Chapter 21

Winter in Chicago arrived, and then it departed.

A thin layer of ice formed over Lake Michigan, only to melt quietly away one early morning. The city shifted from ashen gray to tender green; cherry blossoms erupted in the lakeside parks like clouds of pink.

Time is the greatest healer, and the most impartial judge.

Blackstone Group’s stock price had been in a freefall ever since Damien bid on t