
I grew up thinking surprises were harmless—new cars, last-minute trips, parties lit by chandeliers. But the real surprise came the day my father vanished and the police arrived with words like fraud, charges, and investigation.
By my eighteenth birthday, I wasn’t stepping out of my Hummer.
I was stepping off a bus in a city I’d never seen, carrying everything I owned beside a mother who no longer looked unbreakable.
My name is Steven Golding.
And this is the story of how one perfect life exploded overnight.