It did not fix everything.

One good afternoon couldn’t erase years of broken promises.

But that evening I understood that progress sometimes looked like a single pencil line, carefully added where a child had left room for hope.

PART 15

The next surprise came from a man named Everett Sloan, Mark’s former business partner.

He had been involved in the commercial expansion that Mark once described as guaranteed success.

Now he wanted access to old invoices.