Forty minutes after leaving the pink nursery, I pushed open the heavy glass doors of the top-floor law firm.

Adrian Mercer—Ryan's younger half brother and the sharpest corporate litigator in the city—sat rigid behind an expansive mahogany desk. His gaze held the same judgment I remembered from our last Thanksgiving together, three years earlier.

"Took you long enough," Adrian said.

I dropped my tote bag onto the leather guest chair. "I need a lawyer."

"You need a miracle." He leaned back, steepling his fingers. "Or maybe just a time machine to go back to that balcony."

"I didn't come here for a lecture."

"You came here because I was right." Adrian stood, buttoning his tailored suit jacket. "Three years ago, I told you to keep the original blueprints. I told you Ryan would eventually build his castle and lock you in the dungeon."

"And I ignored you. We established that."

"You defended him," Adrian corrected, his tone dropping an octave. "You called me a cynical bastard who didn't understand partnership. You stood by the railing, holding your little glass of champagne, and told me Ryan and you were a team. You said he would never cut you out of the final equity share."

I gripped the back of the leather chair. "People change."

"People don't change, Elena. They just drop their masks." He walked around the desk, stopping a few feet away. "So, what finally cracked the perfect marriage? Did he freeze your accounts? Did he try to push you off the board of directors?"

"He moved his pregnant twenty-three-year-old assistant into our house this morning."

Adrian stopped. The smug satisfaction vanished from his face. He stared at me, his jaw clenching once.

"He asked me to decorate her nursery," I added, keeping my voice flat.

Adrian let out a short, hollow laugh. An unexpected sound in the sterile office. "He really is an idiot."

"He thinks he won," I said. "He thinks I will smile for the cameras and play the supportive wife while his mistress gives birth down the hall. He offered me the west wing."

"Generous of him," Adrian sneered. "And what do you want to do?"

I reached into my bag and pulled out the thick manila envelope. I slammed the stack of copyright registration papers onto his pristine desk.

The top sheet slid forward, displaying the intricate architectural drawing for Dream House.

"I need you to act as my full legal proxy," I said, tapping my index finger against the raised steel seal. "Effective now."

Adrian glanced down at the documents. He picked up the first page, his eyes scanning the legal jargon. "You actually filed the copyrights under your own name."

"Ryan hates paperwork. He always signed whatever I put in front of him. He thought these were standard zoning permits."

"And he never checked the ownership clauses." Adrian tossed the paper back onto the desk. "You filed twelve separate copyrights. Commercial zones, residential towers, the underground retail spaces. You didn't leave him a single loophole."

"I drafted every line," I said. "I sourced the materials. I engineered the load-bearing structures. Ryan just cut the ribbons and smiled for the press."

"Proxy for what, exactly?"

"Revoke the design rights for Star River Bay."

He raised an eyebrow. "Ryan is preselling that project right now. The financing round closes next month. The entire valuation of his company rests on those waterfront properties. You designed those cantilevered terraces yourself."

"I know. That makes them my intellectual property."

"If I pull the rights, the city will halt construction by noon. The investors will panic. The bank will call in his loans." Adrian leaned closer, testing my resolve. "You will bankrupt him."

"I will bankrupt the company," I corrected. "Then I will buy the assets out of foreclosure. He keeps the debt. I keep the buildings."

"You want to burn it all down just to rebuild it without him."

"I want the cease-and-desist filed today," I said, ignoring his assessment. "Can you do it or should I find another firm?"

"Oh, I can do it." Adrian walked back around to his chair. "But once I send this, there is no going back. He will declare war. He will drag your name through the mud."

"He already did. He just didn't realize I had the bigger guns."

He opened his top drawer and pulled out a proxy agreement form. He grabbed a silver fountain pen, unscrewed the cap, and began filling out the empty fields.

"Standard retainer," he said, his pen gliding across the thick paper. "I take twenty percent of whatever we recover. But considering we are about to vaporize his primary asset, there might not be much left to take."

"I don't care about the money right now. I want the control. I want him to watch everything he built crumble because he forgot who laid the foundation."

"You always were the ruthless one," Adrian murmured. "You just hid it better than I did. You played the dutiful wife for ten years."

"The dutiful wife died in a walk-in closet full of pink maternity dresses."

He signed his name with a fluid, aggressive stroke. He flipped the document and pushed it across the mahogany surface toward me.

I reached for it. As I pulled the paper closer, my fingertips brushed against his.

His skin ran hot. I met his gaze and caught a flash of something sharp in his dark eyes. Ryan's estranged brother—the ally I had pushed away for three years—was finally back on my side.

"Sign on the bottom line, Elena."

I took his pen. The metal casing felt warm from his grip. I scratched my signature next to his, pressing hard enough to leave an indent on the wood underneath.

"Done." I handed the pen back.

Adrian examined the signature. He nodded once, a silent seal on our new alliance.

He turned to his computer, typing. A minute later, the printer in the corner spit out a formal letter bearing the firm's heavy black letterhead.

Adrian grabbed the paper and walked over to the fax machine near the window. He fed the cease-and-desist notice into the top tray.

"I have a contact at the city zoning board," Adrian said, punching in a sequence of numbers on the keypad. "They owe me a favor. We bypass the mail and send this to the enforcement office. They will lock the site down immediately."

"Do it."

The green light on the console flashed.

The machine hummed, pulling the thick paper down inch by inch. I watched the document disappear into the feeder. That single piece of paper carried ten years of my sweat, my designs, and my stolen future. It was the match that would ignite Ryan's empire.

