pro nesta

Usually their little games didn’t spill over in front of other people, but Cassian had managed to convince Nesta to try out something… more involved. She would’ve said she didn’t know how he’d gotten her to agree, but he’d buried his tongue in her cunt for almost an hour last night. It really hadn’t taken much more after that.

It had all seemed simple enough. All Cassian wanted Nesta to do was put on the vibrating panties he’d gotten her, and he’d take care of the rest. He’d sworn up and down that he wouldn’t actually turn it on during the meal, but that bastard had clearly been lying through his fucking teeth.

Nesta didn’t know how the hell she’d made it through dinner, but apparently she looked like she was in some kind of pain, so she was sticking with the lie. Feyre had asked her a few times throughout the night if she was feeling alright, lining up perfectly with Cassian turning up the vibration and turning it down right when she was expected to have a rational conversation.

“I have ibuprofen if you need it,” Feyre told her, her eyes still a little worried. “But if you need to go home early…”

Nesta looked away from her sister and took a sip of her water, using the opportunity to glare daggers at Cassian from across the table. He looked cool as a cucumber, but he winked at her before leaning over to say something to Azriel. He was looking at her too, his lips slowly turning up into a tiny smirk, but Nesta chose to write it off.

“I’m fine,” Nesta eventually replied to Feyre. She hoped she didn’t sound like she was gritting her teeth together, but if that’s what it took to stay sane right now, then so be it. “Really. Don’t worry about me.”

Feyre seemingly believed her enough to go back to talking to Rhys and Mor, so Nesta took her chance and excused herself to go to the bathroom. She somehow managed to make it to there in one piece, her vibrator buzzing away happily all the while.

The second she was behind closed doors, she slammed the toilet lid down and sat down on the cover, about to ride off into the fucking sunset while she had the chance. She couldn’t take it anymore; she was so desperate to just come already and get it over with that she didn’t give a flying fuck where she was, rocking back and forth in the bathroom like she was sitting on top of the dryer for the first time—

Nesta wanted to scream as the vibrator went down to its lowest setting just as someone knocked on the bathroom door. “Just a minute!”

The vibrator turned completely off then, and she pushed down the combination of frustration and horny so she could at least pretend to have been using the bathroom. She flushed the toilet and washed her hands for good measure, hoping that everyone else would interpret her flushed skin as not feeling well instead of the truth.

Nesta assumed it would be Cassian on the other side of the door, so she was surprised when it was Azriel standing there instead. “All yours.”

“I don’t have to really use the bathroom,” Azriel replied, his eyes slowly sweeping over her. One of his hands drifted into his pocket as he leaned against the door frame, not quite blocking her exit, but not exactly giving her space to walk away. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Like I told Feyre,” she responded, “you all worry too much. I’m fi—mhmm—fine.”

The vibrator had turned on right in the middle of Nesta’s sentence, and she really hoped Azriel wouldn’t say anything about how high her voice had gone just then.

“Right,” he said slowly, dragging out the vowel to show he obviously didn’t believe her. He didn’t look totally concerned, but he was watching her like a hawk. “I think you should make your exit now while you can. I’ll get Cassian.”

Azriel pushed off the doorframe so he could follow through on his promise, and Nesta held in a moan as the vibrator went up another level or two. She wanted nothing more than to cross one leg over the other and press the vibrator into her clit as hard as humanly possible, but she had to hold onto whatever scraps of decorum she had left.

Cassian didn’t take long to appear at the end of the hallway, his shit-eating grin only growing the closer he got to her. “Wow, Nes. You really must not be feeling well.”

“Fuck — you,” Nesta hissed, wishing she could smack that smug look off his face.

“Later,” he promised with a wink. He turned over his shoulder to make sure nobody could see them before stepping forward and slipping his hand between them, cupping her cunt through her leggings so he could really press the vibrator in. “You must be so fucking wet right now, huh? I could probably slide my cock in so easy.”

