Irene stood in front of the courtroom, camera flashes blinding, with recording devices out, as journalists flogged the stands. This was a case of the century; she looked clam. Her walls and resolve strong as she organised her notes accordingly. She hadn't noticed the familiar pair of hazel eyes that watched her from a safe distance, but he was there. She brushed a lock of hair away from her face, her hands for once calloused. She was nervous, but she knew better then to let it show. With everything she was about to reveal, it was only a matter of time before the city descended into chaos. And that was the factor she had been waiting for. It was within her grasps and she wasn't about to let it go to waste. The judge entered the courtroom, everyone standing to attention, as the officer handed over some notes, whilst addressing the courtroom. "All stand in regards of the case, Park industries VS the grieving. Please take your seats. Court in session." The judge looked towards Irene. "Ms Bae. Last time we left this room, you placed forth a serious accusation, and I must say since then you have worked tremendously hard to find the root cause to this. May I ask for you to start." Irene nodded standing up. "Thank you for your kind words your honour, but I did this for the families of the deceased, their questions deserved to be answered and they deserve an explanation of the situation, approximately a month  ago I asked for you to give me investigation privileges and  I am grateful that you trusted me. Thank you for that. As you all know, I have been quite busy. It's common knowledge that Mr Choi the pilot of flight B32 is still alive. May I call him forward your honour?" "Granted Ms Bae." She nodded towards the officers who brought him forward, and the outrage had already begun. When the court room had visibly calmed, she took the initiative to continue. "Mr Choi..." she greeted slightly, as he sat down. "Just for clarification I am going to run through what we already know your honour. After all it has been a month. Last time I presented in my eyes what I would call the ground breaking evidence that discovered this conspiracy. The first thing, was the conversation that took place between passenger 321 and Mr Choi. Let me just reread it to today's court." Irene translated the conversation, watching as Mr Choi looked down. "Next I matched up their conversation to the timings of when things went wrong. As well as proving that in fact all bodies expect Mr Choi and passenger 321's had been accounted for. So that leads me further on your honour..." Irene stood up slightly. "Mr Choi within your statement you spoke about Ms Jessica Kim. Would you please tell us how you know Ms Kim." "She asked me to do her a job." "Which was?" "Hijack flight B32." She heard gasps. "What was outlined in this for you Mr Choi?" "I was promised 1 million won. And an escape route." Irene nodded, turning back to the court. "Your honour. You would think that would complete dispel Park Industries from this right?" She watched as he nodded. "Let's come back to that shall we." "So Mr Choi during your investigation and statement you pointed me towards some evidence." Irene turned handing over some documents to a man who passed them to judge. "In this bundle there was a contract, and bank details as well as the sum that was transferred to you under the name Jessica Kim." Irene paused. "Yes it was all her. She planned this." Irene turned over. "Well. Funny you mention that. Because I did in fact manage to get some pictures." Irene handed them over to the judge whilst switching on a screen. "As you can see, Ms Kim was seen talking alongside both Mr Choi and Passenger 321 on the night of the aircraft missile conference." She could hear gasps. "But." She interjected. "This isn't significant evidence." Everyone looked at her in shock. She was shooting things down and people were failing to fathom as to why. "Pictures can always be taken out of context. In fact your honour, I wasn't there that night, neither were you. How are we supposed to know what actually conspired in their conversation? Is there any way of telling? No because pictures can't reveal that." Irene walked over slightly, her eyes looking around the