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I stop for half a beat just inside the doorway, and then realize… we're not alone.

Every Kauffman sibling is here.

All of them.

Christian at the head of the table with a stack of folders and legal pads, tie perfect, expression calm in that deeply unsettling way that means somebody is about to lose an argument and maybe their dignity. Thank God he's on our side.

Everly to his left, dressed for war, complete with dark sunglasses and a skyhigh slicked back ponytail that means business.

Levi's leaning back in his chair like he's trying to look casual and failing because satisfaction is already tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Colston, bored and still beside him, Archer silent and sharp-eyed, Wes unreadable, Zayne somehow managing to look entertained and dangerous at the same time.

There's not a shrinking wallflower among them. It must be those Conrad Kauffman genes, and something about that makes me press my hand to my stomach without thinking. My baby will have that.

And then there's Everett.

Standing beside me with one hand low at my back like he's not even thinking about it. Like it's just where his hand goes now.

Maybe it is.

His fingers press once through the fabric of my dress.

"You okay?"

I glance up at him.

No, not remotely. But with every Kauffman in this room standing behind us… yes.

So I nod, and he gives me a small but confident smile.

Then he guides me fully into the room, and I realize I'm not walking into this fight alone. Not even close.

Across the table, the trustees are already seated.

Preston sits in the middle, spine straight, mouth set in the kind of expression that says she is not used to being surprised and dislikes it on principle. Two other trustees flank her, both stiff and watchful. Genevieve sits a little apart from all of them, elegant and composed, one hand resting on a leather portfolio and the other around a glass of water she hasn't touched.

Christian waits until Everett and I take our seats.

"Well," Preston says crisply, folding her hands in front of her. "We're here. You called this hearing. What is this regarding?"

"We're here today," he says, voice calm and exact, "to move for the immediate reinstatement of Everett Kauffman's inheritance, governance rights, and succession protections under the Kauffman Trust pursuant to the addendum executed by Conrad Kauffman under subsection seven, the legacy clause."

Christian opens the folder in front of him, removes a second set of documents, and slides them across the polished walnut toward Preston.

The boardroom goes very still while Preston reaches for the addendum, and then looks up at Christian with her eyebrows pulling together.

"On what grounds?"

Christian doesn't glance at me, but I already know what he's going to say and my chest tightens before the words come.

"On the grounds that Everett and Aria Kauffman have conceived the first Kauffman grandchild during their legally binding marriage."

The trustees begin to whisper amongst themselves in a heated frenzy.

Beside me, Everett's hand tightens once around mine.

"An addendum?" Preston says sharply, flipping pages. "Is this legitimate?"