“We sold your ‘abandoned’ Arlington house for $5.2 million,” my dad bragged over Christmas dinner, “and took a 25% management fee.”-hongtran

I hoped they were learning something.
I had learned something too.
Sovereignty is not just a word we use in diplomatic cables. It’s something you claim inwardly. A declaration of independence from the stories other people write for you.
My life, for so long, had been divided between the covert and the overt, the visible and the classified. That Christmas, those two worlds collided violently.
What emerged from the collision was unexpectedly simple.
I was no longer willing to be the silent investor in someone else’s illusion.
The world didn’t end.
In fact, in a strange way, it began.
I turned away from the balcony and went inside. There was work to do. Meetings to attend. Agreements to negotiate. Crises to avert.
Outside, the city was alive.
So was I.
THE END.