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When Anika came home from work to find her father, his lawyer, her sister, and Aunt Molly all assembled in the living room, she knew the news would be dire. It must be so bad that Mr. Burton had come to the house to deliver it, to ensure that their father understood, and didn’t try to sweep it under the rug. Presumably Aunt Molly had been called over from next door to keep a lid on any hysterics—she was one of the few people Anika’s father listened to, at least occasionally.

After some hemming and hawing, Mr. Burton came out with it:

“Despite my best efforts, as well as those of your father’s financial manager and his accountant, I must inform you all that the Knight family is on the edge of bankruptcy.”

“Bankruptcy!” Stella scoffed. “You can’t be serious.”

Stella was dressed for the evening in a sleek cocktail dress, chandelier earrings, and a pair of ermine-trimmed stilettos from their father’s not-yet-released summer line. She had already called for the car to brought round. Only outrage was keeping her from her party.

Anika noticed that her father did not look as surprised. In fact, if it was possible, he almost looked guilty.

“I don’t understand,” Anika said slowly. “Bennet Knight has had steady earnings for the last six years.”

Bennet Knight was her father’s eponymous fashion line.

“It has,” Mr. Burton agreed, “but you know that at this point your father only retains an eight percent share in the company. While earnings are steady, I’m afraid they can’t accommodate your family’s expenses. Which despite my warnings, have been increasing year by year.”

This was the first Anika had heard of any warnings, and definitely the first time she had been informed that her father no longer owned the majority of his own company.

“Dad,” she said, struggling to remain calm, “what happened to the rest of your stock?”

“Oh,” he waved his hand dismissively, “I sold some of it to Dominic over the years. When expenses came up.”

Dominic was her father’s business partner. Bennet designed the clothes; Dominic supplied the marketing genius.

“What kind of expenses?” Anika asked.

“You know—when I bought the MacLaren and the yacht. When we got the villa in Sorbonne. When that investment in that Chinese amusement park went bad. Just times when things were a little tight.”

“Alright.” Anika did some quick mental calculations. “Well, eight percent isn’t terrible—that should still bring in enough to live on.”

“It might,” Mr. Burton agreed. “If not for the debt.”

Mr. Burton elaborated: it appeared that between her father’s watch and car collections and her elder sister’s failing business (her perfume line was apparently much less solvent than Anika had been led to believe), the Knight family was in debt to the tune of some twenty-eight million dollars.

“And there’s the unpaid taxes as well,” Mr. Burton said with a pained expression.

Aunt Molly looked around at all the glum faces.

“That’s not insurmountable!” She tried to cheer them up. “With a few tweaks, I’m sure you can cover the debt. Bennet, what about all those motorcycles out in the garage? You never ride those anymore—they could be sold. And now that you’re not eating carbs, would you even want to go back to France? You could sell the villa.”

This was, of course, why Mr. Burton had invited her—to try to persuade Bennet Knight to balance his budget. Anika could not imagine a more impossible task.

“Those motorcycles are collector’s items, Molly,” Bennet said coldly. “The Vincent Black Knight for instance—there’s only a hundred of those in the world, and none in mint condition like mine. And the Guzzi LaMans—Bono owned that. My God, they’re not forriding, I’d sooner sell my right arm.”

“What about the villa?” Molly persisted.

“It took months to source the furniture from India!” Stella cried. “Daddy and I designed the entire color story together, and we hired Niki de Saint Phalle to paint the mural in the dining room. Besides, I always bring my girlfriends there after we see the spring shows in Paris.”

All other suggestions were likewise met with shock and refusal.

Spend less on clothing?

“A designer walking around in rags—that would be good for business!” from a sarcastic Bennet.

A reduction in staff at the house?

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