His Devious Rule

Anya looked at the Jury panel who didn\'t meet her eyes. Even Jason avoided her eyes by looking at the report that was on the desk.

Was she overthinking? She hoped she was overthinking.

The Chief Justice met her wary eyes. He was aware she wouldn\'t be satisfied with the judgment. He tried to brief up so that she could understand the situation.

"Bernard Collins is the President of the country. The first citizen of the country till the period of his service. He is a highly respected and reputed leader of the country."

By this time, Anya\'s face was dark as coal. Her fingers curled into tight fists and clenched her teeth. She tried her best to refrain from changing her opinions immediately.

The Chief Justice continued, "If the actions of Bernard Collins leaks to the public, people will lose hope in the leaders, there could be riots and the country will be affected economically, politically, and administratively."

Anya stood up suddenly. She let her control slip from her fingers and apologized for disrespecting the court. "I am sorry." She placed her identity card and handgun on the table and walked out of the courtroom immediately. It simply means she doesn\'t accept the final verdict.

"Anya…" Jason followed her out.

The Chief Justice sighed, "She has quite a temper."

"After all, she believed everyone is the same under the law." A jury member, Chief Fulker scoffed looking at Bernard.

Although he had accepted the decision considering the country\'s welfare, it was a bitter truth that Bernard wasn\'t punished due to his identity of being president of the country.

Another man hummed. They had seen her treating the poor or rich, powerful or weak the same way. "She is the victim of the whole crisis. Being an officer, how could she bear to see the perpetrator walk freely?" They gave no face to Bernard.

Bernard heard the contemptuous words at him. If there was somebody else, they would have rebuked that officer for their behavior. So he could read the value and position Anya had in the team.

After discussing with the advocate at night, Bernard already knew he wouldn\'t be punished for his actions. Hence he was just worried that Linus and Alvin might have to pay for his actions.

Wright glanced at Bernard and sighed. He could understand the actions of Bernard as a politician. He will acknowledge the juries and chief justice\'s decision being a retired legal practitioner. However, he felt it was unfair standing in Anya\'s shoes.

The Chief Justice closed the file. The patience in his voice was lost. He sternly completed the verdict, "Bernard Collins won\'t be punished for his actions. However, his political career will end after this term. He isn\'t eligible to lead any kind of organization that includes the welfare of citizens. The court is adjourned." He held the wooden hammer and pounded twice.

Bernard stood up when the Chief Justice and jury members rose from their seats. They left the hall and Wright voiced his thoughts, "Bernard, President title saved you but you weren\'t right." He calmly said, "You are the cause behind everything that happened. You didn\'t only put all the ministers and me in danger but left Anya Owen in danger, not just once or twice…"

He sighed loudly. He could guess she survived everything because she was a trained officer. "Your impulse proved that you aren\'t a capable leader.

You were praising Anya Owen yet you planned to entitle her to a criminal, this proves that you aren\'t trustable." He hadn\'t expected such actions from Bernard.

Wright paused looking at Bernard who frowned at his words. He asked, "Are you thinking you were sacrificing one for the country\'s welfare?" He snickered at his stupidity. Politics and political parties could never be controlled so easily.  "You sacrificed every ounce of goodness in you."

Bernard\'s brows quivered at his words while watching Wright walk away. His plans didn\'t work and there were no significant life losses. Then \'why were jury members and Wright detesting me?\'

Wright paused at the door and glanced at Bernard. He added what he disliked the most, "The worst thing is, you aren\'t even guilty of your actions." Then he left.

Bernard slumped on the chair. Wright\'s words made him reflect on his actions.

—————

Meanwhile, Anya, who left the courtroom, was furious. If she was sad about losing her job, now she wanted to leave it on her own. Thus she failed to hear Jason who kept calling her.

Before she could take a step at the stairs, Jason caught her arm, "Anya… Relax."

Anya didn\'t listen to him. She fetched a white envelope from her blazer, held his arm, and stuffed the letter into his hand, "My resignation." She tried to leave again

Jason was seeing her furious for the first time. She was always so calm-headed and cold that he didn\'t expect to see her reaction.

