RIVER

IT HAD been years since I last played guitar, and it felt good to hold it again. As soon as I started picking a few chords, it felt like I had never stopped—those chords, the feelings, the thrill of listening to my voice and melody. When I enjoyed playing and singing for him, Krew had decided to call it a night—he cut the fun.

I couldn’t and wouldn’t argue with him when he said he had a lot of things to do tomorrow. It wasn’t a surprise. He always had, considering he was running a billion-dollar empire on his own. Since I was not anymore his employee, it was...