For a second, I thought I was seeing wrong. It couldn’t be William. William, the man who never kept a job longer than three months, the man who always looked for shortcuts and ran from responsibility, how could Damon Langford, of all people, introduce him like he belonged here?

I blinked hard, hoping the image would vanish, but he stayed standing tall as though he had earned the right to breathe this rarefied air.

Across the room, Susan’s eyes found mine. The shock on her face mirrored ...