Page 308 of Double or Nothing

Alice stares at him.

“You say that like I can just give a symbolic middle finger to my family and none of it will matter.”

“You can.”

“No, I can’t.”

“Why not?” Jack steps closer to her. “Your work just sold for over a million pounds, and that’s only the beginning. Your father doesn’t own your career anymore.”

“You don’t know how much I’ll receive after the fees yet.”

“Enough, I’m sure. And people will be queuing up to view your work from here on in.”

“You don’t know when I’ll receive anything from this. You aren’t a psychic, Jack.”

“Then I’ll cover whatever you need until you do.”

Alice recoils. “There. That. That’s at the heart of it to you.”

“What?” Jack asks, with a scoff.

“You think money makes the whole world go round.”

“I think money gives you choices. It can give you choices too, now. More choices than your father’s generous allowance has granted you so far.”

Alice looks fierce.

“And then what? I move into your place when mine gets taken off me? Let you buy me everything from fresh canvases to French cheese? Watch you get into verbal warfare with Dad every time he looks at me the wrong way?”

Jack smirks. “I’d enjoy that last part.”

“This isn’t funny, Jack!”

“I know.”

“Do you?” Her voice breaks. She looks towards the doors. “They’re my family.”

“They’re controlling you. They took your phone,” Jack says. “They shut down your socials. They arranged a wedding you don’t want and expect you to thank them for it. So leave. Say no. Say fuck off and wave your farewell.”

Her eyes fill. “I don’t want to do that. I wouldn’t do that.”

Another scoff from Jack.

“Why the hell not?”

“Because I love them!”

Jack goes still at that. Smug grin disappearing.

“Sure, they drive me mad,” she says. “They make decisions for me and convince themselves it’s for my own good. Dad gets over controlling and batters me with his willpower when he gets pissed off, and Mum can organise an entire future without noticing I don’t want it. But they’re still my parents. That still matters, Jack.”

Jack says nothing.

“I still love them,” Alice repeats. “That doesn’t disappear because they’re wrong. It never will.” She shrugs. “And what does it really matter to you? I’ve known you how long compared to the past twenty-eight years that I’ve known them?”

The anger leaves his face. For a moment, he looks lost.

He understands opponents. He understands appetite, risk and leverage. But love without the power of freedom attached is something he seemingly cannot understand.