The machine whirred, processing the transmission. The silence in the office stretched, thick and heavy, until a sharp beep shattered the quiet.

A small confirmation receipt slid out of the bottom slot.

"Notice served," Adrian said, tearing the receipt off and handing it to me. "The design rights for Star River Bay are officially contested. The city will act within the hour."

I picked up my bag, throwing the strap over my shoulder. The crushing pressure from the pink nursery finally began to fracture, replaced by cold clarity.

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

I pulled it out and stared at the glowing screen.

A new text message from Ryan glared back at me.

"Are you crazy? Why is the Star River Bay sales office sealed off?!"

The heavy oak front doors slammed against the foyer walls, vibrating the crystal chandelier above.

"Elena!"

Ryan stormed into the living room. He dragged a pale, wide-eyed Chloe behind him by the wrist. He marched straight to the glass coffee table and slapped a crumpled piece of paper onto the surface. The official city seal stared up at me.

"What is this?" he demanded, his voice echoing off the vaulted ceiling. "Are you out of your mind?"

I remained seated on the velvet armchair, my legs crossed. I didn't glance at the stop-work notice. "It looks like an injunction. The city acts fast."

"You shut down Star River Bay!" He pointed a shaking finger at the paper. "Do you have any idea what you just did to our cash flow? The investors are calling my phone every five seconds. The bank is threatening to freeze the construction loans."

"Your cash flow," I corrected. "Your loans."

Chloe let out a small, wounded gasp. She stepped forward, resting one hand on the edge of the leather sofa for support. Her other hand protectively cradled her slightly bulging stomach. She wore a pale blue maternity dress, the exact one I had seen hanging in my closet an hour ago.

"Elena, please," Chloe whimpered, tears welling in her eyes. "I know you're angry with me. I know you're jealous. But don't punish Ryan for our mistakes. He worked so hard to build this company. You can't destroy his life's work just because of a petty rivalry."

I didn't look at her. I didn't acknowledge her tears or her trembling voice.

Instead, I reached for the thick property registration book resting beside my teacup. I flipped it open to the centerfold.

"Elena, look at her when she speaks to you!" Ryan yelled. "She's stressed enough as it is. You're terrorizing a pregnant woman."

"I'm reviewing my assets," I said, flattening the pages of the ledger. I picked up a red felt-tip pen from the table.

"Stop playing games," Ryan snapped. "Call the city. Tell them it's a clerical error. Withdraw whatever absurd claim you filed, or I swear to God..."

"Or you'll do what?" I asked, finally raising my head to meet his gaze. "Divorce me? You already offered me the west wing of my own house this morning."

I pressed the red pen to the thick paper. With a swift, aggressive stroke, I drew a massive X straight through the printed title of the Star River Bay development.

"What are you doing?" Ryan stepped closer, his brow furrowing.

"Every single design draft," I said, my voice steady, "every blueprint, every structural layout you paraded in front of your investors. They don't belong to your firm."

Ryan stared at the red ink bleeding into the page. "That's impossible. The company paid for the zoning."

"The company paid for the permits," I clarified. "I filed the intellectual property registrations. All twelve core developments, including Star River Bay, are copyrighted exclusively under my name. You don't own the designs, Ryan. You never did."

The color drained from his face. The aggressive posture dissolved into pure shock. His mouth opened, closed, and opened again.

"You're lying," he whispered.

"Call your legal department. Ask them who holds the IP rights."

"Give me that." He lunged across the coffee table, his hand grasping for the registration book.

I moved faster. I seized his wrist, digging my nails into his skin, and twisted his arm backward just enough to lock his joint.

"Don't touch my property," I warned.

He let out a sharp hiss of pain, struggling against my grip. "You set me up! You planned this!"

"I protected my work." I shoved his arm away.

He stumbled back, bumping into Chloe, who let out another dramatic shriek and clutched his jacket.

"Ryan, my stomach," she cried, burying her face in his shoulder. "She's crazy. She's going to hurt the baby."

I stood up, smoothing the wrinkles from my skirt. I pointed straight at the open front doors.

"You have twenty-four hours to pack your things and vacate this property," I said.

Ryan steadied Chloe, glaring at me over her blonde head. "Vacate? This house is a company asset. I paid for the land."

"Dream House LLC paid for the land," I corrected. "The same company you have been using as your private bank. I filed for emergency receivership this afternoon. If the court grants it, you lose control of every company property—including this house."

His glare sharpened. "You think a judge will hand my company to you?"

"I think the financial records will persuade one. If the order is signed, you will leave when the court officer tells you to leave."

Chloe sobbed louder, clinging to him. "Ryan, where are we going to go? The baby needs a stable home."

"We aren't going anywhere," Ryan spat.

He stepped around the coffee table, his shock morphing back into a cold, arrogant sneer. He reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a heavy brass spare key, tossing it into the air and catching it in his palm.

"You think a broken copyright can stop me?" he mocked. "You think some paperwork gives you the right to throw me out of my own home?"

"The law gives me the right."

"I am the legal representative of this company," Ryan said, his voice dropping low. "I control the board. I control the accounts. You want to play dirty, Elena? Fine."

He shoved the spare key back into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He bypassed his contacts and dialed a number from memory.

He held the phone to his ear, his gaze fixed on mine, a hard smile spreading across his face.

"Security," Ryan said into the receiver. "Cancel Elena's access to the main office, freeze her corporate accounts, and send a team to the mansion right now to remove a trespasser."