Chapter 13
Nolan joined the program.
That surprised everyone.
Including me.
Not as instructor.
Student.
Forty-two-year-old man sitting beside nineteen-year-olds learning the systems he thought he already understood.
Humbling.
Good.
He discovered half the financial network he mocked me for “handling” was what kept captains funded, disputes contained, and families solvent.
He asked one day:
“Why didn’t anyone teach me this?”
Matteo answered:
“They tried.”
Apparently Nolan had skipped half the finance sessions in his twenties because Victor told him men destined for command did not need bookkeeping.
I almost admired the efficiency of the sabotage.
Ignorance presented as masculinity.
Then future incompetence used to justify needing advisers.
Victor had built dependency while calling it preparation.
Nolan finally saw that.
Anger shifted direction.
Not toward me.
Toward his father.
I warned him:
“Do not make Victor the only reason you became who you were.”
He looked at me.
“He taught you.”
I continued.
“You practiced.”
May you like
Important.
He nodded.
