Lance

I’m not used to being the one who doesn’t control the situation.

In a boardroom, I can steer the conversation wherever I want. I can redirect pressure, twist negotiations, and turn a crisis to my advantage.

But facing the anger of a mother?

That’s a completely different battlefield.

I didn’t lose, but I didn’t win either.

Annabelle didn’t forbid our relationship anymore.

She didn’t approve of it—but she didn’t ban it either.

Instead, she did something much harder.

“Alice will move back in with us,” she said firmly while standing in the living room. The anger had faded from her voice, but the steel in her tone remained. “If...