Claire added a clause that none of the children’s shares in the house could ever be sold without a court’s permission, sealing that door for good.

And Jason — this was the thing Claire kept turning over afterward — did not argue any of it.

He didn’t try to win a single point. He only kept asking whether each term was airtight, whether it would truly hold, as if the one useful thing he could still offer his family was to make the cage around his own future promises as strong as possible.

Owen was still standing by the door.

“Do you even know how to play chess?” he asked suddenly.

Jason looked up, startled.