I won’t let this firm sink with your ego. And Renae proved to have none of the tragic loyalty Warner had imagined onto her.

The instant the scandal touched her own standing, she vanished — locked her accounts, scrubbed every trace of him, requested a transfer off the project citing a “hostile dynamic,” and when he tracked her down demanding she stand by him, threatened to file a harassment complaint.

I heard, later, through the industry grapevine, how that ended — a shouting match in a parking garage, someone’s phone catching Warner pleading that she’d promised to build a life with him, and Renae answering, cold as a ledger, that she’d promised to be with him after he cleanly handled his divorce, not to go down as collateral for his ruined name.

I felt no satisfaction in it, only a tired sort of symmetry.

He had blown up an eight-year marriage and risked everything for a woman who had priced him exactly the way his family priced me — as a lifestyle, a portfolio, an upgrade — and the moment his value dropped, she liquidated the position without sentiment.

He had spent years believing love was a thing you could hold in reserve while you chased the better offer.