diff --git a/.idea/inspectionProfiles/Project_Default.xml b/.idea/inspectionProfiles/Project_Default.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5cb71ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.idea/inspectionProfiles/Project_Default.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+<component name="InspectionProjectProfileManager">
+  <profile version="1.0">
+    <option name="myName" value="Project Default" />
+    <inspection_tool class="SqlNoDataSourceInspection" enabled="false" level="WARNING" enabled_by_default="false" />
+  </profile>
+</component>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/dev/mduchene/bolts/entity/EntityMigrationService.kt b/src/main/kotlin/dev/mduchene/bolts/entity/EntityMigrationService.kt
index 9304e03..354bbc0 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/dev/mduchene/bolts/entity/EntityMigrationService.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/dev/mduchene/bolts/entity/EntityMigrationService.kt
@@ -180,6 +180,41 @@ class EntityMigrationService(
             }
         }
 
+        definitions.forEach { parent ->
+            parent.fields.filter { it.type == FieldType.RELATIONSHIP }.forEach { field ->
+                val child = definitions.first { it.id == field.targetEntityId }
+                val childTable = existingTables[child.identifier.lowercase()] ?: child.identifier
+                val parentTable = existingTables[parent.identifier.lowercase()] ?: parent.identifier
+                val column = parentColumn(field.id)
+                val childColumns = if (child.identifier.lowercase() in existingTables) {
+                    columnTypes(connection, child.identifier)
+                } else {
+                    emptyMap()
+                }
+                if (column.lowercase() !in childColumns) {
+                    statements += MigrationStatement(
+                        "ALTER TABLE ${quote(childTable)} ADD COLUMN ${quote(column)} BIGINT",
+                        "Add internal parent link for ${parent.identifier}.${field.identifier}.",
+                    )
+                }
+                val foreignKey = "em_parent_fk_${field.id}"
+                if (!constraintExists(connection, foreignKey)) {
+                    statements += MigrationStatement(
+                        "ALTER TABLE ${quote(childTable)} ADD CONSTRAINT ${quote(foreignKey)} " +
+                            "FOREIGN KEY (${quote(column)}) REFERENCES ${quote(parentTable)} (\"id\")",
+                        "Link ${child.identifier} children to ${parent.identifier} parents.",
+                    )
+                }
+                val uniqueName = "em_parent_uq_${field.id}"
+                if (field.relationshipType == RelationshipType.ONE_TO_ONE && !constraintExists(connection, uniqueName)) {
+                    statements += MigrationStatement(
+                        "ALTER TABLE ${quote(childTable)} ADD CONSTRAINT ${quote(uniqueName)} UNIQUE (${quote(column)})",
+                        "Limit ${parent.identifier}.${field.identifier} to one child.",
+                    )
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
         return migrationPlan(errors, warnings, statements)
     }
 
@@ -298,6 +333,8 @@ class EntityMigrationService(
 
     private fun quote(identifier: String) = "\"${identifier.replace("\"", "\"\"")}\""
 
+    private fun parentColumn(fieldId: Long) = "__parent_$fieldId"
+
     private fun migrationPlan(
         errors: List<String>,
         warnings: List<String>,
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/dev/mduchene/bolts/entity/EntityRecordRepository.kt b/src/main/kotlin/dev/mduchene/bolts/entity/EntityRecordRepository.kt
index 5b22e7b..149425b 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/dev/mduchene/bolts/entity/EntityRecordRepository.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/dev/mduchene/bolts/entity/EntityRecordRepository.kt
@@ -127,11 +127,10 @@ class EntityRecordRepository(
         }
         val childId = insertRecord(child, userId, submittedValues)
         database.executeUpdate(
-            "INSERT INTO entity_record_relationships (field_id, source_record_id, target_record_id) VALUES (?, ?, ?)",
+            "UPDATE ${quote(child.identifier)} SET ${quote(parentColumn(relationship.id))} = ? WHERE \"id\" = ?",
         ) {
-            setLong(1, relationship.id)
-            setLong(2, parentRecordId)
-            setLong(3, childId)
+            setLong(1, parentRecordId)
+            setLong(2, childId)
         }
         if (relationship.relationshipType == RelationshipType.ONE_TO_ONE) {
             database.executeUpdate(
@@ -160,13 +159,15 @@ class EntityRecordRepository(
     }
 
