I am sitting in my office at 2am. It is quiet. I have been here for twelve hours. My parents think this is the dream. They tell everyone back home that their son is a lawyer. They don't know the truth. They think the law is about justice. It isn't. It is just a tool for the people at the top. I see it every single day. I am the one holding the tool. Today I had to deal with the situation. You know the kind. Someone got hurt because of a mistake the firm made. It was clear as day. They were right. We were wrong. But my job was to make sure that didn't matter. I spent the whole afternoon looking for a way to ruin them. I found a tiny mistake in their paperwork. That was it. Case over. They get nothing. They get DESTROYED. I feel the weight of it now. It is like a physical thing on my chest. I am only twenty-two. I am supposed to be starting my life. Instead I am helping wealthy people keep their money away from people who actually need it. I use regular words to do horrible things. I write letters that break people. I do it because it's my job. I do it because the firm pays me more than my dad made in five years. My mom called me earlier. She was so happy. She said she was praying for me. I wanted to tell her what I actually did today. I wanted to tell her that the person I hurt looks just like her. But I didn't. I just said I was busy. I said I was doing well. I lied. I lie to her every time we speak. I have to. She wouldn't understand how the system works here. She thinks it is fair. The office smells like cleaning chemicals and old coffee. It is freezing in here. I look at the files on my desk and I see names. Just names. But they are real people. Someone is going to wake up tomorrow and find out they lost everything because of something I wrote. I am the one who did it. I am the one who found the loophole. I am the one they pay to be heartless. I hate the way the partners look at me. They think I am like them. They think I care about the money and the bonuses. Maybe I do. That is the scary part. I like the money. I like being able to buy things. But every time I buy something I think about where that thing came from. It came from the situation. It came from the people who couldn't fight back. I am part of the machine now. I'm just a gear. If I stop then someone else will just take my place. The system doesn't care about me. It just needs a body in this chair to protect the money. That's all the law is. It's a wall. It keeps the poor people out and the rich people safe. I'm just a brick in that wall. A very expensive brick. I thought I would change things. That's what I told myself in school. I will get the job and then I will help. But there is no helping. You either do what they say or you are out. And I can't be out. I have the loans. I have the family expectations. I have everything they wanted for me. It's a TRAP. I am trapped in a nice suit in a glass building. I'm going to finish this document now. I am going to send it and the firm will win again. Someone will lose their life's work. I'll go home and try to sleep. But I won't. I'll just wait for the sun to come up so I can do it all over again. This is my life. I am twenty-two and I've already sold my soul. It feels good to finally say it. I am a monster for hire... and I don't think I can stop.