She clenched her jaw against the disappointment she heard there, but she wouldn’t apologise for who she was anymore.

“However, if there is no swaying you from this endeavour to revolutionise local industry and tourism and fight a lifetime of legal battles”— her mother paused as if giving her one more chance to abandon ship, then sighed— “then you must brace yourself for the challenges that will accompany your quest, and the best way to do so is with a strong partner beside you, one who is savvy and tenacious, and who understands what you have at stake as well as the sacrifices you may have to make.”

The words were like a knife between her shoulder blades. She fought the urge to writhe away from the sharpness of them. How could this be happening? How could her own mother give voice to that particular insecurity? She felt herself sinking back into murky waters of doubt with their strong undercurrent of despair. She turned helplessly toward her father, hoping he’d buoy her once more.

“Did you really offer to renounce your title for Ms. LeBlanc?” he asked, his tone grave and wounded.

She nodded, numbly.

Her parents exchanged another cryptic glance.

“And yet Ms. LeBlanc inspired you to find your voice even as she sacrificed herself for you?”

She swallowed a whimper at the piercing summary.

Her father nodded resolutely. “Then I’m afraid your mother and I are of one mind on this. You have our full faith to execute your first foray into movie producing, but I believe it would be a fool’s errand to do so without first righting this wrong with Ms. LeBlanc.”

“What?”

“A voice will do you no good if you lose your heart in the process,” he said seriously.

“Your father’s right.” Her mother’s tone suggested she didn’t enjoy the pronouncement. “When you make a mistake, you have to right it. It sounds like we’ve both made rather sizable mistakes in the last few days, but the bottom line is that you finally found someone who sees you clearly, who understands you deeply, and who loves you enough to sacrifice their own desires so you can step fully into your destiny. And instead of clinging to her in the face of challenge—”

“I let her walk away,” Vic concluded.

All the gears in her head began to whirl again. She’d tried all day to make them turn in tandem, but until this moment she’d been working with only half of her heart. She couldn’t trade Sophia for her future any more than she could trade her future for Sophia. The two could not be separated. She’d been an idiot to think she could change that.