Victoria looked like she wanted to physically separate us, but the public setting and multiple cameras documenting everything prevented her from being as overtly controlling as she probably wanted to be.
"Isabella," she said, her voice tight with barely controlled rage, "you understand that encouraging my son's defiance will have consequences for your family's pharmaceutical interests?"
"Your threats stopped being effective when you revealed they were always about control rather than genuine concern for Alexander's wellbeing."
"This isn't over—"
"It is over," Alexander interrupted. "Your authority over my choices, your ability to threaten Isabella's family, your manipulation through institutional pressure—all of it is over. I'm done complying with control disguised as parental guidance
