“And you have!” Vic said passionately. “You have earned it so much more than men like Brian have. You have earned it with the work you’ve done. You’ve earned it with your talent and the vision you’ve cultivated over years of paying your dues fruitlessly. You’ve earned it more than I earned my title, and yet you pushed me to make the most of my opportunities. Why can’t I do the same for you?”

She shook her head against the idea that they could really be the same.

“Sophia, you earned this opportunity a million times over, and you will continue to do so, probably every day for the rest of our lives.”

Sophia rested her forehead on Vic’s shoulder and balled the front of her shirt in her fist. She couldn’t argue with that logic. She had earned her shot behind the camera, but did she deserve everything that seemed to come with it now? “This wasn’t how any of this was supposed to go. I was never one of those girls who dreamed of living in a castle. I never wanted to be anyone’s princess. I never wanted anyone to hand me anything on a silver platter.”

Vic laughed. “That’s not what’s happening. Okay, maybe the castle part is real because I do want you to live with me forever, but the rest of it isn’t going to be an easy road, love. You think the men you’ve been working with are idiots. Wait until you come to work with me.”

She smiled in spite of herself.

“I mean it. I know literally nothing about filming or production or producing. You’ll have to work harder than you’ve ever worked in your life, and then when you go home at night, I make no promises about you getting any rest then, either. In the end I’ll depend on you every bit as much as you depend on me, and that’s why this is going to work.”

She sank into Vic’s embrace. Of course, she would emphasise their equality. She’d never once made Sophia feel less than. Even when they’d sparred, even when they’d disagreed, even when Sophia broke her heart, Vic always treated her as an equal even though she had every right not to. Suddenly it all seemed so clear, what their lives could be, what they could accomplish, how many lives they could shape for the better, together.

Hope filled her senses like a deep breath laden with the scent of Vic’s perfume. No more grovelling, no more wasted compromises, no more lonely self-reliance, all of it replaced by love.