One year to the day. The thought surfaced, clean and unburdened, as I watched the ticker tape stream across the massive digital facade of the Nasdaq MarketSite. Twelve months since the implosion. Three hundred and sixty-five days of relentless, focused creation.
A smaller screen in the private greenroom was tuned to a financial news network. The anchor, a woman with sharp eyes and a sharper blazer, was recapping the week’s big stories. My story. And, as a historical footnote, his.
"...the sentencing finally closes the book on the spectacular collapse of Innovate.AI," she said, her tone professionally detached. A grainy courthouse photo of Julian appeared on screen. He looked gaunt, aged a decade, the phantom glow of his self-made myth completely extinguished. "Julian Vance received a sen
