The question was ordinary.

I couldn’t answer it as easily as I wanted.

I remembered workers’ names that I had never bothered to learn, contracts approved because they were legal rather than fair, and meetings where I had stayed silent when someone was treated badly.

“Not always,” I said.

“I’m trying to do better.”

That night I asked Naomi about setting up regular financial support without turning it into leverage.

She advised transparent arrangements, proper records, and an agreement worked out with Lauren’s own counsel.