al smelled
to leather seats of private jets and whispered through vaulted halls where deals were s
've wanted. A hundred mourners in black silk and tailored suits pretended to weep. A h
ainst stained glass, her gloved hands folde
it all, the polished
uniform, his face shadowed under a cap. He'd spent twenty
stWood
name was wort
wed, summers on yachts with oligarchs' sons, and a father who measured love in stock dividends. H
ce told him, "Darling, emotion is a
to be the p
ke four languages and could disarm
ight he fou
eaking
ith a mispla
- his father's study. He remembered having a meeting
use his father always locked it. But that night, the
d version shown
ted the real
dge to dismiss a wr
led next to a collaps
a "liquidation"
age froze
whistleblower.
scape
ed into his penthouse toilet,
hout ending up like the "accidents" in t
ose disa
staged
ailing out seconds before impact, and rolling into the ravin
itanium ring (engraved "DW") that survived the inferno, and s
iable, they concluded that he
d thinned. His father shook hands with senators,
ffin was lowered into the earth with
omfortable hoodie a
ool desert air biting at his skin. The vast expanse of the city stretched out before
step taking him deeper into a world
place stood a man no one would recogn
Vel