Page 82 of Faking it with my Bad Boy Crush

Maya waited until everyone else had left, then approached with Tessa and Richard.

"That was brave," Richard said. "And smart. You controlled the narrative before the media could distort it."

"It was also risky," I admitted. "Everything I said tonight will be analyzed by the state bar, by Marcus's lawyers, by journalists looking for their next headline. I basically provided acomplete transcript of my ethical violations along with detailed justifications."

"Good," Maya said firmly. "Let them analyze it. Let them see you're not hiding, not making excuses, not pretending you followed proper procedure. You're owning what you did and why it mattered."

My phone buzzed. Jennifer Walsh, the prosecutor.

I answered on speaker. "Jennifer?"

"I watched the livestream of your community meeting." Her voice was professional but warm. "That was either very brave or very foolish. Possibly both."

"I'm hearing that a lot lately. I might get it printed on a t-shirt."

"The defense attorneys are going to use that presentation against you. They'll claim you're conducting a public relations campaign to influence potential jury members, that you're trying to contaminate the jury pool with sympathetic narratives." She paused. "But it was also honest and transparent and exactly the kind of thing that makes juries trust witnesses. So professionally, I should tell you to stop talking publicly. Personally, I'm glad you gave that community the truth."

"What happens next?" I asked.

"Next, we prepare for arraignment. Then we start building the trial case. I'll need you available for prep sessions, practice testimony, strategy meetings." Her tone shifted slightly. "Ethan, this is going to be a long trial. Months, probably. Are you prepared for that?"

"I'm prepared to see it through. Whatever it takes."

"Good. I'll be in touch."

After hanging up, the four of us stood in the empty community center, processing everything that had just happened.

"You really did it," Tessa said. "You exposed everything publicly. Named names. Provided documentation. You basicallydeclared war on your old firm in front of two hundred witnesses, several of whom were filming on their phones."

"I declared the truth," I corrected. "War was declared when they targeted this community. I just made sure everyone knew who started it. And maybe made my defense attorney's job significantly harder in the process."

"And now?" Maya asked. "What happens now?"

"Now we wait," Richard said. "For the ethics hearing next week. For the civil trial. For the criminal trial. For all the consequences of tonight's truth-telling to play out."

"And in the meantime?" Maya pressed.

I pulled her close. "In the meantime, we live our lives. Run the bakery. Prepare for what's coming. Build the future we committed to." I looked at Richard and Tessa. "With the support of people who apparently believe the truth matters more than procedure, which is either deeply reassuring or a sign that this entire island has questionable judgment."

We left the community center together, walking into the cool Lopez Island night. Somewhere in Seattle, Marcus was probably watching footage of the meeting, drafting increasingly furious legal responses. Somewhere, the state bar was cataloging every admission I'd made tonight for future use against me.

But here, walking hand-in-hand with Maya toward her cottage, I felt something I hadn't felt in weeks: peace.

Not because the battles were over. They weren't. Not by a long shot.

But because I'd finally stopped running from who I was and what I believed, even if what I believed had cost me my entire professional identity.

I'd stood in front of my community and told the truth, regardless of the consequences for the ethics board proceedings.

I'd chosen integrity over self-preservation, repeatedly, with what some might call reckless enthusiasm.

I'd become, finally, the person Manuel Romano had believed I could be twenty years ago—even if that person was currently facing potential disbarment, bankruptcy, and a lawsuit that could end with me living in Maya's cottage permanently because I literally couldn't afford anywhere else.

Whatever came next, I'd face it with that certainty.

And somehow, despite everything, that felt like winning.

Chapter twenty-six