Within days her boutique chain — the failing empire she had committed a felony to prop up — had its assets seized.

And Stephanie herself, facing public humiliation, a mountain of debt, and the looming certainty of criminal charges for forgery, did the only thing left available to her: she retreated.

She gave up the city she had ruled, and moved to a small rented apartment out of state, abandoned at once by the glittering high-society circle for whose approval she had sacrificed everything, including, in the end, her freedom.

Not one of the friends who had fled her garden that morning followed her into her exile.