### **Chapter 7: The Verdict**
Harvard Law liked its resolutions clean. Elle Hoods knew the real world didn't work that way.
The mock trial had run its course. Arguments had been made, objections raised, reputations tested. Now, all that remained was the verdict—a decision meant to mimic the gravity of real cases without bearing any of the consequences.
Elle stood at the prosecution table, watching the jury deliberate. It wasn't lost on her that justice here was just another academic exercise, a performance of fairness rather than a fight for it.
Finally, the foreperson spoke.
"We find the defendant…" A pause. "Not guilty."
The defense exhaled in relief. Preston Montgomery III smirked, straightening his tie like it was some symbolic victory.
Elle barely reacted. This wasn't about winning or losing.
The professor turned to her. "Miss Hoods, final thoughts?"
Elle picked up a pen, twirling it between her fingers. "The jury ruled 'not guilty.' But that doesn't mean innocent. It just means the system created enough doubt."
Preston scoffed. "Isn't that the point of law?"
Elle met his gaze, steady. "No. That's the point of *lawyers*. Justice is supposed to be something else entirely."
Silence.
Harvard's halls had echoed with centuries of legal tradition. Today, for the first time, they carried the weight of an argument no textbook could solve.
Elle Hoods had come here to challenge the system.
And whether Harvard Law liked it or not—she just had.