Control.
She realized she didn’t have a clean answer.
Later that morning, he showed her something unexpected.
Not jewelry.
Not property documents.
Not anything symbolic of power.
Instead, he handed her a key.
“This is to the office library,” he said.
Lina blinked.
“Library?”
He nodded.
“A place where I work when I need clarity. Not everything in my life is meetings and decisions. Some of it is quiet.”
She studied the key.
Then him.
“You didn’t tell me about this part of your life,” she said.
“You didn’t ask,” he replied.
It wasn’t defensive.
Just factual.
That was when Lina began to realize something important:
Kareem was not performing wealth.
He was living around it.
Days passed.
Then weeks.