With those words, she opened the trunk of her sleek silver Mercedes, pulled out Lila’s small backpack, and dropped it onto the sidewalk. Then she got into the car and drove away without a backward glance.

Lila stood frozen, her thin arms wrapped around the backpack like a life raft. Cars sped past on the boulevard, their headlights slicing through the dusk. Strangers glanced at her — some with pity, others pretending not to see. The ache of abandonment settled deeper than her grief, sharp and cold as the wind off the ocean.

Then, from down the street, a man stopped. Tall, silver-haired, dressed impeccably in a tailored navy suit, he watched her quietly. His name was Edward Whitmore — a prominent attorney, known across California for his brilliance in court and his rare, unpublicized compassion.

He had attended the funeral, standing at the back, unseen.