Chapter 131
She Has a Point
The air left the room. The pretense shattered.
For a heartbeat, I felt the old panic, the instinct to shrink, to apologize. But as I met my mother's unwavering gaze, something shifted. Pleading for my desires would fail. Arguing about my rights would fail. I had to speak a language she understood. The language of strategy, face, and family prosperity.
I did not look away. Instead, I took a small, deliberate breath, grounding myself not in defiance, but in a new kind of resolve.
"You are right, Mother," I said, my voice quieter but steadier than before. "There is no simple consultation."
Her eyes narrowed, wary of this sudden agreement.
"What I begin at the hospital today is more significant than that." I paused, choosing each word as a mason would choose a stone for a bridge. "And because it is significant, I should not have hidden it. I should have sought your wisdom from the start."
