Outside the building, Evelyn stopped beside her.
"Amara."
She turned.
The attorney looked serious.
"We need to talk about the trust's next decision."
Amara frowned.
"What decision?"
Evelyn hesitated.
"Whether the trustees actually want to oppose this sale, negotiate different terms, or support a transaction that preserves the community's rights."
Amara stared.
For a moment, she hadn't considered that possibility.
She'd spent so long fighting to make people acknowledge the trust that she nearly forgot the trust's members might disagree about what came next.
Evelyn continued.
"Your job isn't to decide for them."
Amara slowly nodded.
"You're right."
The attorney smiled faintly.
"Your mother would have understood that."
Amara looked toward the street.
For the first time, she realized the most difficult part of the fight might begin after the false documents were exposed.
Because protecting people's right to choose also meant accepting that they might choose differently from her.
The community meeting took place on a rainy Saturday morning.
Nearly seventy people crowded into the Harbor Nine neighborhood center, a brick building with peeling blue paint and a small library that served local families.
Some attendees had worked at the terminal for decades.
Others owned businesses that depended on the port.
A few were young parents who knew little about the original agreement but worried about the future of their neighborhood.
The trust's chairman, Samuel Ortiz, sat at the front beside Evelyn.
Amara stood near the side wall holding a folder of documents.
She had expected relief when she explained what happened at Dar Al-Qamar.
Instead, the discussion became tense almost immediately.
A retired mechanic asked whether delaying the sale could cause Meridian to shut down parts of the facility.
A younger warehouse supervisor wanted to know whether Crescent Horizon planned to invest in new jobs.
Another woman, whose family owned a grocery store near the terminal, worried that a failed acquisition might leave the neighborhood with a financially unstable operator.
Their concerns were reasonable.
Harbor Nine provided employment.
But Meridian's current management was withholding payments and creating uncertainty.
Some residents believed a new owner might improve conditions.
Others feared the acquisition would become an excuse to remove local protections.
Amara listened carefully.
Then Samuel asked her to explain the disputed document.
She stepped forward.
For a moment, her hands trembled.
Then she began describing the original agreement, Parcel Seven's ownership, and the consent procedures.
She explained that the trust hadn't properly authorized the purported waiver and that independent review was underway.