“You asshole,” she replied. Her eyes fluttered shut as she tried not to come on the spot. “I hate you.”

“What, you don’t want to hear about how I’d bend you over the sink and make you watch in the mirror?” he asked, leaning closer so he was talking right into her ear. He chuckled lowly as she let out a quiet squeak. “Or maybe up against the wall… make you take it until you can’t feel your legs—”

Just as Nesta was about to throw caution to the wind and let her pleasure take her, Cassian stepped back from her with another quiet laugh. She had been ready to let him have it until she heard someone’s footfalls coming down the hallway, and she was forced to swallow her rant and move out of the way so Mor didn’t suspect anything as she came to use the bathroom.

“Sorry, excuse me,” Mor said breezily. She pouted at Nesta and added, “I’d hug you goodbye, but I don’t know what’s up with you. Hope you feel better tomorrow!”

“Thanks,” Nesta said back, stepping closer to Cassian so Mor had room to get in the bathroom. Thankfully Cassian turned the vibrator off, so she didn’t have to worry about Mor potentially hearing any inexplicable sounds. “Have a good night.”

Once Mor was in the bathroom, Nesta turned to fix Cassian with a death stare. He was smirking unrepentantly, and she really wanted to smack him.

“This isn’t over,” Nesta practically growled.

“Never,” Cassian replied, winking. “Come on. Let me take you home.”

“Give me that fucking remote first,” she demanded. She started patting down his pockets to look for the little black remote, her confusion only growing when she couldn’t find it on him. “Where is it.”

“I don’t know,” he answered, grabbing one of her hands and pulling her a little further down the hallway so Mor wouldn’t overhear. “Haven’t seen it in like an hour.”

Nesta closed her eyes and breathed deeply through her nose, trying to keep her calm. She knew he’d been more of a dick than usual, but it hadn’t even been him at all.

“Who the hell did you—” Nesta said, her eyes flaring open. She cut herself off as she came to the only conclusion that made sense: Cassian had given that remote to Azriel. “You codependent bastard.”

“I see the way you look at him, sweetheart,” Cassian said back, apparently unfazed by her words. He was still holding her hand, and started absentmindedly rubbing his thumb back and forth against her finger where they intertwined. “Besides, he’s the only person I’d even think about sharing you with.”

Nesta’s insides went molten at the thought, despite knowing she should feel horrified at this kind of violation. She should be telling Cassian to go fuck himself, to never come near her again, not thinking about another pair of hazel eyes watching her try not to shatter at the dinner table—

“Yeah,” Cassian breathed, a victorious smirk spreading across his lips as he realized Nesta wasn’t saying no. “That’s what I thought.”

Nesta didn’t have anything coherent to say as Cassian led her toward the front door and to his car, where Azriel was already waiting, nonchalantly leaning up against the side of Cassian’s car.

“Get in the car, Nesta,” Cassian said, letting go of her hand and giving her a light push in Azriel’s direction.

“Yeah, Nesta,” Azriel echoed, like he was Cassian’s shadow. “Get in the car.”

So Nesta got in.

The case of Kallias progressed with great difficulty. Starting with the fact that absolutely everyone and everything tried to hinder them at every turn, and ending with the indifference they faced, as no one cared about some shelter. Nesta was seriously angry about this, not understanding how little empathy it took to have such an attitude.

However, just when she thought things couldn’t get worse, they did. It was a Tuesday when the situation with their case worsened significantly, given the looming deadlines and the approaching date of the first court hearing.

Nesta, out of habit, entered Eris’s office, intending to tell him what she had heard that morning. However, he met her with the same grim expression that made her think he had already heard what she was about to say.

"We need to talk," they said simultaneously before Eris gestured for her to speak first.

"The lab," Nesta said, expecting a nod or any other sign that Eris was aware, but he only looked at her puzzled. "There was a fire last night."

"Arson?" Eris frowned immediately.

"You think...?"

"It would explain their confidence during negotiations that we don’t have the analysis results. And most likely, we won’t get them."

