Mike stood looking at himself in the bathroom mirror, an older face, decorated with a well-kept salt and pepper beard looked back. He had always considered himself to be a handsome man, but that was part of his overall arrogant demeanor. His abundance of confidence had carved him out a good career, rising to the position of district manager in his former company. He spent the following years abusing the authority of his position to coerce many women into sex, and that had now finally caught up with him.

He walked with his lawyer back to the courtroom where his trial was beginning. The same women that he had leveraged all those years were now suing him for it. This was it, it was going to be the end of his life, and he knew he deserved it. Back then, it didn’t seem like such a big deal. There weren’t any women in higher management positions, so he helped a lot of them get there in return for a little sex. Despite the deep regret he felt now, Mike still remembered each of the women vividly.

There were a lot of women Mike pressured into it over the years, all with their special treats, but he held the first one and the last one as the dearest. The first was a beautiful blonde woman by the name of Charlotte, around his age at the time. She had arrived at her interview prim and proper, her hair tucked neatly into a bun. Charlotte was one of two final candidates for the position, with the other being a male. Mike remembered exactly how he expressed the difficulty of his choice to Charlotte and how she pleaded her skills and work ethic, and how she would do anything. The extra money was going to mean a lot to her, her husband, and their kids.

“And what did Mike ask you to do in order to secure the promotion?” The opposing lawyer asked Charlotte as she sat on the witness stand.

“He told me I had certain qualities that the other candidate didn’t have, and that I should use them if I wanted the position,” she answered with a distressed tone.

“What qualities were Mike referring to?” The lawyer asked.

“He was referring to my body,” she answered, her voice stressing more now. “He said that my tits and pussy would guarantee my promotion.”

“And did you accept Mike’s offer?” The lawyer asked.

“I did,” Charlotte stated.

“Why did you agree to this?”

“My husband and I were having financial trouble and the promotion came with a large pay raise. I kept my husband and kids in mind the entire time Mike had his way with me.”

“What do you mean by financial trouble?”

“We were behind on our mortgage and car payments.”

Mike felt immense shame as Charlotte answered each question, hearing for the first time how she experienced their encounter so many years ago. Her point of view was completely opposite of his own, where he remembered charming her into some fun. He remembered the warmth of her body and how she closed her eyes in pleasure.

“Mrs. Charlotte, isn’t it true that your time with my client my consensual?” Mike’s lawyer asked.

“He leveraged his authority over me,” she answered.

“Did you tell Mike, at any point, before, during, or after that you didn’t want it?”

“I did it for my family,” she protested.

“Did you ever tell him no, Mrs. Charlotte?”

“No, I didn’t, but it doesn’t mean I wanted it.”

“Did my client tell you at any time that you wouldn’t be promoted if you denied his offer?”

“He said it would help.”

“Mrs. Charlotte, you stated a few minutes ago that my client told you that this arrangement would guarantee your promotion. Isn’t it true that you accepted his offer for your own benefit because you didn’t want to leave it to chance? Isn’t it also true that you willingly used your so-called qualities to your own benefit?

Mike felt a strange sense of relief and guilt after his lawyer finished questioning Charlotte. Of course, he didn’t want to be painted as some rapist, but he never intended for any of these women to feel the way they do. He continued to hear their stories over the next few days as they called witness after witness. The opposing lawyer set each one up to paint Mike as a villain, then his own lawyer always seemed to reel it back in.

By the end of the week, the plaintiffs rested their case and Mike was surprised that only about half of the women he had propositioned were called. His lawyer explained part of it but insisted that it was better if Mike didn’t know all of the details just yet. Mike sat around all weekend, worried about what the week ahead would bring. His lawyer apparently had quality witnesses that would appear on his behalf, but Mike wasn’t so sure about any of it.

