Betrayed prelude

 Dorian sat in his chambers the next day, staring at the file Bash had sent him. It was a thin manila folder, marked with nothing but a case number in the top corner. Inside, it seemed innocuous at first—a simple assault charge. But as Dorian flipped through the pages, something about the details gnawed at him. The victim was a low-level gang member. The accused? A man with no priors, but whose name triggered something deep in Dorian’s memory: Ethan Cole.

It was a name he hadn’t heard in years. He flipped back through the file, reading more closely. The details were vague, but one phrase stood out: Cole had acted in self-defense. He hadn’t intended to harm anyone, but he had gotten caught up in something bigger, a fight he didn’t start. Dorian frowned, turning the page and finding a photo of the accused.

When he saw the face, his breath caught in his throat. Ethan Cole wasn’t just a name from his past—he was family.

His half-brother.

Dorian hadn’t spoken to Ethan in over a decade, not since their father’s death. Ethan had grown up on the rougher side of town, far from the privilege Dorian had been given, and their paths had diverged quickly. Dorian had gone to law school, chasing success, while Ethan had vanished into the shadows of the city, living a life Dorian hadn’t cared to follow. He’d buried the connection, locked it away, never once imagining it would resurface.

Yet here Ethan was, in trouble with the law, and Bash wanted him dealt with. The room seemed to close in on Dorian as the weight of the situation hit him like a freight train. Why would Bash send him this case? Was it some kind of sick test? Did Bash know about Ethan, or was this a coincidence too twisted to believe?

Dorian’s mind raced, the walls of his carefully constructed world crumbling around him. If he threw the case, if he manipulated the outcome like Bash wanted, Ethan would go down for something he didn’t deserve. But if he refused—if he let Ethan walk—Bash would know. And Dorian had already seen what happened to people who crossed Bash.

There had to be more to this. Dorian hurriedly scanned through the rest of the file, looking for any clue, any sign of what was really going on. Then, near the back of the file, he found it: a single sheet of paper, hastily written, marked Confidential. It was a police report, detailing a raid that had gone wrong. Moreno’s men were mentioned, along with a cryptic note about a leak inside the judge’s office.

Dorian’s blood ran cold.

This wasn’t just about Bash using him to settle a score. This was something far worse. The case wasn’t just an accident—Ethan had been set up. And whoever had done it had made sure it landed on Dorian’s desk. Someone knew. Someone was playing a game, using Ethan as leverage to see how far Dorian would go to protect himself.

His phone buzzed, jolting him from his thoughts. It was Bash.

“Have you reviewed the file?” Bash’s voice was calm, but there was a sharp edge beneath the surface.

“I have,” Dorian replied, keeping his voice steady. “Why him, Bash? Why my brother?”

There was a brief silence, and when Bash spoke again, his tone was almost amused. “You think this is personal, Dorian? That I dug up your family out of spite?” He chuckled darkly. “It’s not about your brother. It’s about you. I wanted to see how far you’d go to protect yourself. And now, we’ll find out, won’t we?”

Dorian’s grip on the phone tightened. “He’s innocent. This is a setup.”

“Oh, I know,” Bash said casually. “But that doesn’t matter, does it? You’ll either do what I want, or your life ends the moment you step out of that courthouse. You knew the cost when you made your deal with me.”

For a moment, Dorian couldn’t breathe. His mind was spiraling, trapped between the guilt of sentencing Ethan and the terror of defying Bash. He had no way out. No option that didn’t lead to destruction.

But then, in the silence of his chambers, another thought struck him—a wild, reckless idea. One that seemed insane, but maybe, just maybe, was the only way to turn this nightmare on its head. If Bash was testing him, if this was all about power and control, then maybe Dorian could use that against him. Bash thought he had every angle covered, but Dorian still had the one thing Bash didn’t expect: knowledge of the system.

“Alright,” Dorian said, his voice cold. “I’ll handle it.”

“Good,” Bash purred. “I knew you’d make the right choice.”

But as Dorian hung up, his mind was already working. He knew exactly what he needed to do.

---

The trial began three days later, and the courtroom buzzed with anticipation. Dorian presided over the case with cold efficiency, his face a mask of professionalism. Ethan sat at the defense table, his face pale, confused, but silent. Dorian hadn’t reached out to him—he couldn’t. Any communication between them would put both of them in even more danger. But he had no intention of letting his brother go down.

The prosecution presented its case, twisting the facts to make Ethan look like a violent criminal. The defense tried to counter, but Dorian could see how stacked the odds were. Bash’s influence was everywhere—in the witnesses, the evidence, the very air in the courtroom.

But Dorian had prepared. He had spent the last three days poring over every inch of the case, and he had found the one flaw—the one detail that could unravel everything.

The witness who had placed Ethan at the scene of the crime? He was dirty. Dorian had found sealed records linking the man to one of Bash’s rivals. A man who had every reason to lie, every reason to want Ethan in jail to spite Bash.

It was a risky move. Exposing the witness would anger Bash. It would burn Dorian’s last bridge with the criminal underworld. But it was the only chance he had to save his brother—and maybe, just maybe, himself.

When the time came, Dorian made his move.

“Objection,” he said, his voice cutting through the courtroom as the prosecution’s star witness began his testimony. “Your Honor, I’d like to request a sidebar.”

The prosecutor looked annoyed, but Dorian stared him down. “There are serious concerns about the credibility of this witness,” Dorian said once they were at the bench, holding up a sealed document he had quietly obtained. “He has a history of lying under oath. I can’t allow this testimony.”

The prosecutor’s face went white as Dorian laid out the evidence, piece by piece, tearing apart the prosecution’s case. The judge overseeing the trial had no choice but to agree.

Within hours, the case against Ethan began to collapse. With the key witness discredited, the jury’s confidence wavered, and soon, it was clear there was no longer enough to convict. By the end of the day, the charges against Ethan were dismissed.

Dorian watched as his brother was led out of the courtroom, free at last. But as Ethan glanced back at him, his face a mixture of confusion and gratitude, Dorian knew the real battle was just beginning.

---

That night, Dorian received the call he had been dreading.

“You think you’re clever, don’t you?” Bash’s voice was cold, devoid of the usual amusement. “You think you’ve won.”

Dorian swallowed hard. “It’s over, Bash. The case fell apart. You can’t touch him now.”

“Oh, I’m not worried about your brother,” Bash said softly, his voice dripping with malice. “This was never about him. It’s about you. You crossed me, Dorian. And now, you’re going to pay the price.”

Dorian’s heart pounded in his chest, but he forced himself to stay calm. “I know what you’re planning,” he said, his voice steady. “And I’m not going down without a fight.”

For the first time, Bash hesitated. “What are you talking about?”

“I’ve been keeping records, Bash. Every case, every deal, every bribe. I have everything. Names, dates, accounts. Enough to bring down not just you, but half the city. And if anything happens to me, it all goes public.”

The silence on the other end of the line was deafening.

“You’re bluffing,” Bash said finally, but his voice wavered.

“Try me,” Dorian said, feeling a surge of grim satisfaction. “I’m not the same man you used to control.”

There was another long pause, and then Bash’s voice came, colder than ever. “You think you’re free now, Judge? You think you can walk away from this? You’ll never be free. Not from me.”

But as Bash hung up, Dorian knew something had changed. He had taken control, wrested it back from the darkness that had been consuming him. Bash might not be finished with him yet, but for the first time, Dorian had something he hadn’t felt in years.

Hope.

And the knowledge that, no matter how far he had fallen, he still had the power to fight back.