Sevric turns ten the same month Margaret begins her forensic accounting studies at university, and his birthday request carries a different weight than his sister's had years earlier.
"I don't want to shadow research like Margaret did," he tells me, settling into the chair across from my desk at Second Ledger's headquarters with unusual seriousness for someone his age. "I want to understand something else."
"What's that?" I ask, setting aside the paperwork I'd been reviewing.
"Everyone talks about Margaret being brilliant at finding patterns," he says, and something in his voice catches, quiet vulnerability beneath careful composure. "I'm not like that. I'm not good at spotting hidden connections in documents."
I study my grandson carefully, recognizing something familiar in his uncert
