The Greenwood Press deal was a seismic event that settled into the strata of their lives not as a disruptive quake, but as a solid, new layer of bedrock. The initial frenzy the calls from journalists, the congratulatory emails from acquaintances they hadn't heard from in years, the sudden scrutiny faded with reassuring speed. Amelia and Adrian had built a life that was curiously insulated from spectacle. Their fortress of quiet, constructed from mutual respect, deliberate work, and a profound lack of interest in performative success, held firm.
The money, a number so large it remained abstract, was treated not as a treasure to be guarded, but as a powerful, neutral tool. They met with Evelyn and their financial advisor in the sunlit conference room at the Foundation campus. The mood was not one of giddy celebration, but of focused pragmatism.