Nesta had encountered something similar before. Yet even now, she felt unsettled by the lengths companies were willing to go just to save an extra dollar. The mere realization that a crime had been committed solely to avoid paying compensation made her feel sick. It brought both fear and anger.

The fire had destroyed the results of their independent inspection, which meant they would now have to move mountains to obtain them before the hearing. Considering how slowly their initial request was being processed, everything had become even more complicated.

Then Nesta noticed that Eris's face had grown even more tense, his hands nervously fidgeting with a familiar golden Parker pen, faster than usual.

"If you didn’t know about this, what did you want to talk about?" she frowned, realizing Eris was probably about to deliver more bad news.

"Nesta, sit down," he said in an overly gentle voice, adding to her tension. She cautiously took a seat in the chair across from him. Eris hesitated for a few seconds. "Last night, one of the children died from complications of the illness."

Eris explained something about a chronic disease that had worsened due to lead poisoning, but all she heard was ringing silence. White noise, completely blocking out all the sounds around her. Nesta didn’t know how she should react. Anger, regret, helplessness—these emotions rushed through her, clouding her reason. She was supposed to think about how this would change the case, their lawsuit, their legal strategy. She shouldn’t let emotions take over now.

For a moment, Nesta thought about what it would be like if her daughters were in the place of these children. If she had sent her kids to school without knowing that for months they had been exposed to chemical poisoning. If her daughters had been poisoned by lead. If...

Panic. She was seized by a wave of panic she couldn’t control. An endless stream of "what ifs" that wouldn’t stop. She seemed to be hyperventilating.

"Nesta," the familiar voice and hands on her shoulders brought her back. The voice, usually confident, arrogant, and smug, now sounded overly concerned and soft. "Breathe."

Eris frowned, breathing with her, helping her through the panic attack. His hands moved from her shoulders to her hands, gripping them tightly, grounding her. Eris watched her with a look full of concern, trying all the while to steady her breathing.

As soon as she regained her composure, she felt nothing but shame for allowing emotions to take over. She was supposed to remain detached. She had to control her reaction. She had to be a lawyer and nothing else while in this office.

"It won’t happen again," Nesta said quietly, trying to reassure Eris. "I can work on this case."

"Sorry," Eris said unexpectedly, instead of scolding or saying something else along those lines. He moved toward the dispenser and brought her a glass of water. "Sorry for not considering the details of the case earlier. I should have thought before asking you to take it on. You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to."

"I’m not weak," she said firmly, gripping the cup tightly in her hands. Her eyes gleamed with determination and unspoken frustration at seeming incapable yet again.

"I didn’t say that. But you don’t have to take on this case; it’s not the last one we’ll have, so..."

"I can work, Eris. I’m capable of it," she repeated. "I have to. And not only because I want to prove something but for those children."

"If you say so..." Eris sighed.

They didn’t talk for the rest of the day. Nesta desperately wanted to prove to herself and to him that she was capable. Eris gave her short glances, full of unspoken words, but he didn’t dare disturb her.

On Friday evening, they stayed late in the office. The hearing was set for Monday, and the soil analysis results had been anonymously sent to another lab with a request for expedited testing.

"We still need to conduct a full investigation into what happened at the lab," Nesta insisted.

Eris sat with a tired look, staring at his laptop screen, occasionally tapping a few keys, clearly in no hurry to finish whatever was open.

"There’s no evidence, not even much circumstantial proof. Our lawsuit will likely be dismissed from the start," he stated matter-of-factly. "You want revenge? Win the case and squeeze the maximum compensation out of those bastards that they can possibly afford."

The first hearing came sooner than they had hoped. Nesta, holding several folders, stood in the hallway while Eris did his best to pretend he wasn’t nervous at all. Despite all his persuasion, Nesta agreed to join as second lawyer, but today Eris would be the one speaking.

"Do everything like in the Gaber case, Vanserra," Nesta suddenly said, surprising both of them.

