Chapter 26 — The Only Fortune That Mattered

We buried our mother beside the lake two days later, in a small clearing that looked out over the water she had loved.

There were no corporate officers in attendance, no politicians angling for a photograph, no quiet dangerous men come to pay respect to a dynasty.

There was Juliet, and there was Hollis Crane, and there was me.

That was all, and it was right, and my mother would have wanted nothing more.

When the short service was over and the sun broke through the clouds, Hollis packed his old briefcase and walked slowly back toward his car, and left Juliet and me standing together before the simple marble headstone.