Ethan's POV
I hadn't sat in my parents' formal sitting room, uninvited to dinner, just to talk, since I was twenty-six and told them I was taking over the Cormorant division against my father's advice.
It had the same effect now that it had then, my mother setting down her tea with the precise, controlled movements of someone bracing for bad news, my father leaning forward with the easy curiosity of a man who still, after everything, believed most surprises were good ones.
"You said this was important," my mother said. "You don't usually request meetings, Ethan. You usually just show up."
"I wanted you both sitting down for this one."
"That's an ominous opener," my father said, though he was smiling.
"It's not bad news. It's just a lot, all at once." I laced my fingers together, unla