Jason held her back. She was controlled by anger, "Don\'t act on impulse." Even though he hated the verdict, he could do nothing.

He hated that one of his officers had to face injustice right in his presence but he had to grit his teeth and accept it, just because they have to look at a big picture, just because Bernard has an influence over millions of people. His blood boiled just by thinking they were covering up the crimes of the high-profile criminal.

"Impulse!?" Anya laughed self-mockingly. She wasn\'t speaking on impulse, she felt unfair and wronged. "Why are the laws and rules above me but he could escape it? Isn\'t he a citizen of the country? Aren\'t laws above the citizens?"

Jason let her vent out and silently heard her. When it was hard for him to accept the final hearing, it was harder for her as she was the one whose life was at risk, her parents and son had to leave the country.

Anya continued, "Not just me and my family, he put the whole ship of people at risk. The military men rescued others at the stake of their life.

Why does it have no value due to his fancy title?

Would you guys even be bothered if many people had died?

Even this court proved that if one has influence, money, and power, they could always stand above the laws. One who suffers is always poor and victim.

And why the hell do we have to slog our ass off to bring justice to the country and people?" Anya paused, tasting bitter in her mouth.

"Justice!?" Anya sneered, "I can\'t even get justice to myself. You all will shut my lips with reimbursement money and a medal. Guess what, those pieces of metal are of no use to me from today."

Suddenly the silence fell in the corridor. Anya breathed slowly to compose herself. Perhaps she was too invested in her work, endured everything to punish the evil, hence she was deeply disappointed and finally let go of the calmness.

She looked at Calm Jason. Well, it was Jason hence she voiced her thoughts, else she would have said nothing.

She took a step back. Determination flickered in her eyes. She was back to her distant and cold self, "I am glad that I am resigning today."

Even if Jason hadn\'t asked for resignation, she would have probably been disappointed with the case and considered leaving the job. She won\'t be able to give her cent percent to the job anymore.

Her mother was right. This wasn\'t place wasn\'t meant for people like them. She didn\'t say the words that were at the tip of her tongue, \'This place no more deserves my time and efforts.\'

She was a prideful lady and she learned her lesson from this case. Never be too invested in the things that she has no power to question or change. She turned around and took the stairs to leave.

After working with her for five years, how could Jason see her leave like this? She wasn\'t in a state to listen to him, But he knew if he let her go now, it would be too late next time.

Thus Jason reminded her coldly, "Officer Owen until your resignation isn\'t accepted, you are a member of the Secret Service Bureau and obliged to listen to me." He is her Chief and she will respect that.

Anya halted on the stairs. Wasn\'t he the one who asked her to resign at first? Why was she stopping her now?

She clenched her teeth and remained motionless. She was really angry at the jury panel and Chief Justice including Bernard Collins. Even if she wanted to understand the situation, they could have stripped off the power from Bernard and left him with just a title or… There were many ways to punish him.

"Don\'t forget you are still in charge of the PSR case," Jason added. "Get your Identity card and handgun and report to me in the Chief Justice\'s office. Now."

Anya wanted to resign from everything. She was feeling like her job betrayed her. But how could she betray the job she loved?

After two minutes, Anya reported in the Chief Justice\'s private office room. It was vast and had an earthy wooden interior. The smell of the coffee lingered in the air but it eased nobody.

Chief Justice was on his chair, sipping his freshly grounded and brewed coffee. Jason was on the couch looking through a file, he was back at work.

Assistant Wen grabbed a water bottle when she went inside. "Have some water, Officer Owen." Assistant Wen extended his hand.

Anya had the urge to decline but the assistant was just concerned about her. So she accepted with a modest bow.

"Chief Jason, we should do something about officer Owen\'s temper." The Chief Justice said looking at her stand, without sitting even on his words.

Anya ignored his remark. Don\'t they know why she was annoyed? Probably they would have reacted like her if they were at her place. But there are no ifs in life and the reality hit her hard. Her life meant nothing in front of the President\'s title.

She didn\'t utter a word and silently heard them convince her, tell her the complete verdict. They could have ignored her yet they put in the effort, but that seemed to aggravate her more and more.

Obviously, she needed more time… Or she might never be able to forgive them for this.