Ryder shifted in his chair, his boots heavy against the polished hardwood. He’d come here steady, rehearsed—but under Thomas Wright’s eyes he felt every failure laid bare. His throat worked around the lump that never seemed to leave him these days.
“Mr. Wright, I’m in love with your daughter,” he said, voice low but steady. “She’s the most extraordinary woman I’ve ever known. She deserves the world.”
Thomas’s fingers steepled again. “And how do you plan to give her that, Ryder?”
Ryder leaned forward, the words coming fast, riding on the current of his nerves. “Sir, I’ll give her anything she wants, anything she needs. But this isn’t about money—though God knows I’ve been blessed with plenty. It’s about love. And I love her with all my heart. She loves me too.”
The silence stretched. Ry
