“The next project is going to be our golden ticket.

I swear it.”

“It’s all right,” I would say softly, stroking his hair.

“As long as we stand together, the balance sheet can always be fixed.”

That single compassionate sentence was the most expensive mistake of my entire adult life.

Because I believed, genuinely, in a principle that sounds noble and is in fact a trap: that in a true partnership, the stronger swimmer simply carries more weight for the team.

It is a beautiful idea.