Bryan’s pov
I knew something was off the second I was summoned to my father’s office.
The tone the guard used had that unsettling stiffness—polite, but rigid, like they’d been told not to tick me off. Which only meant one thing: this wasn’t a casual meeting. This was my father in “alpha mode,” the same mode that usually ended with someone—often me—being chewed out or cornered into some new power move I didn’t ask for.
I adjusted the collar of my dark shirt, dragging my feet more than I should’ve as I made my way down the long corridor. I had barely caught any sleep the night before. Not that it was a new thing. Ever since the mess with Lisa—no, I wasn’t going to think about that—I’d found my nights either haunted by guilt or frustration. Sometimes both.
When I reached the office, the g
