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When the last person had left the party, Li and his new wife were finally alone. There was a guesthouse on the property that had not sustained irreparable damage and that had been fixed up just for this event. They sat together by the fire and Laura made another toast. “To my husband and my soul mate. Together we will conquer the world.”

Li laughed. “What’s left?”

“I have some ideas.”

And they kissed and kissed again and both felt as if they were blessed by God, though neither believed there was one.

* * *

When Susanna Colbert told John Van Dyke of Cass’s request, he was furious. “How the hell did I not know this was going on?”

“I don’t know how much the President tells you, John. That isn’t my business.”

“So Nate Cass killed his mother?”

“Well, I don’t think that is the way to phrase something as difficult as this.”

“Susanna, don’t give me this bullshit on how to phrase things. He pulled the plug and now he wants the IRS to do the same thing. That’s what you’re asking.”

Susanna knew when it was time to stop the doubletalk.

“Yes.”

“I’m really upset. I’m upset that this is illegal and difficult and I’m upset that the President did not confide in me what you were up to.”

“That isn’t my fault. I don’t control who the President of the United States tells his business to. I did a favor and now the favor has to be repaid.”

“And what if it isn’t?”

Susanna hadn’t thought of that. She’d just assumed this would be quid pro quo. Nate Cass was not just stupid rich but vindictive as hell.

“I wouldn’t want Nate as my enemy, John, especially if I had to run for office again.”

Van Dyke did not want to discuss it further. He had to make some tough choices. He could say no. He could ask the President to intercede, but that would be dangerous, bringing an illegal request directly into the Oval Office. He could try to handle this himself. He didn’t know what the answer was at that moment, so he did nothing.

Susanna left the meeting feeling a bit betrayed. She presumed every single thing the President thought or did was cleared by John Van Dyke. If she’d known she was doing this alone, she might have corrected the situation while there was still time, but now she was in a bind. She didn’t want this gesture to come back and bite her in the ass. Should she go to the President herself and explain? No. There was a chain of command and it must be followed. She didn’t know the answer, either, so she also did nothing.

* * *

As time went on, Betsy Bernstein was feeling worse, not better. She felt she’d devoted her life to her husband, at the expense of her own ambitions. Something was changing inside of her, and each day she felt less like she could spend another four years in this charade. She finally broke down and shared her misery with her sister.

Her sister, Lori, was a child psychologist. They had never been very close, but as Betsy’s world closed in when she got to the White House, she found her sister to be one of the only people she could really trust. And now that her husband was no longer serving in that capacity, Lori was essential for her well-being. Betsy called her late one night.

“Hi,” Lori said. “I can’t see you.”

“I just wanted to do voice tonight, is that okay?”

“Of course. Are you all right?”

And Betsy just poured her heart out, telling Lori everything. Lori was one of those people who thought positively. She believed that things would always work out for the best. But as she heard her sister deep in pain, she couldn’t offer much in the way of hope. And then Betsy said something that her sister didn’t know. “Lori, I don’t think I was ever really in love with this man. I respected him and I admired him, and I was willing to be his partner, but if that is no longer cherished, what am I doing? How many years do I have left? Don’t I deserve better?”

Lori just listened. She didn’t know where this was going. She knew Matthew Bernstein would run again, and she knew that no president had ever split up