To them, everything looked effortless because they never saw the person doing the work.
Ivan sat beneath the largest patio umbrella with a cold beer in his hand.
Whenever someone from the company arrived, he stood to shake hands and tell another story about how he had built Vanguard Development from nothing.
He loved that phrase.
From nothing.
He repeated it at office dinners, neighborhood parties, and every gathering where he thought someone important might be listening.
I had heard it so many times that I sometimes wondered whether he had convinced himself it was true.
He never mentioned the money from my trust that funded the first property.
He never mentioned the operating agreement I had helped write when we were still working from a folding table in a rented office.
He never mentioned the nights I stayed awake reviewing budgets while he practiced the presentation he would later give to investors.
