via

ad been stripp

were down, leaving pale, ghostly rectangles on the dusty

he last box. Th

oiding it lik

on the floor and pr

. A playbill from *Hamilton*.

wood and expensive tobacco. I buried my face in the cashmere for a spl

er judgment, I

d a story. Of

e ring was huge. A massive, ostentatious emerald-cu

ream money. It sc

t until the p

ing for me once. On a n

ry, round diamond on a thin gold band. *E

rtress. He had pr

*He treats you better than anyone,

hacking sound that

ient. Until he needed the Vance family con

led m

e airport in two

y goodbye to him properly?" David

ked ab

answering his emails abo

. Always

," I said. "Tell h

ivi

d. I'm burnin

ung

ed at

to the building's incine

rush of air from the chute r

photo of him winning the Entrepreneur of the Year award,

pped

by

nto th

bag of trash. I needed to clear ou

the dra

ath hi

forg

e the end, I had seen something in the trash bin by his desk.

it out. Why? Hab

s the

hapter 2. That was a duplicat

at sat on his desk for three years as a paperwei

, buried under a Starbucks cup

t out of m

ll sticky

he had thrown it away himself t

which. The resu

rock,* he

as just

this morning on CNBC playing on my laptop

smoothly to the camera. "I know she wishes us the be

agma

in my chest. It was sh

lept beside me for years, a

k the

he window. I

on the 2

stone out o

said to the wind. "I am a

ped th

to hear it h

walked out the door. I le

r was w

told th

ng into the yellow stream of

y weight

at the buildin

ned f

gain. The stone was