EPISODE 9: THE FAMILY ## CHAPTER 1: THE INVITATION "My family wants to meet you properly." James looked up from his laptop. "I've met your family." "You've met them in crisis. In the hospital. In short visits between emergencies." Elena sat across from him at the breakfast table. "They want you to come for Sunday dinner. A real dinner. At the house." "The house where your father once told me he'd bury me in the desert if I hurt his daughter?" "He was joking." "He was absolutely not joking." Elena smiled. "He's warmed up to you since then. He even said your name without grimacing last week." "High praise." "It is, actually." She reached across the table. "Please, James. This matters to me. My family is... they're everything. And you're everything too. I need those two parts of my life to fit together." James was quiet for a moment. Then: "What should I bring?" --- ## CHAPTER 2: THE DRIVE The Reyes family home was in East San Jose—a modest house on a tree-lined street, lawn carefully maintained, Virgin Mary statue in the front garden. James had insisted on driving himself. No chauffeur, no security team visible. Just his car—admittedly a Mercedes, but the most understated one he owned—and two bottles of expensive wine. "They don't drink expensive wine,"...