Fiona Gallagher had spent her entire life running crises.
Luke wanted her to run a business.
Not a Handout
Luke didn't walk in with money first.
He walked in with a question.
"What do you actually want to do?" he asked Fiona one night, sitting in the half-renovated apartment kitchen.
She laughed, sharp and tired.
"I want something that doesn't explode if I leave it alone for ten minutes."
Luke nodded.
"No alcohol. No late-night chaos. Something routine, visible, and… yours."
Fiona frowned. "Like what?"
Luke slid his phone across the table.
Bubble tea shops.
Foot traffic heat maps.
Cost margins.
Supplier chains.
Fiona blinked.
"…Bubble tea?"
Why Bubble Tea Works
Luke didn't romanticize it.
"It's high margin," he said. "Repeat customers. No liquor license. Daytime hours. And it's social without being dangerous."
She stared at the screen.
"For once," she said slowly, "this doesn't feel like a trap."
Leadership, Not Control
Luke didn't own the shop.
Fiona did.
He helped her:
Register the business
Negotiate the lease near a transit hub
Hire staff with sane schedules
Build a menu that wasn't pretentious
He refused one thing.
"I won't be on the paperwork," Luke said. "This has to be yours."
Fiona swallowed.
"…Okay."
Opening Day
The sign went up: Gallagher Bubbles.
Bright. Clean. Loud in the right way.
The shop opened at 10 a.m.
By noon, the line was out the door.
Kids. Students. Office workers.
No drunks. No fights. No police.
Fiona stood behind the counter, hair tied back, hands moving fast but steady.
She looked—strangely—relaxed.
The Moment
At closing, Fiona locked the door and leaned against it.
"I didn't yell at anyone today," she said.
Luke smiled. "High score."
She laughed—and then cried.
Not because something went wrong.
Because something finally went right.
System Update
Independent Enterprise Established
Fiona Gallagher — Autonomy Index: HIGH
Family Economic Stability: INCREASED
Karma Gain: VERY HIGH
Luke's Reflection
Luke watched from across the street as Fiona flipped the sign to Closed.
This wasn't a rescue.
It was a transfer of control.
And that mattered more than money ever could.