Eris looked up, a surprised expression on his face, and then, as if realizing what case she was referring to, he smirked.

"When I won the trial with almost zero chances?"

"Exactly, when you won with almost zero chances," Nesta nodded, leaving the folders on the windowsill and reaching for his tie to adjust it. "And when you absolutely infuriated me."

"You should’ve taken the lead as counsel," Eris smirked. "Your—what was his name?—assistant? Completely useless."

"That was my junior associate, and he just got nervous," Nesta rolled her eyes.

"Uh-huh."

"Don’t be an ass, Vanserra. I’m trying to support you," she grumbled, and Eris chuckled softly.

"If someone had told me before that Nesta Archeron would be supporting me, I wouldn’t have believed them," he smiled, taking the folders from the windowsill. "Will I get any other comforting gesture?"

"My presence here is already enough of a comfort gesture, don’t push it."

Eris smirked, ready to say something else, but they were called inside. The smile fell from his face, replaced by a serious, cold expression, and Nesta’s face mirrored the same severity, if not more.

Inside, Kallias was already waiting, having arrived in the courtroom. This was the first time Nesta had seen him in person; before this, Eris had handled all the meetings with him either outside the office or over the phone.

Nesta silently observed as the factory’s lawyers entered, all with serious faces and dirty looks aimed at Eris. The defendants took their seats, and the judge ordered everyone to stand as the court session began.

As Eris articulated his arguments clearly, each word was meticulously chosen, each sentence serving its purpose—they had spent all of Friday, and Eris likely the entire weekend, perfecting this speech—Nesta glanced toward the jury stand.

One of the women was definitely a mother; despite her attempt at maintaining a neutral expression, her face betrayed the empathy she felt for the affected children. Half of the jury might have been bought, but Nesta tried to push that thought aside.

"Your Honor, the prosecution has yet to prove that my clients were aware of the lead levels," the defense attorney stated when it was his turn to speak.

Eris glared at him, but the attorney ignored it, continuing his speech about how unaware his clients had been of the danger posed by their factory and how all sanitary inspections had shown everything was in order. Their defense could have been easily dismantled had they had the soil analysis results, which both they and the factory owners should have possessed.

"One must consider, Your Honor," the defense attorney continued. Nesta narrowed her eyes. This scoundrel was about to say something vile, and her instincts did not fail her. "That the owner of the shelter, Kallias Seaver, simply wants money and is therefore trying to blame my clients."

"Objection," Eris immediately interrupted, "speculation."

"Speculation or analysis of facts?" the attorney sneered, approaching the judge and handing her a folder with some papers. "Your Honor, before you are reports of Mr. Seaver’s debts to several companies working with his shelter."

Nesta sharply looked at Eris, and judging by his face, which displayed a storm of emotions beneath his impartial mask, he hadn’t known either. Kallias clenched his jaw, trying to burn a hole through the defense attorney with his glare.

After leaving the courtroom, the three of them walked to the parking lot. Nesta was about to ask Kallias something when Eris grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"What the hell?" he snapped. "Why didn’t you tell us?"

Kallias, to his credit, remained calm, moving Eris's hand away and straightening his shirt.

"You said we would win the case."

"That was before the judge and jury started thinking you just want to get rid of the debts."

Nesta stepped forward, placing a calming hand on Eris's shoulder. "Calm down. This is just the first hearing."

"Maybe the last," Eris muttered threateningly.

"Eris..." Kallias began.

"We're not dropping the case," Nesta reassured, though her voice carried the same grim tone. "If the shelter can afford to cover the legal fees, we're still in the game."

Aside from the lawyer fees, which Kallias didn’t need to pay in this case, the expert evaluations and legal proceedings were still a hefty sum. And judging by the debts presented in court, covering all of it was quite a challenge.

"I didn’t think it would matter," Kallias admitted quietly, running his hand through his hair yet again. "I didn’t think they’d find out."

