Back at his house, Alan was still seething. He couldn't digest the fact that Alex had just robbed him of one of his companies. When he arrived, his wife and daughter were waiting to hear what she'd decided. They wouldn't admit it aloud, but she really was their savior now — the one person standing between them and total ruin, however much it galled every one of them to acknowledge it.
The moment he entered the living room, he grabbed a glass of water and dropped furiously onto the couch, indifferent to his family. Sheila, anxiously awaiting the outcome of his talk with Alex, couldn't hold back and came to him, asking unhappily:
"How did it go with your lousy daughter?" Her displeasure was audible in every word.
