“Maybe that is exactly the problem.”

PART 7

The Sterling fortune had always seemed abstract to me.

There were hotels, freight terminals, investment properties, and a charitable foundation whose annual gala filled society pages.

Colton referred to all of it as “our family’s money,” though I had never seen a complete balance sheet.

At dinners he liked to tell investors that he was simplifying the structure so future generations would benefit.

A year earlier, he had asked me to sign a set of papers while we were preparing for a holiday trip.