Then I looked down at the file in front of me.
“Our next case,” I said evenly, “Salazar versus Salazar.”
A quiet, almost cruel irony.
I lifted my gaze.
Directly to Alejandro.
“Counsel,” I continued, “are you prepared to proceed?”
His attorney stood, clearly trying to regain control of a situation that had already slipped beyond recovery.
“Your Honor… with all due respect, we were not informed of any—”
“Reassignment?” I finished for him.
My tone didn’t change, but something in it made him stop talking.
“Yes,” he admitted.
I nodded once.
“Emergency reassignment due to conflict of interest concerns with the previous presiding judge.”
That part was true.
What I didn’t say was how that conflict had surfaced.
Or who had exposed it.
Or how many strings had quietly been pulled to make sure this case landed exactly where it needed to be.
Right in front of me.
Alejandro finally stood.
Slowly.
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