Rafael went still.
Layle's voice stayed even, but there was a vein of fury under it. "She never filed the addendum. Never brought it before the ether registry."
Rafael's mouth pulled tight. "So it didn't bind."
"It existed," Layle said, tapping another page. "But it wasn't sealed. There's a difference. Unfiled documents are just ghosts. Useful if you know where to look, but easy to bury."
Rafael's breath came shallow. "You found it."
Layle nodded once. "In the registry vault. The one with the ward lattice." He didn't say how he'd gotten access because he didn't have to; heirs learned which doors opened for them and which doors they had to pry. "It was logged as received ten years ago, and then it just… stopped. Like someone pressed a hand over its mouth."
Rafael's eyes burned. "She didn't just control me alive. She controlled me after."
Layle's jaw flexed. "Yes."
