“Valerie,” Rachel said, a warning note in her tone.
“This is about Astoria, isn’t it?” Valerie leaned forward slightly, her eyes locked on Miller. “That's the only thing that makes sense. You've been different ever since the preliminary hearing. I noticed it then. The way you looked at her, the way you defended her when I told you about her calling me names. I thought I was imagining it, but I wasn't, was I?"
Miller’s chest tightened, but she kept her expression neutral. “I’m not going to discuss the reasons for my recusal.”
“You don't have to. It's written all over your face.” Valerie sat back, and something shifted in her demeanor. The warmth dropped away entirely, replaced by something colder and more calculating. “I trusted you. I sat in this room and told you things I've never told anyone. I thought you were on my side.”
“I was on your side. I did my job?—”
“Your job was to protect me from her.” Valerie's voice rose slightly, then caught itself, smoothing back into control. “She's manipulative, Miller. She's been manipulating everyone for years—the board, the media, and now apparently you. Whatever she said to you, whatever she did, it's what she does. She finds weaknesses and exploits them.”
Miller felt the accusation land wrong and forced herself not to react. “I’m handling this appropriately,” Miller said quietly. “That’s all I can tell you.”
“Appropriately.” Valerie laughed, a brittle sound. “You're leaving me exposed in the middle of the most important legalbattle of my life because you got too close to my ex-wife, and you're calling it appropriate?”
“That’s enough,” Rachel cut in, her voice firm. “Miller is exercising her professional judgment, which is exactly what any ethical attorney would do when facing a conflict of interest. You're in excellent hands, Valerie. The case will not suffer.”
Valerie’s jaw tightened. For a moment, Miller saw something flash across her face—not hurt, not betrayal, but fury. The look of someone who had lost control of a situation she thought she'd managed perfectly.
“Fine.” Valerie stood, picking up her bag with sharp, precise movements. “I suppose I don't have a choice in the matter.”
“It’s standard procedure,” Rachel said. “I’ll call you this week to review the timeline for the next phase.”
Valerie didn't acknowledge her. She paused at the door and looked back at Miller, her expression unreadable. “I hope you know what you’re doing. Because Astoria will destroy you the same way she tried to destroy me. It’s just a matter of time.”
She left without waiting for a response. The door clicked shut behind her, and the room felt suddenly lighter, as if a pressure had been released.
Rachel exhaled slowly. “Well, that went about as expected.”
Miller’s hands were shaking, and she tucked them under her legs and waited for them to stop.
“She’s going to be a problem,” Rachel said.
“Yeah, I know.”
“She thinks you've been compromised. She'll be watching for proof.” Rachel scooped up her notes and stood. "Whatever this is, Miller—whatever happened or didn't happen—you need to be careful. If she finds something she can use, she will.”
Miller nodded. She hadn't expected Valerie to land on Astoria so quickly, but now that she had, Miller knew she wouldn't let it go. “I understand.”
Rachel stopped at the door and turned back. “I meant what I said earlier. You’re one of the best associates I’ve worked with. Don’t throw that away.”
She left Miller alone in the conference room, sitting in the silence with Valerie’s accusations ringing in her ears.“She’ll destroy you the same way she tried to destroy me.”
Miller closed her eyes. She thought about Astoria in the library, not the kiss but before it. The exhaustion in her voice when she’d talked about Valerie’s latest motion, the way her shoulders had dropped when she thought no one was watching, the cracks in the ice queen armor that no one else seemed to see.
Valerie’s version of events had cast Astoria as the cold, calculating villain. But Miller had seen something different. She’d seen someone drowning in a battle she hadn’t started, fighting to keep her head above water while her ex-wife weaponized the legal system against her.
But maybe Miller was wrong. Maybe Valerie was right and Astoria had played her perfectly, finding her weaknesses and exploiting them.
She didn’t think so, though.
Miller opened her eyes and stood. The day was already half over. She had other cases to work on, other clients who needed her attention, and a career to salvage from the wreckage of this morning’s choice.
But underneath all of it, she was waiting. For what, she couldn’t quite say.
Miller’s apartment was quiet when she got home. She dropped her bag by the door and stood in the entryway for a moment, letting the silence settle around her. The place was small—a one-bedroom in a modest complex in the Heights, nothing like the life she imagined Astoria living—but it was hers. She'd made it comfortable over the years: soft throw blankets on the couch, photos of her moms on the bookshelf, and a kitchenthat smelled faintly of the coffee she'd forgotten to finish that morning.
She changed out of her work clothes and into running gear, thinking she'd go for a jog to clear her head. But she made it as far as lacing up her shoes before she stopped, one hand on the doorknob, unable to make herself leave.