On Monday morning, Mike’s lawyer began calling witnesses, several of which were women he had made the same deals with. Again, Mike felt ashamed, this time because of the arousal he experienced as he recalled his time with each of the women as they testified. He remembered how he had them on his desk or in his chair, or sometimes even in his car. Each day seemed to crawl by slower and slower, and though much of the testimony was in his favor, Mike wasn’t sure if he wanted to be let off too easily. Maybe he did deserve some punishment for everything.

“The defense calls Jenny Clayton-Mclean.”

Mike felt a spark of excitement at the sound of Jenny’s name. She had been the last woman he ever tried to bargain for sex, and it was because of her refusal that made him realize he needed to change. Still, Jenny had been his all-time favorite employee, solely due to her skills and work ethic. Her physical beauty just happened to be a perk. He watched Jenny walk down the aisle in her high heels, wearing a modest skirt and blouse, her long brunette hair loose and flowing. Mike was happy to see her, not because she was obviously testifying on his behalf, but because he genuinely missed her.

“How do you know my client, Mike?” The lawyer began.

“He used to be my boss at our former company,” she answered.

“Did Mike interview you for a promotion during your time there?”

“Yes.”

“Did Mike offer you a promotion in exchange for sex?”

“Yes.”

“Did you accept his offer?”

“No, I didn’t,” she answered, looking at Mike.

“But you did get promoted, correct?”

“I did, yes.”

“How did you get your promotion?”

“I went back to Mike’s office a few days later and demanded that he recognize my skill. He promoted me to a higher position than what I was originally training for.”

“Have you ever had sex with Mike?”

“Yes, but not until over a year later.”

“Can you tell the court about it?”

“We were at an annual company party that ended late one night. My car wouldn’t start, and Mike offered to drive me home after the tow truck took the car. I invited Mike into my home, and we had sex.”

“Why did you have sex with Mike that night?”

“Because I had found him attractive from the first time we met.”

“If you were attracted to Mike, why didn’t you have sex with him for the promotion?”

“I was going to, but then I realized I preferred to be promoted based on merit, not my body.”

“Were you assigned as a female at birth?”

“No, I was born as a male.”

“Why do you identify as Jenny today?”

“I still don’t understand it all, but I was forced to change my body to save my life.”

“When you were still a male, do you recall having a belief that women had it easier?”

“I did sometimes, yes.”

“Since you fully identified as a woman by the time you met Mike, and had all the physical capabilities of a woman, why didn’t you take advantage of the situation?”

“I truly considered it at the time,” Jenny began. “If I had done it, I wouldn’t have ever known if I could’ve gotten promoted just from my work.”

Mike felt a comforting warmth as he listened to Jenny speak, happy that he selected her for the job. At the same time, he remembered how willingly she invited him in that night and the way he fucked her over her own sofa. Her pussy had been so wet, hot, and tight. He still couldn’t believe she used to be a male.

“Mrs. Mclean,” the opposing lawyer began.

“You’re married to Skylar Mclean, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Is it true that you have an open relationship, meaning that you and your husband have agreed it’s okay to sleep with other partners?”

“That’s a very basic way to say it, but yeah, we do sleep with other partners at times.”

“Is it fair to say that your best friend, Andy, is your most active sexual partner apart from your husband?”

“That is fair, yes,” Jenny answered, feeling uncomfortable now.”

“Isn’t it true that you leveraged sex against Andy shortly after your transition? When he refused to be your boyfriend, didn’t you withhold sex from him?”

“That isn’t true,” Jenny answered, trying not to panic, wondering how the lawyer knew so much.

“Mrs. Mclean, isn’t it also true that you’re much more susceptible to sex after drinking alcohol, and that you had been drinking the night you slept with Mike?”

“I slept with him because I wanted to,” Jenny protested.

“Isn’t it true that you had sex with several men at a party after becoming intoxicated?”

“Those men raped me,” Jenny declared with anger filling her voice.

“Mrs. Mclean, you were on video willingly engaging in sex acts.”

“I was drugged by a substance called throb,” she responded, trying to keep her eyes from forming tears.

