There was this house, far away from the city, and in there, with his family, lived

Al. He had built his house far away from his city, in the outskirts of town. He loved the
quietness there rather than the noisy atmosphere of the city. He lived in his house with his
wife and two daughters. He provided for them and took proper care of them. Everyday he
took his daughters to school on his car, and after that, his wife, to her job as a
schoolteacher. His wife loved him and his family so, and the daughters then made him
happy due to their stellar performances at school. And with the salary he has received
from his job as a corporate lawyer, he earned enough money to live happily.
One day, when Al was taking his daughters to school, he received a phone call
from Kirk, the head of their company’s legal department. As he answered the phone, a
conversation ensued. “Hey, man! What’s up?” “I’m fine, sir. Thank you for asking. What
can I do for you today?” Al replied. “Ah, well. I need you here, stat! I’ve something to
tell you, something that shouldn’t be talked about through the phone. Got it? I’ll wait for
you here.” Kirk said hurriedly before Al could even utter a word. Kirk was a man who
would stop at nothing to realize his goals. He weaseled his way out a multi-million dollar
lawsuit by attracting the jury to his favor. The phone call made Al think “what could my
boss want from me now?” he said as he dreaded the next 30 minutes on his way to work.
“What’s wrong, honey?” His wife asked, with worry evident from her face. “It’s
my boss. He wants me to do something of some sort, I don’t know which though, but I
think it’s something important.” He replied. “As long as you won’t get into trouble, I’ll
be very supportive of you.” His wife told him. As he parked the car near the front of the
school, he told her “Thank you so much, honey. See you after work? I love you so
much.” He says as he kissed her goodbye. “I love you too. Please be careful.” His wife
replied as she got out of the car. As he is driving to his company’s building, Al thought,
“Seriously, what could it be?”
As he arrived to his office, his boss, Kirk, already waiting for him to come,
greeted him, “Hey! There’s my man! How’s your morning doing you, huh?” Al replied,
“Don’t worry about me, sir. I’m doing peachy over here. You?” “I couldn’t be better.
Hey, listen. I need you to do something for me. You got our evidences on that recent
pharmaceutical lawsuit, right? Look, see I need you to alter those documents to our
liking. That was the one thing we need to win this case.” Kirk told him, with a grim look
on his face.” With a sign of discomfort, Al said to him, “There is no way we could do
that, sir. Altering evidences is against the law, much less unethical to the people that we
fight for law that we sought to, and strive to serve and protect.”
Unrelenting, Kirk asked him again, “Listen, we need those documents altered.
Gruber Pharmaceuticals is willing to line our pockets with money just to see them win
this case. We're talking Richie Rich-rich! We don’t even have to work for this crappy
company, with this crappy job, and leave this crappy hellhole and spend my money to my
heart’s content, get even richer, sleep with lots of women, and probably die with a smile
on my face. But for you, it’s different, Al. See, you have a family. You could use the
money. Buy yourself the cars, the watches, and the house you’ve always wanted! Buy
your wife the things she deserves! Secure the respective futures of your daughters! And
even if all that’s done, you could have so much money still unspent, use it to your heart’s
content!” With his dignity intact, Al replied, “With all due respect, sir, I believe out
clients are the National Resource Defense Council. Gruber has polluted the Agusan River
so much; the acidity level is so high we now have mutated species of fish swimming in
its waters, with the weaker fish dying out. If we alter the evidences against the NRDC,
we are in danger of breaching our contract with them, for what, money? I did not become
a lawyer to be bribed into doing the things that defeats the purpose of representing your
defendant in the hopes of winning this lawsuit. I’m sorry, sir. But my loyalty lies with the
NRDC. And with that…” Before he could even decline, Kirk has cut him off mid-
sentence, saying “Look, I’ll make things easy for you. I’ll assign you a team, with you as
its head. You’ll work with them, and see to it that Gruber wins this case. I’ll even give
you a bigger share of the money we talked about earlier. And before you say no again,
remember that you don’t have a fucking choice. I can make you, or break you. Now, get
going!” He said threateningly as he stormed off.
As Kirk exited his office, a group of 5 entered his office, presumably his team.
One of them has said, “Hello, sir. We are in your service” albeit with sad eyes. Faking a
smile, Al said to them, “Let’s get to work, shall we?”
They worked hard all day, even during the wee hours of the night. Finding the
evidences to be ironclad, t