Noah
I left Sophia's that night with no clear resolution, only a fragile understanding that she needed time and space to process everything I'd finally laid out for her. The silence that followed felt worse than any argument could have, a quiet, uncertain limbo that gave me nothing solid to hold onto except the fragile hope that honesty, however late, might still count for something.
My father called me into his office the following morning, and I arrived already braced for another confrontation about the accelerated legal proceedings, only to find Victoria already seated across from his desk, her expression tight with barely concealed frustration.
"Nathaniel," my father said, gesturing toward the empty chair beside Victoria. "Sit. We have some things to discuss regarding the gala."
I
