Grace set her pen down and rubbed her temples.

“He can’t freeze it indefinitely, but he can tie it up in appeals and motions for years,” she said. “He has the resources to drown us in paperwork.”

I looked toward the hallway, where Lily was sleeping peacefully in her portable crib.

My heart ached at the thought of her name being dragged through the press, of her mother being branded as dangerous.

“What about the medical report?” I asked. “Can we prove it’s fake?”

“We can subpoena the clinic’s digital logs,” Grace said. “But that takes time, Vivian. Adrian is counting on the immediate shock value to break you.”

She stood up and paced the length of her desk, her heels clicking against the hardwood floor.

“He is playing a dangerous game,” she said, stopping to look out the window again. “He thinks he is the only one with power here.”

“He has all the money,” I said. “In this city, that is the same thing.”

“Not always,” Grace said, a cold smile touching her lips. “Adrian is ambitious, but he is not the head of the family.”