“You’re referring to a drug that circulated in the news for a while that supposedly makes women want to have sex. Are you aware that several studies disprove this drug’s effectiveness?”

“It altered my mental state. I wouldn’t have ever willingly done those things!”

“Which things, Mrs. Mclean? Didn’t you bring a guy home from a club one day just to take his virginity? When you were on your honeymoon, didn’t you have sex with another couple? Haven’t you willingly engaged in the same sex acts numerous times with different men?”

“It isn’t the same thing!”

“Isn’t it true that Mike took your shirt off during your final interview before you told him to stop?”

“Yes, he did,” she answered, feeling her will breaking away.

“Didn’t Mike see and touch your breasts during this time?”

“Yes.”

“You say that you were promoted on merit, but isn’t it possible that this encounter was enough to put the odds in your favor?”

“Objection!”

“According to your Instagram, Mrs. Mclean, you have almost five million followers. Isn’t it true that you regularly upload risqué content for all of your followers to see?”

“I upload a variety of pictures and videos.”

“Isn’t it true that you use your body to make thousands of dollars a month on Instagram by posting, and even more from sponsorship deals?”

“I create a lot of fitness content or showcase different clothing brands or even video games.”

“Mrs. Mclean. Even before you began receiving income from social media, you accepted money for your body, isn’t that true?”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Do you recall receiving five hundred dollars at your friend Andy’s bachelor party in exchange for showing yourself?”

“That was a game!”

“You were the only woman present at the party and you accepted payment for the guests to see you naked.”

The lawyer presented slideshow evidence to support his line of questioning, containing many pictures of Jenny from her Instagram, many of which left little to the imagination.

“Mrs. Mclean, why did you appear on a national tv broadcast?”

“Because I was the first person to experience what I went through, and I wanted to bring attention to it to help others that might be going through the same thing.”

“How many Instagram followers did you gain after that segment aired?”

“I’m not sure.”

“According to available data, you gained several million followers over the months following that broadcast. A boost in popularity and fame that has helped you increase your income. Mrs. Mclean, you’ve told this court that you denied Mike’s offer because you wanted to advance on merit, but everything you’ve done since then has involved using your new body to get ahead.”

“Redirect, your honor,” Mike’s lawyer said as he stood, then paused to give Jenny a few moments to regain her composure. “The opposing counsel has tried painting you in a bad light due to some ventures that would normally be considered lucky. Why did you leave your previous employer?”

“I was fired,” Jenny answered.

“Why were you fired?”

“I was fired for telling my story on tv. They said it was too much of a distraction.”

“Did you apply for other jobs following your termination?”

“Yes, but no one would hire me.”

“Do you recognize the item in this exhibit?”

“Yes, that is a diary I kept when I first got home from my transition.”

“Would it be a fair assessment to say that a lot of what was written early on details your extreme dislike of the change?”

“Yes, I thought the change was the worst thing to ever happen back then.”

Mike was unable to sleep that night due to how bad he felt for Jenny. Whether he won or lost the case didn’t matter to him now. His life had been made public and all of his indecencies had been exposed. Now, the only woman he tried to do right by had her life picked apart because she came to defend him. He thought about calling or texting her to apologize, but the damage had already been done. He found Jenny’s Instagram on his phone and was happy to see she was living a good life.

To Mike’s surprise, Jenny was in the courtroom again on the day of the verdict. Everyone and their voices were a slow blur as he was ordered to pay a list of damages to each of the plaintiffs. This was a good thing, he thought. He knew he deserved it, and it was about time he was held accountable for his actions. His mind wandered as the courtroom dispersed, not paying attention to anything or anyone while walking out and down a hall to the bathroom. He didn’t come back to reality until a soft voice called his name in the parking lot.

“Mike,” Jenny said, standing nearby.

“Jenny,” he said, smiling at her. “I saw your story on tv, I still can’t believe it.”

“It’s a long story, but it’s all true,” she said.

“Maybe if I’m lucky enough, I’ll get to hear it someday,” he said.