— By Tomorrow
Caden
I stared at that message until the words stopped meaning anything and started again.
By tomorrow, you won’t have a company left to fight for.
My father, somewhere in federal custody or out of it depending on which version of the call I believed, still finding ways to reach into my life and pull something loose. I set the phone down on the coffee table and sat there for a moment with my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands, and for the first time in three days I felt something close to defeated.
Aria didn’t say anything.
She just moved closer, until her shoulder was pressed against mine, and put her hand flat on my back between my shoulder blades. Not rubbing. Not soothing in any performative way. Just there. Steady. Present.
“Talk to me,” she said quietly.
