Olivia Randall

Quick Facts

• Role: Defense attorney who takes over the case after Chloe Taylor hires her to represent Ethan Macintosh for the murder of his father, Adam Macintosh
• First appearance: Chapter 21
• Occupation: High-powered criminal defense attorney and courtroom strategist
• Key relationships: Client—Ethan; family—Chloe and Nicky Macintosh; adversary—prosecutor Mike Nunzio; leverage point—Jake Summer

Who They Are

From the moment Olivia Randall sweeps into Chloe’s apartment mid-police search, she becomes the story’s stabilizer: a cool-headed tactician who knows the rules of combat and isn’t afraid to use them. She embodies the theme of Justice and the Legal System, treating the courtroom as an arena where narrative, evidence, and procedure must be orchestrated into a winning case.

Her appearance—dark, straight hair; angular features; athletic build; jeans and flats under a hastily added blazer—signals her ethos: function over flash. She is put together without pretense, a lawyer who arrives ready to fight rather than posture.

Personality & Traits

Olivia marries empathy to rigor. She promises honesty, not comfort; she extends respect, not indulgence. Her authority has edges, but it’s grounded in care for outcomes rather than optics. Crucially, she understands that truth in court must be translated into a persuasive story, and she is fearless about constructing one.

• Direct and authoritative: She immediately challenges the scope of the police warrant in Chloe’s home (Chapter 21), seizes control of the scene, and lays down rules for the family’s behavior.
• Strategic and intelligent: She reframes the trial’s narrative by putting Jake Summer on the stand specifically to elicit a Fifth Amendment plea (Chapter 34), planting a viable alternative suspect in the jury’s mind.
• Pragmatic and realistic: She rejects theatrical gambits—like Nicky’s impulse to confess—as legally disastrous, and bluntly lays out real options: EED, plea, or an alternative theory (Chapter 32).
• Empathetic yet detached: She promises “brutal honesty” after the bail denial (Chapter 23), honoring the family’s need for truth while insulating strategy from panic.

Character Journey

Olivia doesn’t undergo a dramatic personal transformation; instead, the case draws out the core of who she is. She starts with what she calls a professional callousness—honed by “years of representing guilty people” (Chapter 23)—and then, unusually, moves toward belief in Ethan’s innocence. That shift matters because it recalibrates her risk tolerance: she pushes Chloe to dismantle her own carefully curated image and disclose painful facts, even at personal cost, to build the most credible defense. In doing so, Olivia forces the family to reckon with Public Image vs. Private Reality, and she turns the novel’s final act into a legal thriller where craft and courage, not sentiment, decide the outcome.

Key Relationships

• Ethan Macintosh: Olivia treats Ethan as a defendant who must be prepared, not a child who must be protected from hard truths. She drills him on asserting his rights and readies him for testimony, becoming his fiercest shield within the rules of the system.

• Chloe Taylor and Nicky Macintosh: With Chloe’s composure and Nicky’s volatility pulling in opposite directions, Olivia acts as crisis manager. She compels the sisters to align around facts rather than feelings, insisting they surface uncomfortable truths to save Ethan—even when those truths fracture their family’s facade.

• Mike Nunzio: As prosecutor, Nunzio is her foil. Their sparring showcases Olivia’s procedural fluency—timely objections, incisive cross-examination, and the audacious late-game tactic of calling Jake, which forces Nunzio to contend with a theory of the crime he cannot fully neutralize.

Defining Moments

Olivia’s power is revealed in decisive, strategically calibrated moves that pivot the case’s direction.

• Taking command during the search (Chapter 21)

  • What happens: She confronts officers mid-search and challenges the warrant’s scope.
  • Why it matters: Establishes her authority and signals to the family—and the reader—that the defense will be aggressive, not reactive.

• The promise to be honest (Chapter 23)

  • What happens: After bail is denied, she pledges unvarnished assessments going forward.
  • Why it matters: Creates a trust contract that will later authorize her to deliver hard truths and make high-risk strategic shifts.

• “We’re losing” (Chapter 32)

  • What happens: She bluntly declares that reasonable doubt might not carry the day and outlines stark options: EED, plea, or alternative theory.
  • Why it matters: Forces the narrative pivot that exposes Chloe’s affair and opens the door to introducing Jake as an alternative suspect.

• Questioning Jake Summer (Chapter 34)

  • What happens: She calls Jake, anticipating his Fifth Amendment plea.
  • Why it matters: It’s a masterclass in legal storytelling—without proving Jake’s guilt, she reframes the jury’s imagination, creating the doubt necessary for acquittal.

Essential Quotes

I’m Olivia Randall, and I represent Ms. Taylor and her son, Ethan.
— Chapter 21

This is a line of introduction as assertion of control. In one sentence, Olivia establishes standing, defines the defense team, and halts a chaotic scene, turning a police operation into a legal matter conducted on her terms.

Right now, I think Ethan will be convicted if we don’t raise an alternative theory. I can go with EED, but that still means manslaughter... Or I can call Nunzio and start talking about a plea deal. Or we can talk more about Jake Summer. Those are the options. No other doors I can see.
— Chapter 32

The speech is Olivia’s strategic thesis: courts demand choices, not wishes. By inventorying pathways—EED, plea, or alternative suspect—she reframes hope as decision-making and primes Chloe and Nicky to accept the costs of a bolder defense.

I’d like to think I always sound persuasive. But, yes, I do believe it. And I rarely do. And, as I said, I promise I’ll do everything I can to prove it.
— Chapter 23

Her rare admission of belief cuts through her cultivated detachment. It deepens the stakes of her promise of honesty, signaling that her forthcoming risks aren’t merely tactical—they’re grounded in a conviction she seldom allows herself.