"Of course, they could find out," Eris sighed, calmer now than he had been moments ago. "And they did. And we could’ve prevented them from using it this way."

"These aren’t those kinds of debts, Eris," Kallias said, sounding utterly defeated, as Nesta gave him a sympathetic glance. "Our main sponsors pulled out because they didn’t want to bear the costs of caring for sick children. A shelter isn’t something you can just close and forget because of a lack of budget. Food, clothes, even basic electricity, all of it is on credit. I’m not gambling away this money."

Eris sighed, rubbing his face, while he and Nesta pondered what to do next. Kallias should have told them sooner, or at least given them a warning so they could have been better prepared.

"Let’s wait for the soil test results," Nesta suggested in a calm and rational voice. "They’ll lose, and in any case, they’ll have to cover all our legal expenses."

"Before they do that, I’ll borrow some money," Eris said. "Any more unpleasant surprises we should know about?"

Kallias just shook his head. After saying goodbye, Eris and Nesta headed toward the car. Nesta kept glancing at him as they walked, seeing the same irritation, stemming from his frustration with himself. She could easily guess what thoughts were swirling in his head.

Why didn’t he find out on his own? Why didn’t he think about this? Why didn’t he say something more convincing in their defense in court? Why...

Eris opened the passenger door for her, then got into the driver’s seat. The next court hearing was in four days. There might be more, but they chose not to talk about it, as it would only mean things weren’t going smoothly for them.

"This isn’t the way to the office," Nesta noted.

Eris just shrugged. "We did what we could today. I suggest we rest and regroup. I’m taking you home, Archeron."

"If we’re not going to the office, then turn left here," she said. Eris raised an eyebrow slightly in surprise at her commanding tone but didn’t argue. Nesta smirked at the thought that over the years, he had probably just gotten smarter and realized that arguing with her was pointless.

"Where am I taking you?" he asked, turning on the blinker and waiting for the green light to make the turn.

"You'll see," Nesta answered mysteriously, deciding not to reveal her plans just yet. "We’re supposed to be taking a breather, right?"

Eris squinted at her but chuckled and drove on. Nesta gave him directions from time to time until she told him to park on one of the streets. Which Eris did.

"Good job. You’ve officially proven you can follow orders," she said with a sarcastic smile.

"For you, anything," Eris replied with equal sarcasm, taking out the key and unfastening his seatbelt. "Now, where are we?"

Nesta unfastened her seatbelt as well and stepped out of the car. Eris followed her, walking down a now-familiar street as he started paying more attention to his surroundings. Nesta remained silent until they reached a small café.

"I should’ve guessed we were heading here as soon as we turned into this neighborhood," Eris snorted, opening the door and letting her in.

"I’m the mother of two kids; you couldn’t expect me not to get hooked on sweets again," Nesta laughed, entering the café.

The place hadn’t changed much over the years. Some might have thought the small café should’ve closed down by now, given that it didn’t get as many customers compared to other places in the area. But Nesta knew the owners received anonymous charitable donations from time to time to keep the business afloat. She herself had participated in such anonymous contributions a few times.

"They still make the best chocolate cake here," she smiled, sitting down at a free table. Eris chuckled softly and sat across from her.

"I doubt chocolate cake will help me stop worrying about our already messed-up first hearing, but I’ll trust the process," he said.

"Someone’s forgotten the rules," Nesta reminded him.

"No talking about work inside," Eris rolled his eyes.

It was a ridiculous rule they came up with a long time ago. They’d found this café during their first legal internship. It was in one of the buildings in this area, which made this café the first place they ate at. After that, Nesta fell in love with the place, and Eris just tagged along because they often had to work extra hours beyond the official ones.

On the first day of their internship, Nesta had overslept and, fearing being late, skipped breakfast. Eris had handed her a bag of pastries with what she thought was a condescending look and said something snarky like how the growling of her stomach was distracting him from focusing on the case details.

