Roxy’s POV

“There you are. Come in, sit down.”

Richard waved me toward the chair across from his desk without looking up from the papers in front of him. I walked in, still trying to shake off the memories of the morning, and sat down.

Then I noticed my mother sitting beside me. Her back was straight, her hands folded neatly in her lap. When I sat down, she glanced at me but said nothing.

“Sorry. I overslept.”

The lie came out smoothly, but heat crept up my neck as I remembered exactly why I had slept so late.

“It doesn’t matter.” Richard put his papers aside and folded his...