Grace paced inside her room, heels clicking hard against the polished floor. She wasn't wearing her usual smug expression. For once, she looked… unsettled.
Emily sat comfortably on the bed, scrolling casually through her phone as if nothing in the world could bother her.
"Stop pacing," Emily said lazily. "You're giving me a headache."
Grace spun around. "Do you even understand what's at stake? Laura's lawyer isn't cheap. If we involve him and it blows up—"
Emily finally looked up, amused. "You're acting like we're amateurs. Your mother wants results. The lawyer is just a tool."
Grace clenched her jaw. "Sara is becoming harder to corner. She's… different now."
Emily smirked. "That's what you're worried about? Sara growing a backbone? Don't make me laugh. She still hesitates. She still second-guesses. And she still wants to protect everyone. People like that are easy to break."
Grace didn't seem convinced, and that bothered Emily more than she showed.
After a pause, Emily added, "Besides, Laura has already started the paperwork. If she pulls this off, Sara won't even know what hit her."
Grace inhaled sharply. "My mother promised she'd handle the legal part quietly. But Daniel being around her so much? He complicates things."
Emily rolled her eyes. "Then find a way to separate them. People like Daniel don't protect someone without a reason. Figure out his reason — and break it."
Grace didn't reply, but something flickered in her expression. For the first time in a long while, she was thinking instead of reacting.
---
Meanwhile, across town, Adrian sat sprawled across the couch in Daniel's apartment. Leo and Ryan were there too — Ryan leaning against the wall with arms crossed, Leo munching on chips.
Daniel entered the room after sending a brief message to Sara.
Adrian whistled low. "So the stepmother's lawyer is being dragged into this mess, huh? That woman doesn't waste time."
Ryan's voice was flat. "The timing isn't random. Laura must think Sara is gaining too much ground."
Leo tilted his head. "How far do you think they'll go?"
Daniel didn't sit. He stood behind the couch, his tone calm but firm. "They're testing boundaries. If we wait, they'll try something irreversible."
Adrian sat up, eyes narrowing. "You're thinking ahead already?"
Daniel nodded once. "I'm not letting them blindside her. Not again."
Ryan glanced over. "Sara still doesn't know the full extent of her stepmother's influence."
"She will," Daniel said quietly. "But not with fear — with preparation."
Leo raised a brow. "You're getting serious."
Adrian's grin returned. "I like it. Time to give Grace and Emily a reason to panic."
---
Back at the Carter mansion, Sara sat on her bed, staring at an old photo — her real mother holding her when she was a child. The softness in those eyes was something no one else had ever given her since.
A memory crept in — Laura arriving after the funeral, pretending kindness, whispering false comfort, slowly replacing warmth with silence.
Sara touched the edge of the frame.
For the first time, the memory didn't sting — it fueled her.
Her phone buzzed.
Daniel: We'll talk tomorrow. Don't overthink tonight.
She exhaled slowly. Too late for that, she thought — but she smiled faintly anyway.
Outside her door, quiet footsteps paused.
Laura.
She didn't knock. She didn't speak. But Sara felt her presence — and the unspoken war lingering beneath composed walls.
Sara set the photo down.
This time, she wasn't the one being watched.
She was paying attention too.