The elevator carries us upward, and I'm still floating on the residual bliss of being pampered for hours. My muscles feel loose in ways I'd forgotten were possible, and the prenatal massage session left me boneless and content.
"I need an entire course of those." I lean against Jake's shoulder, his warmth seeping through expensive fabric. "Weekly. Maybe daily. That massage was transcendent."
"Consider it arranged." His voice carries that easy certainty I've come to rely on. "Whatever you need."
"Good." I tilt my head back to meet his eyes, forcing brightness into my tone despite the exhaustion pulling at my bones. "Because despite your protests about rest, we're still stargazing tonight. The telescope awaits. So do the stars."
His smile reaches his eyes this time. "Wouldn't miss it."
The doors slide open, and Maria's face appears before us.
Wrong. Everything about her expression screams wrong. Worry etches lines around her mouth, and her hands twist together in a gesture I recognize as barely contained panic.
"Miss Adison." Her voice wavers slightly. "You have a guest. He's been waiting in the living room for thirty minutes."
Before Jake can ask who, I'm already moving.
Because I know that particular quality of silence radiating from my apartment. The kind that precedes ambush. The kind that means Walter has found another way to destroy something good.
I round the corner, and there he sits.
On my couch. In my home. In my sanctuary.
Walter's smile spreads wide and sincere, and he gestures toward an elaborate bouquet arranged on the coffee table like an offering. Roses and lilies and expensive greenery that probably cost more than most people's rent.
"Happy birthday, Adison." His voice carries warmth that makes my skin crawl. "I brought you flowers. A small tribute to celebrate the occasion."
I don't acknowledge the bouquet. Don't let my gaze linger on petals that feel like camouflage for whatever poison he's actually delivering.
The shock of his presence on this day—on my birthday, in my space, contaminating the joy Jake built so carefully—hardens into cold fury that settles like ice in my chest.
"Why are you here?" The question comes out flat. Controlled. Every syllable edged with warning.
"Can't a brother visit his sister?" His expression shifts into something approximating innocence. "Victoria mentioned Violet lives with you now. I thought I'd stop by. See how she's settling in."
The lie lands obvious enough that I almost laugh. Almost.
"I don't believe a single word of that." I cross my arms, planting myself between him and the hallway where Violet's room waits. "Try again."
Jake materializes at my shoulder before I register his movement. His presence feels solid and dangerous, fury radiating from every line of his body despite his carefully controlled voice.
"She asked you a question." The words come out flat. Menacing. "Answer it."
Walter's laugh rings through my living room with theatrical satisfaction. The sound of a villain savoring his moment, relishing the audience he's captured.
He reaches into his jacket with deliberate showmanship, producing an envelope with movements calculated to draw maximum attention.
"Since you're both so impatient." He sets the envelope on the coffee table beside his flowers. "A lawsuit. The legal process to reclaim what's rightfully mine has officially begun."
The words land like stones dropped into still water. I watch the ripples spread, feel them hit my chest with delayed impact.
"You're suing me." My voice comes out hollow. Empty of everything except comprehension dawning too late.
"Ward Enterprises should have been my inheritance." Walter stands, brushing invisible dust from his sleeve with that practiced precision I've come to recognize as performance. "Richard's firstborn son. The rightful heir. I'm simply claiming exactly what my father should have left me."
"May the strongest win." He smiles wider, and something in that expression makes my stomach turn.
Jake moves before I can react.
One second Walter's standing with his smug smile intact. The next, Jake has him slammed onto the couch, fist twisted in his collar, threat radiating from every line of his body.
"Get out." Jake's voice drops so low I barely hear it. "Before I forget I'm in a lady's apartment."
Walter's response arrives smooth and mocking despite the hand crushing his expensive shirt. "The old man should save his strength for the courtroom." His eyes find mine over Jake's shoulder. "That's where this war will actually be fought."
Something snaps inside my chest.
"Jake." I cross the distance, my hand finding his shoulder with firm pressure. "Let him go."
He doesn't release immediately. His jaw works, muscles flexing beneath skin, and for half a second I think he might actually hit Walter. Might give him exactly the reaction he's trying to provoke.
Then Jake steps back, releasing Walter with enough force that he stumbles slightly.
"Leave." I point toward the door, letting every ounce of authority I possess bleed into the single word. "Now."
Walter straightens his jacket with exaggerated care, smoothing fabric that barely wrinkled. His smile never wavers as he moves toward the exit with measured steps.
He pauses in the doorway, turning back to deliver one final strike wrapped in false warmth.
"Happy birthday, Adison." The words drip with poison disguised as courtesy. "I hope you enjoyed your celebration. It may be your last peaceful one for quite some time."
Then he's gone.
I stand in my living room surrounded by birthday decorations that suddenly feel absurd. Balloons bob against the ceiling. The telescope sits in its opened box. Maria's breakfast dishes are probably still in the sink.
And on my coffee table, beside Walter's elaborate bouquet, the envelope waits.
The lawsuit. The official beginning of war I've been anticipating since I learned the truth about his paternity.
Jake's hand finds mine, his fingers lacing through my own with desperate pressure.
"Adison—" he starts.
"Not yet." I cut him off gently, squeezing back with all the strength I can muster. "I just need a minute."
The stars will wait. The telescope can stay wrapped. The birthday celebration Jake built so carefully has been contaminated by the one person who knows exactly how to destroy peace.
I stare at the envelope, and something hardens inside my chest.
Walter wants a war? Fine.
He'll get one.
But when the dust settles and the courtroom battles end, he's going to learn exactly what it costs to threaten my family.
The war has officially begun. And I refuse to lose.