paler than my mother . ”
Responding to that was harder than sh e’ d anticipated .“ That was a source of tension between them ? ”
Another nod .“ If you ask Olivia, he misused her, and only married her in order to prevent her father from trying to ruin Philip . ” Ale x’ s eyes were far away, seeing another time and another conversation .“ He used to say that she was the cow he had to accept to get Grandp a’ s fortune . ” The corners of his mouth bent upwards, but the expression he wore was n’ t quite a smile .“ I figure there had to be a middle ground. They had to have liked each other at some point. There must have been a moment, even if it was only one, where they got along . ”
Zoeythought back over the articles sh e’ d found in the archives of the different papers around the cities. The fights in public, the screaming. More than once, the police had been summoned. If that moment had happened, it was before the new Mrs. Blankenship had found herself in the public eye .“ Absolutely , ” she said.
He gave her a small smile, the sort that said that he did n’ t believe her even a little bit, but he appreciated the consideration .“ And Arturo. Was he ever connected to my father ? ”
“ Did you know that AEGIS gives scholarships to a certain number of highly qualified New York City college kids every year ? ”
“ Of course. I t’ s part of a recruitment program, to try and get a more diverse applicant pool into the STEM divisions of the company . ”
“ Did you know that Arturo was one of the scholarship students, just a few years ago ? ”
Ale x’ s eyes locked onto her with that same scrutinizing gaze that made her want to sink into the seat and disappear .“ No, he was n’ t. Tha t’ s been one of the few fields I’ ve never neglected. I’ ve been part of the award ceremony every years since its inception. The old man was determined that his son would be see n“ giving back , ” especially since I did my best to take his place in the gossip rags as much as possible. I would know if I’ d shaken his hand . ”
Zoeypulled out her tablet and tapped to one of the pages sh e’ d saved, then passed the tablet to Alex. She knew what h e’ d see, but she also knew he needed to see it. Arturo Soprano. 2010. Ale x’ s knuckles were pale as he clung to the tablet .“ Wha t’ s interesting, though, is that as far as I can tell, Arturo Soprano never went to college. H e’ s listed as winning the scholarship, and then a few months later, he opens his construction company. And right away, the compan y’ s doing great, i t’ s getting contracts from big companies, h e’ s doing renovations and interior design work instead of the crusty gross stuff most companies need to do in the early days to make ends meet. And he did an interview a few years back, where he credited his success to the confidence and support of a venture capital firm. When I went looking for the VC fir m— it did n’ t exist . ”
“ What do you mean it did n’ t exist ? ”
She shrugged .“ I mean that if there ever was such a thing as Wilfred Venture, it never had an Internet presence. No Facebook page, no website, no contact information. No Yelp reviews. Nothing. It did n’ t exist. I did n’ t get as far as digging down into incorporation records, I ran out of time, but that would have been my next step . ”
Ale x’ s mouth had grown thin. Whether he was pressing his lips together with rage or pain, she could n’ t tell for sure .“ You do n’ t need to , ” he said .“ Wilfred Ventur e— Wilfred was the old ma n’ s middle name, his fathe r’ s name. He hated his father, probably more than I hated him, if such a thing can be imagined. He had a small fund of company money that he invested in projects which were of personal interest to him, but where he did n’ t want to spend his time selling the board on using AEGIS funds. He called it
Responding to that was harder than sh e’ d anticipated .“ That was a source of tension between them ? ”
Another nod .“ If you ask Olivia, he misused her, and only married her in order to prevent her father from trying to ruin Philip . ” Ale x’ s eyes were far away, seeing another time and another conversation .“ He used to say that she was the cow he had to accept to get Grandp a’ s fortune . ” The corners of his mouth bent upwards, but the expression he wore was n’ t quite a smile .“ I figure there had to be a middle ground. They had to have liked each other at some point. There must have been a moment, even if it was only one, where they got along . ”
Zoeythought back over the articles sh e’ d found in the archives of the different papers around the cities. The fights in public, the screaming. More than once, the police had been summoned. If that moment had happened, it was before the new Mrs. Blankenship had found herself in the public eye .“ Absolutely , ” she said.
He gave her a small smile, the sort that said that he did n’ t believe her even a little bit, but he appreciated the consideration .“ And Arturo. Was he ever connected to my father ? ”
“ Did you know that AEGIS gives scholarships to a certain number of highly qualified New York City college kids every year ? ”
“ Of course. I t’ s part of a recruitment program, to try and get a more diverse applicant pool into the STEM divisions of the company . ”
“ Did you know that Arturo was one of the scholarship students, just a few years ago ? ”
Ale x’ s eyes locked onto her with that same scrutinizing gaze that made her want to sink into the seat and disappear .“ No, he was n’ t. Tha t’ s been one of the few fields I’ ve never neglected. I’ ve been part of the award ceremony every years since its inception. The old man was determined that his son would be see n“ giving back , ” especially since I did my best to take his place in the gossip rags as much as possible. I would know if I’ d shaken his hand . ”
Zoeypulled out her tablet and tapped to one of the pages sh e’ d saved, then passed the tablet to Alex. She knew what h e’ d see, but she also knew he needed to see it. Arturo Soprano. 2010. Ale x’ s knuckles were pale as he clung to the tablet .“ Wha t’ s interesting, though, is that as far as I can tell, Arturo Soprano never went to college. H e’ s listed as winning the scholarship, and then a few months later, he opens his construction company. And right away, the compan y’ s doing great, i t’ s getting contracts from big companies, h e’ s doing renovations and interior design work instead of the crusty gross stuff most companies need to do in the early days to make ends meet. And he did an interview a few years back, where he credited his success to the confidence and support of a venture capital firm. When I went looking for the VC fir m— it did n’ t exist . ”
“ What do you mean it did n’ t exist ? ”
She shrugged .“ I mean that if there ever was such a thing as Wilfred Venture, it never had an Internet presence. No Facebook page, no website, no contact information. No Yelp reviews. Nothing. It did n’ t exist. I did n’ t get as far as digging down into incorporation records, I ran out of time, but that would have been my next step . ”
Ale x’ s mouth had grown thin. Whether he was pressing his lips together with rage or pain, she could n’ t tell for sure .“ You do n’ t need to , ” he said .“ Wilfred Ventur e— Wilfred was the old ma n’ s middle name, his fathe r’ s name. He hated his father, probably more than I hated him, if such a thing can be imagined. He had a small fund of company money that he invested in projects which were of personal interest to him, but where he did n’ t want to spend his time selling the board on using AEGIS funds. He called it
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