Ryan drove through the city streets that evening, his fingers gripping the steering wheel tighter than necessary.

The neon lights flashed against the windshield, blurring with the growing ache in his head.

His jaw clenched as the video replayed in his mind—his mother standing in Serena’s company, publicly humiliating her in front of everyone.

The look on Serena’s face, the humiliation, the shame—it should’ve made him angry.

But it didn’t.

If it were the old him—the Ryan who ...