Chapter 16
Warren died at seventy-one.
Natural causes.
No conspiracy.
No secret enemy.
No final confession.
Families rarely receive perfect endings.
Preston arranged the funeral.
He asked whether I would attend.
I did.
Not front row.
Not hidden.
Warren had mattered to my life, mostly as warning.
That counts.
Afterward Preston gave me a box.
Inside was his father’s signet ring.
“I don’t want it.”
I closed the lid.
“Then don’t keep it.”
He looked at me.
“You want it?”
“No.”
We both laughed.
Old families teach people every object must inherit meaning.
Sometimes a ring is just metal after the person who wore it is gone.
Preston eventually gave it to a family archive.
No ceremony.
May you like
No successor.
Good.
