“You’ll live within your own means,” I said.

Chapter 10 — Yellow Is Safe

Six months later, the mansion sold for more than the asking price. The buyers were a tech couple from Seattle with three children and two golden retrievers.

During the final walk-through, the wife stood in the marble hallway and said, “This house feels like it’s waiting for a family.” I nearly told her houses wait for honesty, not families.

Instead, I gave her the keys.

I used part of the proceeds to buy a smaller home on a quiet road lined with maples. It had a front porch and a kitchen full of morning sunlight. Nothing about it was designed to impress strangers.

The floors creaked in two places. The dining room could hold eight people at most. No wine cellar, no cavernous living room, no staff corridor where people could disappear while pretending family life required no effort.