Adrian slid into the driver’s seat beside me and closed the door with a soft thud. I buckled my seatbelt as he started the engine.
He pulled away from the graduation venue. I turned to him. The question that I have been meaning to ask finally came out.
"Are we… overdoing this?" I asked quietly. "Meeting families and all. It feels like we’re going deeper than we planned."
"No," he said after a moment, his voice calm. "It was inevitable. It was bound to happen anyway. People expect it. The board, the media, they all want to see the stable, committed version of me. Meeting family is part of that."
I nodded slowly, staring out at the passing streets as I let out a slow breath. "I suppose that makes sense."
After a few minutes, Adrian glanced at me again.
"Will you be staying over at my p
