et luxury. Giovanna stepped inside, the door clickin

a second, unwanted layer. Without a moment's hesitation, she dropped the

team filled the room, until her skin was red, until the chill that had settled deep in her bones finally beg

of water in her hand. Her reflection in the dark window was

r phone and dial

mmediately, her voice t

eady pressed the record button on a secondary app. "Fifty million dollars, in exchange

led, frantic whispers of Danielle in the background. Giovanna wait

and resentful. "... In principle, yes. Bu

t you will not harass me, nor will you release any information about me

s a clipped, ang

agree that from this moment forward, you are

k, half-sob, came down the line. "As long as the

nt has been received," Giova

and uploaded it to a secu

ally broke. A wave of profound, gut-wrenching grief washed over her. She curled into a ball on the plush sofa, her

n a decade of her life. To mourn the boy she though

up. She wiped her face with the back of her hand,

nsferred the figures into the phone. There were stocks, a few mutual funds, and her most valuable holdings: seed-round equity in several early-stage tech c

take too long and attract too much attention. She needed a private buy

ced in her m

strategy, her phone buzzed incessantly. A

is nonsense.

riously ig

king a hu

ohnathan. He must have switched to a new

ing nothing. No anger, no pain.

t through her call logs, her social media, her cloud contacts

Block.

al. A final,