Chapter 29 · Last Hearing

"All rise."

I don't rise fast enough. Cade's hand closes around my elbow and pulls me up before the bailiff finishes the sentence, and just like that we're standing shoulder to shoulder at a table that isn't big enough for two people who can't stand each other, in a courtroom that's about to decide who my daughter sleeps next to tonight.

"Don't touch me," I say, low, teeth barely moving.

"Then stand up on your own," he says. "Judge is watching."

Judge Ferris is watching. So is opposing counsel, some silver-haired shark named Whitfield who's been retained by the one name on this docket that makes my stomach drop every time I read it: Vane Holdings, on behalf of the family trust, petitioner for grandparent visitation and, buried in paragraph four, guardianship review.

They don't want visitation. They want Maya's blood on a family tree they can leverage.

"Mr. Vane," Judge Ferris says, "your counsel filed the petition. I assume you're aware of its contents."

"I withdrew my support for it an hour ago," Cade says. "In writing. It's in the file."

Whitfield's head snaps toward him like he's been slapped. "Your Honor, that filing was submitted under duress—