His Golden Gamble

ith the soft chime

he words "Provenance Irrefutably D

e he' d championed, the one his Midas T

od fake, but a

ver two decades of uner

usually bustling

t in an hour later, not with comfort,

New York art scene,

rd is furious, our inv

as crisp, b

vidence, Izzy, or the piece

ache begin be

dressed protégé, hovered by her shoul

sment was... rushed?" Leo offered, h

red to Leo, a spark

who always seemed to be wh

d a dismi

, Ethan. This is a

o, a softer expre

nting out some... inconsistencies I ove

clear: Ethan was the

ten in his stomach. She was

, his refusal to cut corners or play t

ek, the fallo

't entirely without

lled in favors he'd a

restoration scholarship" in Flo

ay. Ov

he boy," Ethan had said to Izz

had agreed, doting

nt, and Europe is

t was her idea, a way

itude, but Ethan saw the fl

t was neutralized,

s pa

faded from headlines

rately, stepped back

d, but quietly, f

celebrated phenomenon,

to prefer

ening, "It's more dignified for you to be t

ing star, her own desire to be the so

ht had gone out of him, rep

ngs, the quiet hum of his father's anti

r a growing unease. Leo would be back, he kn