Discarded Wife, Legal Legend Rises

to be the perfect wife for LA's star prosecutor, Keith Sampson. I trad

drunk, kissed me desperately, a

hed. "I knew you'

a waiter spilled a pot of scalding coffee, Keith didn't hesitat

cond-degree burns. He panicked over the minor red ma

blistering skin. He just

t care," he said. "I

d back. Three months later, I stood across from him in a courtroom, rep

was the legal legend known as Nemesis. And I was

pte

community had speculated, wondering where the prodigy who had never lost a case had disappeared to.

uessed t

careful and quiet. Eva Santos, once known as Nemesis, now went by Eva Sampson. She was the wif

ad packed away her sharp suits and legal briefs, trading them for aprons and coo

had been a young, rising lawyer, secretly infatuated with the brilliant prosecutor she sometimes faced in mock trials. She

was

er. Their home was a museum of his obsession. Though there were no pictures of Holly on the walls, her presence was everywhere. It was in th

es, his moods. She had poured all her strategic genius int

ce, of being a polite stranger in her own ho

ate Keith had, as usual, forgotten. He' d come home late, smelling of expensive whiskey and t

he DA' s office had been with him, laughing about some old case. They barely ac

ome rest," she had said s

against her ear. For a dizzying moment, she felt a

, perfunctory pecks he sometimes gave her. Her heart hammered against her r

nfocused. He smiled, a broken, tend

humb stroking her cheek. "I

a fine, sharp dust that filled her lungs. She didn't say a word. She simply helped

tly, murmuring Holly'

his handsome face. He was a man celebrated by the city, a titan of just

box from the back of the closet. Inside were her old things. A framed diploma from her Ivy Lea

t. It was stark

Sa

ney a

her hand. A relic

e, his picture a smiling, public-facing lie. Her finger

ntor in New York. The man wh

, cold drum. It was after midnight in New York,

ng. "Simpson." His voice was

own voice sounded str

perfectly: sitting in his corner office overlooking the city, a c

is that really you? Where the hell have you been? The enti

her frozen heart. Someone rememb

she said, the underst

ed. "Every time I have to deal with these second-rate corporate sharks, I curse your name for

th tired eyes and hair pulled back in a simple bun. She was wear

, his voice dropping. He was one of the few

replied, the truth of

cold air filling her lungs and c

ing for

a slow, satisfied exh

firming, the old steel returnin

he

ds at JFK tomo

office is waiting. Welcome back, Nemesis. It's t

ers on her desk. She had drafted them months ago

zzed. A text

s in town. Dinner me

ssage, then deleted

flourish. Her signature was sharp and confident

rriage, the long, painful wait f

ntos w

was comi