Morose and exhausted as Stephanie was, it would not stop her from eating. It was a strangely rhythmic activity for her, the spoon dipping down into the ice cream, being raised up to her mouth, briefly savored before swallowing and having the spoon go back to the ice cream. That she was plainly hungry was obvious by how she devoured the approximately half carton of the cinnamon caramel ice cream.

She opened up the carton of the peanut butter fudge.

"The day after tomorrow, I'm going to have to start thinking about delegating." Stephanie didn't say it outright, but that was a desperate admission for her. After what happened with Crane, she tended not to trust major domos. And she was plainly worried about what some of the "King's Men" at Shaw Industries might do if she wasn't there to enforce her will.

But nonetheless, it was crushing her and slowly poisoning her marriage. She'd have to find a way to make it work.