I pushed through the door and felt the city sunlight hit my face.

“Today, I just need to be Cecily Ashford. Not a shareholder. Not a victim. Not a symbol,” I said.

Then I looked back at Ashford Tower—forty-two stories of glass and steel bearing my family’s name.

“Tomorrow,” I said, “I start building something new.”

It was May 19, 2024. Harold Ashford signed his resignation letter at 4:00 p.m. I wasn’t there.

I learned about it through an email from Robert Hunter.