Chapter 14

Serena POV

In the days that followed, a lot of ideas came to my head, a lot of possible outcomes for my life and different paths I could just decide to take, but each path didn’t turn out well for me.

I could run away, far away, but I knew that eventually the law would catch up to me, and it would even be worse. My mom was still at the hospital, but at this point, I figured I’d be doing her a favor if I ran off.

The letter I received from my lawyer that morning was still clutched firmly in my grip, and my lawyer’s words kept playing over and over again in my head.

“I’m writing to let you know that I can no longer represent you in your case due to unpaid legal fees. I understand you’re going through a difficult time, but as a private attorney, I can’t continue without compensation.

You have two options now: Request a court-appointed lawyer — the court will assign one to you if you can’t afford private counsel. Or represent yourself in court.