He looked down at her with a mixture of deep disgust and total defeat. “Save you? After you used me to commit crimes?”

Suddenly, Christopher’s cell phone rang loudly. He answered with a trembling hand, and the finance director’s voice carried clearly to where I stood.

“Mr. Christopher, the company stock just collapsed completely,” the director panicked down the line. “Three major investment funds sold their positions at the same time.

The board called an extraordinary meeting for tomorrow morning, and Mr. Garrison has already recognized Ms. Mendoza as the majority shareholder. The banks have officially frozen all our credit lines.”

Christopher closed his eyes in despair. The man who for years had walked around as if he owned the entire world leaned heavily against the wall, as if his bones had been removed.

Brenda understood only one thing from that call. Christopher was no longer a rich man.