What the fuck is wrong with me?
Celeste is screeching. Ariana’s gone quiet. Mr. Kensington is halfway through some kind of threat dressed in diplomacy.
But I don’t flinch.
Because the truth is—I’ve already made up my mind.
And once I do that? There’s no going back.
Still… for half a second, I feel the weight of my own last name pressing against my spine. Blackwell.
What would my father say?
He orchestrated this alliance behind the scenes. Months of coordination. Discreet negotiations. He knew the Kensingtons would bring logistics and distribution power to the East Coast. I was supposed to bring refinement. Legacy.
Not chaos.
Not a woman with combat boots and whiskey on her breath.
I clench my jaw.
But then I remember something else—my father has always trusted me to know the game. He handed me the reins at twenty-eight, let me run the European expansion solo. When I brought him back a profit line triple what he expected, all he said was,“I knew you’d deliver.”
He doesn't care about the face on the Christmas card.
He cares about control.
Territory.
Results.
And Sabrina may not look like the packaging they planned… but she’s the one with the guts to speak the truth in a room full of liars. She’s the one who can walk into a fight and walk out stronger.
I’m not trading down. I’m leveling up.
They just don’t know it yet.
“Langston, this is highly irregular,” Mr. Kensington says now, trying to rein it back in. “Sabrina is not involved in our business—”
“She is now,” I say simply.
He straightens. “She’s not—”
“If she’s your daughter,” I cut in, “then she’s part of the family. And if I marry into the family, I choose who.”
“Your father will be very interested to hear about this change of terms.”
I give him a look so cold he finally shuts his mouth.
“My father trusts me to make the best decision. I’d advise you to do the same.”
Celeste scoffs like she can’t believe this is happening. “She doesn’t know how to be a wife—let alone aBlackwell.”
I don’t even glance at her.
“She’s about to learn.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Sabrina’s expression.
