You cannot argue with a date.

You cannot cross-examine a wire transfer.

Ivan had built his whole life on charm — on the warm laugh, the steady hand, the ability to make a room want to believe him — and a courtroom of documents is the one place on earth where charm has no currency at all.

He kept looking around that quiet room for someone to persuade, and there was no one.

The judge wasn’t watching his face; she was reading his texts.