Abandoned to the Mafia, I Rose as the Don’s Most Trusted Lawyer Chapter 08
All three of them were dressed in worn–out clothes.
Behind them was a cramped, filthy apartment, clearly chosen as a backdrop to win sympathy.
Mom sobbed so hard into the camera that she could barely breathe.
“I raised her for twelve years. Now that she’s famous, she refuses to acknowledge us and has debt collectors with violent pasts threaten us in public. Is there any justice left in this world?”
Dad sat beside her, sighing repeatedly.
“Erin has been cold since she was a child. We gave her everything we could, and she has never shown us a shred of gratitude.”
Claire’s eyes were filled with tears.
“Erin, now that every news outlet in the state is calling you a genius, are you really going to pretend we aren’t your family?”
The livestream comments kept pouring in.
Some people sympathized with them, while others began attacking me.
“What kind of daughter could do something this vicious?”
“Now that her own life is comfortable, she doesn’t care
what happens to her parents?”
“Find her school and her address. Everyone should see what kind of person she really is.
Of course, some people questioned their story.
“For a biological daughter to cut off all contact, are we really supposed to believe the parents did nothing wrong?”
But those doubts were quickly buried beneath a flood of insults.
Fury flashed across Marcus’s face as he raised his
hand to hurl the phone at the wall.
I caught his wrist.
“Not yet. Let them keep performing.”
Noah leaned closer, his anger obvious.
“Want me to go remind them who left you with us three years ago?”
I gave him a disapproving look.
“Noah, stop trying to solve everything with your fists.”
He immediately pretended to zip his lips shut.
I took out my phone and opened their livestream,
More than ten thousand people were already watching, and the number was still rising rapidly.
Mom cried even louder, her accusations growing more hysterical by the second.
Dad wrapped an arm around her shoulders, carefully posing them as two helpless parents discarded by their own daughter.
Claire had changed into a pretty white dress and faced the camera with a soft, trembling voice.
“Erin, if you’re watching this, I just want you to know that Mom and Dad have always loved you. Maybe they made some mistakes in the past, but can’t you forgive them?”
Someone accused them of exploiting a family conflict for money.
Claire immediately responded with reddened eyes.
“I wish none of this were true. I’m just a kid. Please stop making malicious assumptions about me.”
Claire knew exactly how innocent she looked on camera and exactly how to weaponize it.
Before long, viewers began sending them virtual gifts and donations.
Someone even posted my university, my age, and my class schedule online.
I stared at the screen and typed a single line into the comment section.
“I’m Erin Carter. If you want the full truth, check my oo on profile.”
After posting it, I exited their livestream.
Half an hour later, I started my own livestream from the conference room at Blackstone.
I sat at the center of the conference table.
Marcus, George, and Noah sat behind me in suits.
Comments raced across the screen, most of them vicious attacks aimed at me.
Three years earlier, I might have been terrified.
Now, I wanted only one thing: to lay out every fact and every piece of evidence.
“Good evening. I’m not here to discuss feelings. I’m here to discuss responsibility and evidence.”
I uploaded the recordings, text messages, and stills from surveillance footage documenting my parents
fleeing their creditors, abandoning me, and trying to hand me over as payment.
Within minutes, the audience had grown severalfold.
“Family law is clear. Parents have a duty to support,
care for, and protect their minor children. My parents
failed to fulfill those duties throughout the first twelve years of my life. Instead, they abandoned me repeatedly. When I was twelve, they tried to hand me
over to their creditors as payment for their debt. I have no obligation to repay their personal gambling debts,
and I will not let them redefine our relationship simply because they need money now.”
I looked directly into the camera.
“More importantly, I’m only fifteen. They cannot legally make me liable for more than one million
dollars in gambling debt.”
Marcus stood behind me and spoke in an even voice.
“Erin is Blackstone’s retained compliance adviser and
a future partner in the company. Anyone who plans to
keep harassing a minor should speak to our attorneys first.”
The comments quickly began shifting in my favor.
“This is completely different from what her family said.”
“Her biological parents tried to use her to pay off a
debt when she was twelve?”
“The sister just said their parents had always loved Erin. Apparently, love means leaving her with debt
collectors.”
“They owe more than a million dollars in gambling debts. Were they trying to use their own daughter to
pay it off?”
“She hasn’t appealed to emotion once. She’s just presenting evidence. How can a fifteen–year–old be
this calm?”
People also flooded Claire’s account with comments.
“Where were you when your parents abandoned your sister? While you had the largest bedroom and wore new dresses, did she even have enough food to eat?”
Claire quickly deleted her previous video and posted a new one.
This time, she cried even harder.
“Erin, why are you so determined to hurt us? We’re family!”
I didn’t respond.