The principal stepped up to the podium and announced the student with the highest grade point average in the graduating class.

Simon walked toward the microphone, pulled out some folded pages of notes, and surveyed the room with a look of profound clarity.

Denise quickly raised her phone to record him, beaming as if the whole moment were a performance staged for her own vanity.

But Simon ignored the pages in his hand, letting them slip toward the floor.

“I’m not going to read the speech I prepared for today,” he announced, his voice steady and carrying through the whole hall.

“Because before I talk about my future, I need to talk about the woman who actually gave me a life when everyone else chose to look the other way.”