Gemotions

The flickering candlelight danced across the walls of the old library. I ran my fingers across the brittle paper, the words of my mother's resignation stinging my eyes. "Unforeseen circumstances necessitate my departure," it read, a careful lie masking the truth. She had been ostracized, blacklisted, for refusing to compromise her principles. Her career, her reputation, destroyed.

A knot tightened in my stomach. I saw her face in my mind, the quiet strength that had masked her pain. I knew who was responsible. The memory of their smug smiles, their casual dismissals, burned in my memory. They had taken everything from her. And now, they would pay. I was their new lawyer.