     private fun outboundChildIds(fieldId: Long, sourceRecordId: Long): List<Long> =
-        database.queryList(
-            "SELECT target_record_id FROM entity_record_relationships WHERE field_id = ? AND source_record_id = ? ORDER BY target_record_id",
-            bind = {
-                setLong(1, fieldId)
-                setLong(2, sourceRecordId)
-            },
-        ) { getLong("target_record_id") }
+        entities.findAll().firstNotNullOfOrNull { parent ->
+            val relationship = parent.fields.firstOrNull { it.id == fieldId } ?: return@firstNotNullOfOrNull null
+            val child = entities.findAll().firstOrNull { it.id == relationship.targetEntityId }
+                ?: return@firstNotNullOfOrNull emptyList()
+            database.queryList(
+                "SELECT \"id\" FROM ${quote(child.identifier)} WHERE ${quote(parentColumn(fieldId))} = ? ORDER BY \"id\"",
+                bind = { setLong(1, sourceRecordId) },
+            ) { getLong("id") }
+        }.orEmpty()
 
     private fun insertRecord(entity: EntityDefinition, userId: Long, submittedValues: Map<String, String>): Long {
         val fields = entity.fields
@@ -219,13 +220,10 @@ class EntityRecordRepository(
                 .filter { it.type == FieldType.RELATIONSHIP && it.targetEntityId == entity.id }
                 .any { field ->
                     database.queryList(
-                        "SELECT source_record_id FROM entity_record_relationships " +
-                            "WHERE field_id = ? AND target_record_id = ?",
-                        bind = {
-                            setLong(1, field.id)
-                            setLong(2, recordId)
-                        },
-                    ) { getLong("source_record_id") }.any { parentId ->
+                        "SELECT ${quote(parentColumn(field.id))} AS parent_id FROM ${quote(entity.identifier)} " +
+                            "WHERE \"id\" = ? AND ${quote(parentColumn(field.id))} IS NOT NULL",
+                        bind = { setLong(1, recordId) },
+                    ) { getLong("parent_id") }.any { parentId ->
                         val parentValues = findValues(parent, parentId) ?: return@any false
                         isAccessibleToUser(parent, parentValues, userId, definitions, visited)
                     }
@@ -268,4 +266,6 @@ class EntityRecordRepository(
     }
 
     private fun quote(identifier: String) = "\"${identifier.replace("\"", "\"\"")}\""
+
+    private fun parentColumn(fieldId: Long) = "__parent_$fieldId"
 }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/db/migrations/20260731192000_create_entity_record_relationships.sql b/src/main/resources/db/migrations/20260731192000_create_entity_record_relationships.sql
deleted file mode 100644
index 4e9f4e1..0000000
--- a/src/main/resources/db/migrations/20260731192000_create_entity_record_relationships.sql
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-CREATE TABLE entity_record_relationships (
-    field_id BIGINT NOT NULL REFERENCES entity_fields(id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
-    source_record_id BIGINT NOT NULL,
-    target_record_id BIGINT NOT NULL,
-    PRIMARY KEY (field_id, source_record_id, target_record_id)
-);
-
-CREATE INDEX entity_record_relationships_target_idx
-    ON entity_record_relationships(field_id, target_record_id);
diff --git a/src/main/resources/db/reset.sql b/src/main/resources/db/reset.sql
index 4172148..b6ca9cd 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/db/reset.sql
+++ b/src/main/resources/db/reset.sql
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-DROP TABLE IF EXISTS entity_record_relationships;
 DROP TABLE IF EXISTS entity_fields;
 DROP TABLE IF EXISTS entity_definitions;
 DROP TABLE IF EXISTS sessions;