“Secondly, if your grandson chooses to not take his vows seriously, that’s on him, and I will not be held accountable for any ramifications his actions may incur, whether they are of the living and breathing variety or the type you can just take a shot of penicillin for.” I winked at him then.

“Thirdly, I already signed the only documents I plan on signing. It was fair, concise, and didn’t take a year to wade through. It’s a shame that it’s not up to your standards, but since this marriage is between that man and myself,” I told him as I pointed to his grandson, “then it really doesn’t matter what you think should have been in the document we both signed. If you choose to disinherit any of my future children, you can do so in your own Last Will and Testament, which you of course have every right to do. And lastly, you needed this marriage to happen so that you could get a piece of my father’s fuel cells.”

There were several gasps around the table since no one had bothered to let me in on that fact. The past few days, while being squirreled away in Tucker’s apartment with no one to speak to, had me doing quite a bit of research. “Don’t act like you did me any favors because I don’t care about your money, status, or your name. I did this for my own reasons, mostly to help my father out. But let’s not make any mistakes here – you needed this more than he did. My father could have sold his business off for a fortune that would have more than covered anything his previous business partner stole.”

The man’s narrow-eyed gaze did not deter me. “Now, if y’all will excuse me, I’ve had enough of people trying to shovel bullshit my way. I’m tired, I have a quiz to study for, a paper to write, and a book to finish. All of those things are far more important than being summoned to some stupid dinner so a completely out of touch tyrant can shovel his expectations for my marriage at me,” I explained as I tossed the overlarge legal document back to the man who rudely tossed it to me first. Unfortunately for him, I managed to knock his drink over in the process. Mr. Brighton stood quickly to avoid the spilled mess ending up in his lap.

Tucker stood too, “I’ll drive you back to the apartment,” he offered.

I nodded and leaned down to give my sister a quick kiss on the cheek. “We’ll catch up soon,” I promised her as I did so.

“You’re darn right we will. Let me know when you’re done with classes tomorrow.”

“Mina?” My mother called to me from where she sat near my father at the head of the table. When I turned her way, she smiled warmly at me. “You make me proud,” was all she said. I couldn’t speak, because it was rare that my mother said things like that to me. Instead of succumbing to my emotions there in front of everyone, I simply nodded and left the room with Tucker following close behind on my heels.