courtroom, "you're probably all wondering why I just shot my argument to pieces, but quite frankly it's because it's not the truth. There are multiple layers to uncover in this. And therefore I am trying to shed light on a bigger picture so I ask that you all be patient with me whilst I draft my argument." The judge nodded signalling her to continue. "As a Lawyer my job could have been over just a minute a go. But it's not the truth, nor do I have the answers to my questions. And I'll show you why: when I had taken Mr Choi into my custody, we were ambushed by men that I took in, but that's not my point. Whilst we were on the run. Me and Mr Choi had a conversation, didn't we sir?" She watched his eyes widen. "Has your memory been jogged?" She walked towards him: "it's okay if it hasn't. Because I recorded it all." His eyes widened. "Can we play it please." Everyone looked towards the screen. The conversation played. "Who sent you?" "Who do you think sent me." "Jessica Kim." Irene remained silent. He laughed. "She doesn't realise she's a toy in all of this. Samuel has everything under wraps. He probably passed her the order to pass it to you to kill me. Right?This whole B23 flight has turned out to be a fucking shit show. I was supposed to crash, get my money and then go into hiding until she fixed me and my wife a place to go. Away from everyone. She a real bitch you know. She thinks she's some big shot but once again she's gone and messed things up. He was right not to trust her. Her backstabbing him is going to end badly for us all."  Irene  looked towards Mr Choi. "I think you forgot about this conversation Mr Choi. Didn't you?" He looked up at her in shock. Irene turned. "This in fact proves your honour that Mr Choi in his statement lied. It proves he's still trying to protect someone." "NO!" They heard. "I am not." Irene turned slightly "Your reaction says otherwise Mr Choi, your getting extremely defensive, as if your lie has been caught." Her eyes narrowed in on him. As she turned towards the judge. "Now your honour whilst I was away, I didn't just pick up one gift. I'm too generous for that." She smirked slightly. And Jackson who had been a silent spectator, now sat at the edge of his seat. She was something else. "Bring him in." He heard her call. And now standing in the light of the courtroom stood passenger 321. He was pushed forward, Irene nodding to two men who turned slightly as Mr Choi suddenly burst out. "You said he was dead. You said I would solely be responsible for this." Irene looked towards Mr Choi. "And you were foolish to believe the words of a lawyer. We have two jobs Mr Choi, finding the truth and ensuring justice is served. Lying is part of that. It's called manipulation in favour of self profit. My job isn't to defend you. I'm not your defence lawyer, so why would I protect you? You're not paying me to do that are you." She looked at him smugly whilst raising her perfectly shaped eyebrow. "Now Passenger 321, lets move onto your introduction. Your name is. Shawn Lee, 32 years old. You had a career in the army corps, until your sudden dismissal in 2017... " Irene looked up. "I think that's enough of the background information. Should we proceed." Irene turned strutting towards the man, as she looked down at the peace of paper in her hand. "You know what's interesting. Considering the two of you are the sole survivors and that you were in on this together. You would assume that your statements would be reasonably similar. But your retelling of events is the complete opposite." She handed them to the judge who read them. And just like that the lies had been caught. "Mr Choi. You blame Jessica Kim. Mr Lee your blaming Park industries. So we are back to square one?" Irene moved out the way. "I think it's pointless in asking these men anything. Each of you are too selfish to look past your pride and ego. You're stuck either way yet your still choosing to remain indifferent to the pain and suffering that these individuals have been forced to undergo because of your heinous actions. Your honour the next person I would like to call in is the lady of the hour herself Jessica Kim." And with the sound of heels clicks, the attention of the courtroom turned.

