Three years had passed since the night Andrew Vance threw his wedding ring into the River Thames.

London’s autumn was notoriously unforgiving, washing the cobblestone streets in a perpetual, icy drizzle. In a quiet, working-class district on the outskirts of

Hyde Park was awash in the golden hues of late autumn. The Vance Enterprises Annual Charity Gala for Underprivileged Children had taken over a large section of the park, featuring striped canvas tents, carnival games, and lavish food stalls.

Sharon Vance stood near t

Andrew sat on the edge of his narrow, lumpy mattress in his freezing apartment, his teeth gritted in silent agony. He held a bottle of cheap rubbing alcohol in his left hand, pouring it generously over the deep, jagged laceration on his right shoulder. He hissed as