BOUND BY HIS TERMS

Hart'

ted to the marble floor of my apartment. The photo of Jaxon and my fathe

t my father he looked weathered his smile forced

was nineteen and I never remembered him speak

past linked to the one who

ded a

Vale Industries thirty minutes

tant blinked in sur

is not expecting a

flexible I replied wit

if he had learned never t

en look up from his screen The moment he saw me

early

ething I snapped placi

a second but it was enough

id you

next to you Why does he lo

lked around the desk and gestured to th

cept for sustainable tech integration to a private bo

knew mine I

riefly in the early st

veniently forgot to mention that our parents were

not forget I chose not to lead with his

s conv

the project under mysterious circumstances It was nev

s nearl

re you

ur father out of the tech world als

d between us was colder

photo for y

e

h

our father brought you I was sixteen You were what Eleven Maybe

eath

bered me

knew you would not

n his voice unsettled me m

ed forwa

ve in what you can create And maybe because I hoped something true

rt of me wanted

was just another Phoenix blue

e he could see the

d have to

d not

op bar in Brooklyn the kind of place we used

r everything including the photo

n has wrapped his name around every part o

y did I

Then take it back be

I received an anon

Read page eleve

t I had signed Every page had felt like a betrayal sinc

buried beneath a stack of

ement with a company executive all rights to the director's intell

mbled as I r

st business Thi

stared at my reflection My heart ached my t

uld not

as the woman begging for partnership but

whiskey in hand again as if t

ot be here h

d the photo And the strings that

ion darkene

ad the

all into your arms only to hav

clause he said cold

it Remo

ed mine I do not want your designs Lila I want yo

t matter what you say any

l revise the contract immediately You will retain full ow

lk away from

d not

ld me e

elope on my studio desk It was t

le sentence on a

died becau

as no s

of who

game had just

re who the real