Adrian brought the investment proposal to breakfast the next morning, placing it beside my plate as though he were offering me a birthday present.
“I had the legal team simplify it,” he said, pouring himself coffee. “There are a few things I need you to approve, but nothing you need to worry about.”
I turned the first page. The figures were complicated enough to discourage anyone who didn’t know what they were looking at, but I recognised the eastern properties immediately. My father’s land. My family’s future, reduced to columns of numbers and clauses that would quietly strip me of control.
“You’ve been working on this for a while,” I said.
“Several months.” He buttered his toast without looking at me. “The opportunity came up, and I didn’t want us to miss it.”
“Then you won’t mind i
