Revenge would require me to lie

HART STRATEGIC PARTNERS
PRIVATE ACCESS. PUBLIC OPPORTUNITY.

My photograph appeared inside.

Not the magazine portrait. A cropped image from a White House cybersecurity summit, with the presidential seal blurred behind me. Under it, Dad had printed:

EVELYN HART — FEDERAL STRATEGIC LIAISON

I had never held that title.

The packet promised clients “priority insight” into a coming national infrastructure fund. Blake’s company had already collected twelve million dollars in commitments.

“They built a fundraising pitch around you,” Marcus said.

“They built a fraud around proximity.”

By noon, three investors had emailed me directly. One attached a recording from a dinner six months earlier.

Dad’s voice filled my office.