*Flashback to an hour before the trial*

Irene stood in front of Kim industries. Her sunglasses covering her eyes as she walked into the office adamant to speak to one woman in particular. "Irene?" She heard. Her eyes meeting those of Jessica's "What brings you here?" "I think you know Jessica." The other girl let out a sigh. "What should I do Irene? Advise me as a friend not as a lawyer." "Tell the truth Jessica. Come to court and reveal what is the truth, people have been killed, and this negligence won't go unturned. Your already in the crossfire. Your name is being slandered as a result. This is your chance to save what is left of it. I know it's going to be hard. And I know it's something you need to think about, I'm not going to try and sugar coat this for you. If your involved you will face sentencing along side the boys. But please people have lost a lot. And lot of people are hurt and angry. You can only come back from this if you speak up. It will be the first half In saving your reputation. I'll leave you to it Jessica but let me know what you decide."

*Back to present time*

Irene and Jessica stood in front of each other, a small smile passed between the two women. An understanding formed between the two. "Ms Kim. I'm grateful that you could join us today. I'm sure you're aware of what exactly you stand accused off, and I think it's only fair that you have a chance to defend yourself considering Mr Choi is adamant to throw you under the bus. Only you know what conspired that night you were caught talking to these two men to my left, and only you can tell us about that plan." Jessica nodded. "That night at the missile conference Mr Choi is right. I had discussed a particular plan to hijack the plane. But I wasn't alone in this, nor was it completely my plan." They could hear the uproar from around them. "Silence please." The judge ordered. "There are a lot of people who were in on this, but I paid Mr Choi and Mr Lee to carry it out, the money was transferred from my account to theirs which ultimately signs this into my hands. He goes by the name Samuel. No one knows his identity. No one knows where he hides in our society, but he has an extensive network, full of thousands of insiders marked under one symbol." "She's lying she doesn't know what she's talking about." Cut in Mr Lee. He was reprimanded easily, and Jessica was forced to continue. "I won't deny my involvement anymore. But the true culprit is impossible to catch." "Thank you Jessica. I think that will be enough for now." Irene turned towards the judge. "Your honour whilst we have our culprits and an individual who is willing to take responsibility it's not enough. The mastermind behind this is impossible to catch. I have no leads or no inclination as to who this Samuel persona is. And so I'm left a crossroad as are you. You have the ability to sentence three people accordingly but we haven't caught the true culprit and I personally doubt as to how we will." Irene toyed with something in her hands. "And the reason I say that your honour is because of this." She held up a picture. Before handing it over to the judge whilst turning the screen back on. And there stood their president shaking hands with the culprits who were to blame. The outrage ignited like a wild fire and the queen of the game had everything in place. She had eliminated everything in the process. The pawns that the persona had, Irene now used them against him. And the conspiracy she was adamant to reveal stood at the forefront no longer hidden by conspirators. This was truly check mate.

Jackson sat silently watching the chaos that the Mafia Queen had caused. Everything about her argument was fool proof and more importantly she had uncovered something that had been hidden for so long. One thing was for sure. She was onto something big. He could see some people sweating under their collar as if they knew something. He thought back to the time he was attacked and he knew now that the two were correlated. What he was yet to work out however was the role of the Mafia Queen in all this madness. He watched the smirk dawn on her face as chaos ensued around her, yet it was ceased to a halt with the jurisdiction ordering for silence. "Ms Bae. You are definitely onto something. I wish to call everyone back for sentencing in a few days. I wish to make a decision that does justice to everyone who has been caught in the crossfire of such acts and therefore think that this serious matter needs to be deliberated. So for today I would like to pronounce that court is adjourned but before I leave I would like to say one thing. You have done well Ms Bae. Especially considering this is your first case. Your drive to deliver justice is refreshing and I hope that people see you as a model of what youngsters should strive towards. You have enough in life and still in what some may define as trivial matters you stand unwavering. And for that I congratulate you but more importantly I thank you." The grieving stood up applauding for Irene and soon the entire court room including Jessica Kim were on their feet. Irene looked down a small smile on her face as she waved off the compliments humbly. And with that court had finished.

Irene collected her stuff, still unaware of the eyes that followed her as she walked up to Jessica. "Thank you Jessica." "No irene thank you. You were right the truth set me free. And I'm glad I could do something human within this inhumane act." Irene smiled at her warmly. "I actually wanted to ask you for a favour." Irene nodded. "Can you take over my business?" Irene's eyes widened. "Jessica?" "Irene I know what you do. We all do, and yet still you bend your boundaries everyday. I admire that. I always wished I could be half the businesswoman you were. I want you to take it over because I know it will be protected from the lime light with you in charge and I know you will keep it successful, so please." Irene looked at the woman in front of her. "Only if you're sure. But the minute you're out, it's going straight back to you." The two girls laughed whilst bidding adieu to each other.

Jackson watched as Irene was swamped with news reporters. He had caught the entire conversation between her and Jessica and couldn't help but feel in awe by her. But he knew that this would get him into trouble. He needed to be careful. Not only with his duty, but with his heart too. Because he couldn't allow himself to get caught in the crossfire.

TBC

Authors note:
Hey guys bit of a long one today but I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what your thoughts are in the comment section below.