I would have to watch Brandon realize that his wife didn’t love him, and that her father had sold him a made-up life to clear his own debts.

It was a terrible thing for a father to do to his only child.

I closed the blue folder.

I lined its edge up precisely with the corner of the leather desk pad.

I turned off the brass lamp, leaving the study in darkness.

I stood up, slid the blue legal folder into the inside pocket of my jacket, and buttoned my wool coat.

I walked into the Crown Plaza executive boardroom at ten the next morning.