The court letter still lay where Adrian had dropped it.

Thin paper. Heavy meaning.

I sat frozen, watching him pace the room like a storm wrapped in skin. There was no yelling. No punching walls. Just a quiet fury that made the air too thick to breathe.

“She thinks this will scare us,” I said finally.

Adrian’s eyes snapped to me. “She doesn’t care if it scares us. She just wants to drown you in proof you’re not fit to raise a child. Proof she created. Doubt she planted.”

I ...