He Called Me “Street Garbage” at the Country Club. He Didn’t Know What Burns Down Empires.

registering as stillness rather than gasps. These were people trained to keep their chaos polished, their reactions measured. They would decide later whether I deserved pity, ridicule, or grudging admiration.

The smirk on William’s face was worth memorizing—that self-satisfied expression of a man who thought he’d won, who believed he’d successfully continue reading …