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Chapter One

Austin

I gazed out of theof my plane at the sht after graduating froet a scholarship to NYU to study accounting, and I couldn’t get out of this town fast enough

It had been eleven years since I’d been back here, and I could have gone eleventhe place My ed me to come home for Christmas this year Normally, I just flew eous brownstone in Manhattan that I loved, but Mom missed the traditional holiday vibe of her house After multiple conversations, I caved and came home

I even agreed to stay for aPreston, anized, and I could never walk away fro It caused ht with Mom, but I won in the end I needed to keephere in Texas

I hated this place when I left, and apart from my family, I didn’t have any ties here I was here for my parents, particularly since o Mo, and we spoke on the phone a lot, but I could tell she wanted a traditional Christmas at home as a family Dad’s health scare s in life Who was I to argue with that?

My plane landed on a runay from commercial traffic since it was my own private plane I had investments all over the world which required me to travel a lot It justit back to pick up Preston He was taking care of soht I could survive a day or so without him since ere in near constant contact

I thanked my pilot and walked off the plane Cold wind swirled around ency I’d booked a car for the month Mom offered to come pick me up, but it was a three-hour drive, and I would need a car, anyway Plus, I knew she preferred being close to Dad

We settled the bill, and I paid withlot The white Maserati waited forin the trunk before adjusting the seat to suit h I preferred et around town, I liked my vehicles on the upper end I worked hard for h Mom never took me up on my offers to buy them cars or a new house She was happy with their simpler life here and far too attached to their older ranch-style horew up there and had many fond memories, so I tried to understand her point of view

I slipped on a pair of sunglasses before I pulled out on the main road, confident that nobody kneas here in Texas Being one of the richest men in the world has its drawbacks, and the paparazzi was one of them Every move I made was splashed all over every media source, and some that I didn’t make People believed rumors far too easily in this world, and Imy travel plans under the radar I didn’t want to subjectabout them as private as possible

The road was empty I listened to the radio in between calls to Preston One of , and he was on it every second to decide if I should sell it or stick it out Market fluctuations were coht back up after a drop Any turbulence with a company in the media could cause stocks to drop and come back up once there was a new story in the news He seemed confident that I should keep it at the lish accent that comforted me The man knew his numbers and the trends, and I contributed much of my wealth to his talents