33 parts Complete MatureIN HER DEFENCE
Introduction
Jennie Kim didn't believe in softness.
Not in the courtroom, not in the office, not in herself.
She was Seoul's most respected litigator by thirty, feared more than she was admired. Her heels never clicked twice down the same hallway, and her silence in a meeting could kill a career faster than a lost case.
She didn't yell. She didn't plead. She simply looked - and people moved.
The only thing she had less time for than inefficiency was idealism.
So when her managing partner assigned her a final-year intern from Korea University - bright-eyed, book-taught, and ten minutes early for everything - Jennie barely looked up from her deposition notes.
"Don't ask questions unless you already know the answers," she said without turning.
"And don't try to impress me. I'm not here to be impressed."
Lisa Manoban nodded once. Soft voice, steady gaze.
"I'm not here to impress you," she said. "I'm here to learn."
That was the first time Jennie looked at her - really looked.
She wasn't loud, or eager, or trying too hard.
She was just... still. Soft in a way Jennie didn't trust.
The kind of softness that didn't bend to survive - it stayed, and waited, and watched.
Jennie dismissed her with a nod, already forgetting the name.
But something about the girl lingered long after she left the room.
Like the quiet echo of a truth Jennie didn't want to hear.