Chapter 8: The Unwelcome Guest

Pamela's Point of View

I wake up to this gnawing feeling in my chest. Joana, is still in the hospital, fragile and in need of care. She doesn't even know half of what has been going on. I need to be there for her. Every minute that passes, stuck in this house, I feel its weight pressing down on me. This news conference, this farce-everything that Rowan expects from me feels like a cage I'm barely holding together.

Taking a deep breath, I push the tension building inside me aside and make the conscious decision that today, I'll talk with Rowan. I know he's going to have his opinions, but this isn't up for negotiation: Joana is my sister, and she needs me.

I find Rowan in his study, as is most often the case, buried in paper work and on the phone. His expression is as stern as it ever was, calculated, every decision part of some grander scheme. I stand in the doorway for a minute, trying to gather the nerve. And when he finally looks up and sees me standing there, he waves me in.

"Can w