Chapter 8
A shadow fell across her bench.
Emma looked up, expecting to see Graham, who had promised to walk through the park with her after his morning conference.
Instead, she saw a ghost.
Nolan stood three feet away.
He had lost at least twenty pounds. The bespoke tailoring of his navy suit hung loosely on his shoulders, the fabric wrinkled and unpressed. His hair, once impeccably styled, was overgrown and dull. His eyes were sunken, ringed with dark purple bruises of chronic exhaustion.
He didn't look like a visionary. He looked like a man who had survived a shipwreck only to realize the island he washed up on was barren.
Emma didn't gasp. She didn't flinch. She simply closed her sketchbook and placed her hand over her stomach.
“Nolan.”
His voice was hoarse when he spoke. “Emma. Please... don't call security. Just give me five minutes. That’s all I’m asking for. Five minutes.”
Emma looked at him for a long moment, then nodded toward the opposite end of the bench. “Sit down.”
He collapsed onto the wood as if his knees could no longer support his weight. He stared at her belly, his eyes watering instantly.
“Is it... is it a boy or a girl?” he whispered.
“A boy,” Emma said softly.
A tear spilled down Nolan’s cheek, cutting through the grime and pale skin of his face. He reached out a trembling hand, as if wanting to touch her stomach, but Emma subtly leaned back, placing her arm across her belly like a shield.
Nolan’s hand dropped. He let out a ragged sob.
“Emma... I’m so sorry,” he choked out. “I was out of my mind. The money, the press, the investors... it got into my head like a poison. I forgot who I was. I forgot who built me up when I was nobody. Vanessa... she didn't care about me. None of them cared about me. The second the DOJ came, she cleaned out the safe and left.”
Emma listened in silence. Her face remained still, like water beneath thick ice.
“I’m facing two to four years, Emma,” Nolan wept, burying his face in his trembling hands. “The lawyers say if I plead out to the civil violations and pay the full restitution, I might get probation. But I have nothing left. The board took the shares. The SEC froze the liquid accounts. The penthouse is gone. I’m living in a furnished studio in New Jersey. I have nothing.”