To the readers of my Iris Hawthorne story,

I'm so sorry that it has taken so long for me to make the next chapter of my Iris Hawthorne: Ace Attorney story. I've wanted to do it far earlier, but I have been getting swamped and overwhelmed by schoolwork, art, drawing/written commissions that I take from my DeviantArt, and family matters for a while now. I had become so busy that I had lost motivation to continue the fic for a long time and had gone to work on other projects and schoolwork for the previous months.

I want to inform you that I have not forgotten about Iris Hawthorne, nor do I intend to give up on this fic. I am currently working on the latest chapter now. I'm still busy with schoolwork so that it won't be posted right away. However, I am improving my schedule to work on it now and do all the other work I need to do, both my schoolwork and my projects like this fic.

As such, I'm happy to inform you that the next chapter will come out as soon as I finish it. For now, thank you so much, all of you, for being patient. And thank you for the followers and favorites that motivate me into continuing this series. I know that this announcement isn't enough, and it's been too long since the last chapter, so I hope this sneak peek can be good for now. Thank you, and I hope you have a good day.

SNEAK PEEK:

Sept. 20, 4:30 PM

District Court~ Defendant Lobby No. 3

Iris sat on the couch of the Defendant Lobby, curled up into a ball as she wept, tears streaming from her eyes while her late mentor Diego looked at her sympathetically.

"P-Pearl...!" Iris whimpered through her sniffles; her hands pressed against her tear-coated face.

"Flower..." he paused, trying to think of the right words before placing his hand on her shoulder. "It'll be alright..."

"B-But I couldn't get Mr. Engarde acquitted!" Iris shouted, a look of despair on her face. "I-I couldn't save Pearl...!"

Diego sighed. "It'll be alright! In fact, everything may still work out."

"How...?!" Iris asked through her tears.

"The condition was that we had to get a 'not guilty' verdict, right?" he asked, to which Iris answered with a nod. "So far, the kidnapper has kept his word and hasn't hurt Pearl. And for now, he won't since Mr. Engarde hasn't been given a 'guilty' verdict yet."

Iris paused for a moment to think. "...That...that's a good point..." she whispered through her sniffles.

Diego then let out a huff before standing up and motioning himself to be in front of Iris. "Look at me, Iris. Look at me," he said in a firm but gentle voice. Iris did so. "Somewhere out there, your sister is in trouble, cold and alone with two psychopaths ready to kill her the moment you fail your job as a lawyer. And is that job of yours over?"

"...N...no..." Iris mumbled as she took in her late mentor's words. She sniffled again, wiping away a few more of your tears.

"Come on, Flower, are you seriously still crying right now?" Diego asked strictly, crossing his arms. "I thought I taught you better than that. Don't you remember one of my rules? The only time a lawyer can cry..."

"Is..Is when it's all over..." Iris finished.

"Yes, and is it already over for you?" Diego asked. "Are you really going to just stand there and wallow in your own misery?"

Iris paused for a while, soaking in her mentor's words as she stopped her tears from flowing.

"No..." she mumbled, clenching her fists.

"Are you just going to sit there and weep while your sister is out there in the hands of De Killer? In the hands of Dahlia!?"

"NO!" Iris shouted, standing up from the couch and staring at Diego with a fiery look in her eye.

"Then what are you going to do about it, Flower!?" Diego asked.

"I'm going to save my sister! No harm's ever going to come to her!" Iris declared before jabbing her finger at Diego's chest. "That's one of my rules!"

Diego chuckled, gently brushing the finger to pat Iris' shoulder. "Good to see you got that fiery passion of yours back, Flower. Now let's get out of here, we got work to do."