He did not, in fact, control the outcome.

He controlled the setup.

The outcome, it turned out, was mine, because the final move in his plan was one that only I could make, and I simply refused to make it.

There is enormous power in that recognition, and it is available even to someone who has, on paper, almost none.

A person who controls the money and the house and the car and the insurance still does not control your face.

He does not control whether you scream.