Despite his jerkish behavior, Nesta hadn’t planned on refusing the tasty food. At first, she tried. But within a few minutes, the smell of the fresh pastries was driving her crazy. So, taking advantage of the moment when Eris left the room, she wolfed down the entire croissant and then calmly continued listening to their mentor as if nothing had happened.

Later that evening, she asked where Eris had bought the pastries, and he pointed to this very café, saying it was the first place he found in his usual jerkish tone. Nesta, who had been about to thank him, changed her mind and instead said she was surprised he didn’t drop dead of a heart attack after stepping into an establishment without a Michelin star.

Two hours later, the two hungry students were walking back to the hotel when it started pouring rain. What had been a sunny day turned into a downpour, and neither of them had an umbrella. The best decision then was to run into this café since it was the closest place.

The owners, a sweet elderly couple, said they looked like two wet rats. Nesta had added that they were also two hungry rats, while Eris just took off his soaked coat—both his and hers—swallowing some snarky comment.

Margaret, the café owner, quickly ran off to make them two mugs of hot tea while Bart, her husband, dished out all the unsold desserts and snacks. And both refused to let them pay, saying that young students never have money anyway. Nesta had looked at Eris with sparkling amusement in her eyes, knowing it was probably the first time someone had called him poor.

The next morning, they returned to the café, paid, and left a generous tip. During their internship, the café became their main spot for meals. And even after they moved to the city after graduation, they would still visit from time to time, though now separately.

These days, Nesta would stop by to buy desserts for her daughters. Margaret nearly cried the first time she saw little Astrid, saying the girl was now like a granddaughter to her.

"So you come here often?" Eris asked, glancing around and evaluating the place.

"Astrid loves the chocolate croissants here," Nesta nodded.

"Wonder who she takes after," Eris chuckled and then gave their usual order to the waitress. Nesta wasn’t surprised that he still remembered what she always ordered. That jerk always annoyed her with his good memory.

Noticing his distraction, as he drummed his fingers on the wooden table, clearly thinking about what had happened in court, Nesta just shook her head.

"You really need to find a way to turn off your brain," she observed.

"I need to win the case and move on, and then I’ll think about rest," he smirked in response.

"Keep it up, and I’ll report you to Margaret," she teased.

"Oh no, the old lady will eat me and my workaholic ways alive," Eris joked, laughing. "Though she’s probably not working today," he noted, glancing toward the open kitchen, where it seemed the owners' son was working.

The waitress returned with two cups of coffee and two plates of chocolate cake. Nesta noticed that Eris was still pretending not to like sweets, lazily picking at his slice. Though she knew better.

Back in their student days, she couldn’t help but notice that when studying late at night for exams, Vanserra always had chocolate bars with him. And when he didn’t, he would stare longingly at her caramel candies, which she, unable to resist his sad-dog eyes, would offer him. Despite his snobby, judging look as if he didn’t want them, Eris always accepted them.

"You’ve got chocolate on your face," Eris said after they finished eating and asked for the bill, gesturing to the corner of her mouth. Nesta took a napkin to wipe it but missed the spot. "Not there," he said, taking the napkin from her hand and doing it himself.

She involuntarily froze. The last time Nesta could remember any interaction even slightly resembling this was more than a year ago with Cassian. They had been goofing around in the kitchen, but back then it felt forced, a fake sense of fun from the realization that their marriage was falling apart. Here? She had no idea why Eris’s small gesture felt like more to her than all the recent memories with her ex-husband, with whom she had been married for seven years.

“If we’re done with ‘unloading’ from work,” Eris snorted, leaving a generous tip on the table as they always used to do, “I suggest we head back to the car.”

Nesta simply nodded in agreement, getting up from her seat, and together they walked toward the car. Surprisingly, Eris didn’t immediately jump at the opportunity to start talking about work now that they were outside the café, though Nesta had expected that to be the first thing he’d bring up once they stepped out.

“How are your little troublemakers?” Eris asked instead once they were in the car.

“Is this your poor attempt at small talk?” Nesta smirked.

