to reduce some of the costs.
“Ethan visited once,” Vivian continued. “You spoke to him.”
“I don’t remember.”
“He did.”
“How do you know?”
“Because later that evening, he asked one of his assistants to find your name.”
My mouth went dry.
“Why?”
“He never told me.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Very little does at the moment.”
Vivian opened the door.
“Your selection was not as random as your father allowed you to believe.”
She left me standing beside the cold fireplace.
I did not sleep.
By dawn, I had replayed every memory of the health center.
Doctors passing through.
Donors touring the building.
Men in dark suits shaking hands.
I could not remember Ethan.
Perhaps we had spoken for thirty seconds.
Perhaps I had handed him a visitor badge.
Why would he remember me three years later?
At breakfast, Jason was waiting in the dining room.
He sat at
the end of a table long enough for twenty people, reading the financial pages on a tablet.
“Good morning, cousin-in-law.”
I poured coffee.
“Is that what you plan to call me?”
“Until I think of something more accurate.”
I sat across from him.
“Where is Vivian?”
“Meeting the neurologist.”
“And Ethan?”
“Still trapped in the dramatic space between miracle and medical uncertainty.”
I looked at him.
“You don’t seem happy that he may recover.”
Jason lowered the tablet.
“I am thrilled.”
“You have an unusual way of showing it.”
“You have known me less than twenty-four hours.”
“That seems to be everyone’s favorite defense.”
A servant placed toast between us and left.
Jason leaned back.
“Ethan waking changes things.”
“The company?”
“The trust.”
“So you do lose control.”
His expression sharpened.
“I never had control. I had responsibility. There is a difference.”
“Is there?”
“When my cousin crashed his car,
thousands of employees did not stop needing salaries. Decisions still had to be made. Contracts still had to be signed. Vivian refused to accept that Ethan might never return, so she kept everything suspended.”
“And the marriage prevents you from taking his place.”
“The marriage keeps the trust from appointing a new permanent chair.”
