“And the deal?”

Preston looked at the contract awaiting his signature.

For months it had occupied every waking thought.

That morning, the number on the cover seemed absurdly small beside what he had lost.

“Tell them I need time.

If they won’t give it, let them go.”

At last, he was choosing the one thing money could not buy back: the chance to behave differently.

PART 4: The Woman at the Bakery