Introduction:

A woman disappears from a ship in the middle of the night, and no one knows why. Years earlier, a massive Ponzi scheme was quietly unraveling behind the scenes. As lives cross in unexpected ways, the story explores how money, secrets, and regret can connect strangers—and change everything. It’s a quiet mystery that slowly pulls you in.

Chapter 1: Vincent in the Ocean

In a series of drifting memories, an unnamed narrator recalls falling into a stormy sea, haunted by fragments of childhood, a lost camera, and a longing to go home. As they float between past and present, they reach for glimpses of their estranged brother, unsure of what’s real and what’s memory.

Chapter 2: I Always Come to You

Struggling with addiction and regret, Paul drifts through a lonely life in Toronto until a tragic mistake involving a band member forces him to flee. As the world braces for Y2K, he reconnects with his half-sister Vincent, haunted by guilt and chasing the hope of a fresh start. But even as the new century begins, he can't escape the ghost of what he’s done.

Chapter 3: The Hotel

At a remote luxury hotel, a disturbing message—“Why don’t you swallow broken glass”—appears on a glass wall, unsettling staff and guests. As night manager Walter investigates, suspicion falls on a quiet new employee, Paul. Meanwhile, a wealthy guest named Jonathan Alkaitis charms another guest, setting off a chain of events tied to deception, loss, and a mysterious future.

Chapter 4: A Fairy Tale

Living in a luxurious but hollow arrangement with financier Jonathan Alkaitis, Vincent plays the role of a trophy wife, trading personal freedom for wealth, comfort, and illusion. As she navigates this “kingdom of money,” haunted by her past and unsure of her future, she finds fleeting connection and reflection through her friendship with Mirella and her passion for filming the world around her.

Chapter 5: Olivia

In 2008, Olivia, a painter, reflects on her past with Lucas Alkaitis, a fellow artist who later died of an overdose, and her unlikely connection to his brother Jonathan, who eventually becomes her financial advisor. As Olivia reconnects with Jonathan over the years, she grows uneasy observing his new “wife,” Vincent, sensing that Vincent has lost herself in the wealthy world Jonathan built.

Chapter 6: The Counterlife

In prison, Jonathan Alkaitis reflects on his 170-year sentence, finding unexpected solace in routine, reading, and physical fitness. Haunted by regrets and the choices that led to his downfall, he daydreams about alternate lives where he escaped justice. He admits to a journalist that he lost touch with Vincent and that his own daughter, Claire—who turned him in—has cut all ties.

Chapter 7: Seafarer

After disappearing from her old life, Vincent becomes a cook aboard the Neptune Cumberland, finding unexpected freedom and happiness at sea. Haunted by her past and Jonathan’s crimes, she reinvents herself through hard work and anonymity, forming a quiet bond with her third mate Geoffrey. For Vincent, the ocean offers the peace and purpose that life on land never could.

Chapter 8: The Counterlife

In prison, Jonathan Alkaitis increasingly escapes into a vivid “counterlife,” blurring the line between memory, fantasy, and reality. As his grip on time and identity weakens, he reflects on past relationships and imagines alternate futures, even as ghosts—real or imagined—begin to haunt his cell.

Chapter 9: A Fairy Tale

Vincent discovers her brother Paul has been using her childhood videos without permission in his music performances, deepening her sense of loss and dependency on Jonathan amid the unraveling Ponzi scheme. Tensions rise as Vincent faces emotional turmoil and a mysterious meeting with Jonathan, Claire, and a key witness that hints at impending legal consequences.

Chapter 10: The Office Chorus

On the day of the holiday party, Jonathan Alkaitis reveals his company’s Ponzi scheme to employees, triggering panic, confessions, and document shredding as the fraud unravels. Amid mounting tension, key staff grapple with guilt and fear while Alkaitis tries to manage the fallout, setting the stage for impending legal consequences.

Chapter 11: Winter

The day after Alkaitis’s arrest, chaos erupts among employees and investors as the fraud unravels, leading to emotional reckonings and FBI involvement. Months later, Alkaitis faces sentencing, with his lawyer portraying him as a flawed man driven by fear, but the court ultimately condemns him to 170 years in prison.

Chapter 12: The Counterlife

In prison, Alkaitis is haunted by ghosts of his past and reflects on his fraud, his strained relationships, and the consequences of his actions. Through conversations with Julie Freeman and memories of key figures like Ella Kaspersky, he grapples with guilt, denial, and fading memories of his family.

Chapter 13: Shadow Country

In 2018, Leon Prevant, now living a transient life after losing everything in the Alkaitis scandal, is hired to assist in investigating the mysterious disappearance of Vincent Smith from a cargo ship. As he uncovers troubling truths, he’s pressured to suppress key information, leaving him morally conflicted and deeply aware of his disconnection from stability and justice.

Chapter 14: The Office Chorus

By 2029, Simone recounts her time working for Alkaitis as a cocktail party anecdote, though guilt lingers beneath her polished retelling. Most of Alkaitis’s former employees have faced bleak outcomes—prison, broken families, or exile—highlighting the long-term fallout of the fraud.

Chapter 15: The Hotel

In 2005, Paul helps Ella Kaspersky deliver a cryptic message to Alkaitis at the Hotel Caiette, unknowingly setting off events that haunt him for years. By 2008, the hotel closes following Alkaitis’s arrest, and Walter chooses to remain as its solitary caretaker. A decade later, Paul—now a troubled composer—encounters Ella again and is haunted by guilt, addiction, and a possible vision of his sister Vincent’s ghost.

Chapter 16: Vincent in the Ocean

In her final moments, Vincent falls overboard during a storm while filming the sea, encountering ghostly visions and memories as she descends into the water. Her consciousness drifts through fragments of her past and imagined futures, visiting people she loved and places that shaped her. Ultimately, she finds peace in a vision of her long-lost mother waiting for her on a beach in Caiette.