Mom was already sitting behind their attorney.
When she saw me, she looked me up and down, rolled her eyes, and whispered something that made Dad smirk.
Their attorney, Martin Kessler, stood when Judge Samuel Whitmore entered.
“Your Honor, this matter involves serious allegations against Ms. Claire Bennett—”
The judge glanced at the case caption.
Then he looked at me.
And stopped.
For one long second, nobody spoke.
“Wait,” he said. “These allegations are against you?”
Mom’s expression changed immediately.
Kessler looked confused.
“Your Honor?”
Judge Whitmore leaned back.
“Ms. Bennett, are you the Claire Bennett who served as lead forensic counsel in *United States v. Halpern Financial* and testified before the state banking committee last year?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
Dad stared at me like I had started speaking another language.
There was a reason he didn’t know.
Years earlier, I had stopped telling my parents much about my life.
