We stood beneath a streetlamp with no audience, and I took his hand because I wanted to, not because anyone had arranged it.

PART 18

In early spring, a journalist contacted me about the courthouse video.

It had resurfaced after a business magazine published a profile of Rowe Holdings.

The writer wanted to know whether I had secretly masterminded an acquisition by marrying the controlling shareholder.

I declined the interview.

Then I thought about the women who might see the footage and decide that getting respect required marrying a rich man.

That was not the story I wanted repeated.