Auston appeared on Aperture eleven minutes later.
He had changed clothes.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Dark sweater. Open collar. No studio makeup visible. He had dressed as the private man the public had never been allowed to meet.
The injured husband.
The audience counter passed twenty million.
Aperture placed us side by side on the main display.
Auston looked directly into the camera.
"I did not plan to respond publicly," he began. "But Ivy is in pain, and people around her are encouraging decisions that will follow her for the rest of her life."
The audience-response data moved beneath his face.
SYMPATHY: 43%
CREDIBILITY: 51%
He was good.
That had always been part of the problem.
"Who are these people?" the host asked.
"Silas Vanderbilt has made no secret of his i
