His family

Micheal’s jaw tightened as he leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. Yvonne could sense the shift in his demeanor—he was about to tell her something that weighed heavily on him. The room felt quieter, as if even the air around them held its breath.

“You wanted to know about Lily and Jack's mother,” he began, his voice low but steady. “Well, to understand that, you need to know about my family.”

Yvonne nodded, her gaze locked on his face, bracing herself for what was to come.

“I ran away from my family’s suffocating grip years ago,” he continued. “Their traditions, their expectations—it was like living with a noose around my neck. They had my whole life planned out from the moment I was born. Who I’d marry, how I’d run the family business, everything. So, I left. I needed to breathe, to figure out who I was outside of their control.”

Yvonne’s brows furrowed as she listened, her heart aching for the man in front of her. She could see the pain and frustration etched in his ex