“Think of it as me taking an interest in my best senior associate’s life.”

“The girls are fine. Callista still brings home a new virus from daycare every other week, and Astrid continues to intimidate the boys at school.”

Eris chuckled softly. “I knew from the start that she’s got your genes.”

Nesta feigned outrage, slapping him lightly on the shoulder. “For your information, I didn’t bully anyone at school.”

“Just made them cry with a single look?”

“Maybe,” she shrugged. “How about you? How were you in school?”

“The most well-behaved student,” he grinned at her.

When they arrived at her house, Nesta almost invited him in. But something held her back. Perhaps it was the realization that, despite their easy conversation, Eris was still her boss. And why would he even accept such an invitation? Saving herself from potential embarrassment, she simply thanked him for the ride.

“Try not to drown yourself in ‘what if’ thoughts,” she said. “We’re going to win this case, Eris,” she added, feeling the need to reassure him, though she wasn’t quite sure why, as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

Instead of denying her statement, Eris merely smiled weakly. “Have a good evening, Nesta,” he said before driving off.

For three days, they had worked on the strategy for the second hearing. To say it was challenging would be an understatement. Nesta had been ready to personally go and threaten the factory owners because things couldn’t go on like this. And then she received the soil analysis results, and everything got worse.

“Don’t tell me this lab burned down too,” Eris sighed, noticing her furious expression as soon as she walked into his office and threw the lab report folder onto the table.

“Worse,” Nesta gritted through her teeth, starting to pace around the room. “The test results are negative. All of them.”

Eris looked at her in disbelief. “That’s impossible. Even an idiot would know there should be at least a trace of lead in the soil around the factory.”

“There isn’t,” Nesta sighed, stopping as Eris got up from his desk and stood in front of her. “Three meters deep and nothing.”

Running his hand through his hair, Eris tried to mentally find an explanation. “We sent the request anonymously. The factory owners couldn’t have tampered with the results unless they bought out every lab in the city, which is impossible.”

Nesta bit her lower lip. “They didn’t have to,” she said, pulling out another document from the folder and handing it to Eris. “We tested the soil at the shelter’s property. Look at this.”

Eris scanned the document and let out an irritated huff. “Charitable land improvement? Let me guess, anonymous.”

“Yes, someone just decided to plant trees and replace all the soil, exactly three meters deep, across the entire property,” Nesta confirmed with the same irritation. “Clearly not out of the goodness of their heart. Those bastards knew it would go to court and removed any evidence.”

While Nesta struggled to channel her anger into work, Eris frowned as he read through the document. Noticing his expression, she couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”

Eris stayed silent, setting the document aside and going over to his desk, rummaging through the pile of papers scattered across the wooden surface in a rare display of disorder for Eris Vanserra.

“The improvement was done four weeks after the initial lawsuit was filed,” he said.

This time, Nesta frowned. “Four weeks? Projects like that are planned months in advance. Even if it was charity, the company wouldn’t have been able to prepare it all in time. Unless…”

“Unless they knew about everything from the start,” for the first time in days, a smirk touched Eris’s lips, signaling that they had finally found what they’d been looking for.

“The charity being anonymous doesn’t prove anything,” Nesta said, though she understood that they were now on the right track. “But if they knew ahead of time, they wouldn’t risk losing money in court.”

Exchanging a glance, as if the same thought clicked in their minds simultaneously, they both returned to the table, searching through the chaotic pile of documents for the one they needed. Nesta was focused solely on finding the insurance document, definitely not on how many times their hands touched—four—while they searched.

“Here,” Eris was the first to find it, handing the document to her. Nesta scanned it, and it was her turn to smile. “Judging by the size of your grin, the amount is at least five times higher than regular factory insurance.”

“Explains why they were so quick to offer a hundred thousand per child,” Nesta said, turning the document toward him so Eris could read it too. “Congratulations, Vanserra, you found the golden ticket.”

“We found it,” Eris smiled, taking the document from her hands.