bChapter /bb115/bb: /bbLa /bbPOV /b

    The headline is still staring up at me from the crisp legal paper, sharp and clean and cruel.

    **Notice of Intent to Pursue Legal Action: Inheritance and Property Dispute – Kincaid Estate**

    **intiff: Allison Reed (previously Kincaid)

    **Defendant: La Kincaid **

    **

    b55 /b

    My own name looks foreign there, typed in ck ink. Smaller than it’s ever looked before. Like it

    doesn’t belong to me anymore. Like it belongs to someone foolish enough to trust the wrong person for far too long.

    I barely notice the silence that’s descended around me–how all the teasing and warmth and easy

    chatter have vanished like smoke. But I ido /ifeel the shift in the air as all four of them draw closer.

    They’re suddenly apprehensively quiet, worryingly tense, and watchfully careful. Like I might break

    any second now.

    I barely notice the moment Xavier steps in and gently curls his fingers around the far edge of the papers that are still clutched in my faintly trembling hands.

    “I’ve got it, Princess,” he says softly. “Let me see.”

    I don’t argue with him, and I don’t resist. I just let him take the documents like I don’t even

    recognize them for what they truly are anymore—just one more thing I didn’t seeing.

    One more betrayal.

    AJ crouches beside me where I’m still perched on the stool at the ind, his palm warm and steady

    as it closes around mine. His thumb brushes over my knuckles once, twice, a third time, before he speaks. “Talk to us, sweetheart,” he says quietly, his brows pulled tight with concern. “You’re scaring

    us right now.”

    I blink slowly, then nce down at our joined hands in myp. It’s like looking at someone else’s life. Someone else’s fingers.

    Xavier exhales through his nose, low and grim, as he flips through the top three pages with the speed of someone who’s done this too many times before.

    Chapter 115: La POV

    “Jesus,” he mutters. “It’s awsuit. She’s suing you to try to force the sale of the house. She ims you’re intentionally obstructing the liquidation process of a shared estate asset. She’s trying to say your refusal to sign is damaging her financially.”

    There’s a beat of stunned silence. And then the room erupts into masculine chaos.

    “You’ve got to be ifucking /ikidding me,” Cade explodes, mming his coffee mug down hard enough

    that it sloshes over the sides.

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    “She’s suing her own daughter?” AJ snaps, rising to his feet now, his hand falling away from mine as his fury takes over. “Because she didn’t blindly sign something? iAre /iiyou /iifucking /iiserious/ii?/ibi” /i/b

    “Okay,” Hunter says, holding out a hand like he’s trying to contain the storm. “Okay, everyone, just

    take a breath.”

    But I still can’t speak. I still can’t move.

    Because it’s alling back in pieces–every warning sign I tried to dismiss. The rushed phone calls.

    The impatient texts. My mom’s brittle voice telling me I was being ridiculous, that I was making

    everything more difficult than it needed to be, and that she needed my signature inow /iand couldn’t

    afford to wait.

    And now this. Legal action.

    Xavier sets the document down gently on the counter and begins pacing. His tone shifts into something tight and focused. He’s in legal mode now. “I need to call my mentor. She’s worked on two cases like this. We’ll file a response immediately–a temporary injunction to block any forced sale. They’re going to try to argue bad faith, but we’ll counter that you explicitly requested legal

    review.i” /i

    “She didi,/ii” /iCade says, almost vibrating with fury as he grabs a dishtowel and starts wiping up his coffee spill aggressively. “She told them she wanted her ownwyers to look at it. You told them, right, La?”

    I nod once because it’s the only thing I can manage as my mind reels.

    “She’s not gonna get away with this,” AJ mutters darkly, still standing guard just behind me with his

    arms crossed over his chest. “I’ll make damn sure of it.”

    “I’ll talk to Cody, our football coach’s son, too,” Hunter adds, calm and steady. “He’s seen stuff like this in his line of work. Even if it’s outside his usual scope, I’m sure he’ll know someone who can

    Chapter 115: La POV

    help.”

    :

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    I finally look up at their faces, which are blurring a little, and I’m not sure if it’s because of the sting in my eyes or the way my world feels like it’s shifting under me yet again.

    Cade circles back around, his expression softer now, and his lips twitching with effort. “I mean, I knew your mom was cold,” he says, raising his brows as he sets the towel aside, “but this feels like a real overachiever move, you know? Five gold stars for Emotional Maniption Bingo.”

    Hunter groans under his breath. “iCade/i…,” he starts chastising him.

    “What? I’m just trying to… Christ, she looks like she’s going to be sick,” he says, quickly stepping

    towards me with his hands out as if to catch me.

    Because I just might be. But not from fear, and not even from anger.

    But from grief.

    Because a tiny, still–hopeful part of me thought that maybei, /iijust /iimaybe/ii, /ishe’de around. But

    instead, she sent herwyers.

    “I should’ve seen thising,” I whisper finally, my voice raw and barely mine when ites out. “I should’ve… God, I should’ve known she’d pull something like this.”

    “You couldn’t have known,” Xavier says firmly, as he steps back in front of me. “You were being

    cautious. You were doing the iright /ithing. This is her trying to punish you for it.”

    AJ has shifted to my side, his left hand bracing him against the counter’s edge while his right hand’s fingertips drawzy patterns at the small of my back. “She’s not going to win this, La. We’re not

    going to let her.”

    And the thing is

    –

    deep down, I know every single one of them means it.

    They’re not saying it to reassure me. They’re saying it as if it’s already decided and carved in stone.

    Hunter sets his coffee aside andes around to kneel beside my stool now, just like AJ did earlier. His hand finds my calf, anchoring me there. “We’ll help you fight this,” he says quietly. “Every step of the way.”

    And finally finally I let out a shaky breath.

    …

    Chapter 115: La POV

    Because I might be in the middle of a nightmare. But I’m not in it alone.

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