time she was ready to face the family head-on, maybe they wouldn't have the power to threaten anyone at all.