This will be a fully fleshed chaptDarien's Point of View
There are some things you can't fix with money or influence. Some things, no matter how much power your family wields, slip past control like water through clenched fists.
Ava was one of those things.
I'd been standing in my father's office for nearly an hour, listening to the hum of the empire he'd built, the constant buzz of phones, the whispers of assistants moving through halls with calculated urgency. But none of it mattered—not tonight. Not when my thoughts kept drifting to Ava.
"Darien," my father's voice cut sharply through my reverie, "this isn't a game."
I looked up at him, meeting his piercing eyes. He had that rare ability to make you feel small and heavy at the same time, the way he could strip you bare without raising his voice.
"I'm not treating it like one," I replied, trying to keep my tone steady.
