It was my apology to myself, for having believed him for so long.

Chapter 17 — The Fall

The revelation in that courtroom had sent shockwaves through Riverton’s financial and legal circles, and the aftermath, over those six months, had been as thorough as anything I could have designed, though I designed none of it.

I simply told the truth, and let the truth do what truth does to a structure built on lies, which is to bring the whole thing down.

The court-appointed forensic accountant, working from the meticulous trail I had spent a year laying, uncovered another four hundred thousand dollars in shell accounts I had not even found myself, along with a pattern of systematic tax fraud Roman had used to hide his real estate investments.