Father blinked, his mouth opening slightly as if he wanted to speak.

He looked at Mother, saw the flare in her eyes, and closed his mouth again.

He shrugged his shoulders slightly, a silent apology.

“Unbelievable,” Mother whispered.

“Both of you are completely selfish.”

I turned my back on her words and kept walking toward the gate.

Derek walked beside me, his stride matching mine.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I am fine,” I said, looking down at my phone again.

“But we have a issue with the Series A.”

“What did the text say?” he asked, pulling off his black graduation cap as we walked.

“It was from Marcus,” I said, referring to our lead investor from Blue Horizon Ventures.

“He says we need to talk immediately about the closing.”

“Did he say why?”

“No,” I said, unlocking my old Volvo with the key fob.

The car beeped, the sound sharp in the warm air of the parking lot.

We got in, and the heat inside the cabin was intense.

I rolled down the windows, letting the smell of dusty vinyl escape.