Crossroads—2026-07-15 (Patreon)

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Chapter 3.1.31: CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT by Jacob Brown

I respect people’s right to privacy. And I know curiosity killed the cat. But I also know that having the answer to a question so close at hand and not looking into it would utterly wreck me.

Last night, we met a guy named Nick Fashola who told us that the Pay It Forward Society had been run by a massive AI system—which bugged out, as you know.

He said the people behind it—his aunt and uncle—had a company called Alderwick Private Management, LLC, that had set up a series of charitable entities to raise awareness of humanitarian and conservation issues.

“They are very private people, so I can’t name them. You won’t find them on most lists, but theirs is one of the forty wealthiest families in the world.”

About that cat…

Dude’s name is Nick Fashola. Addison gave him the social third degree, and we learned that he was from Montclair, New Jersey. He was twenty-seven, his father was Nigerian, and his mother’s sister had married into the family behind Alderwick.

Billionaires with a heart to do good deeds. I suspected Shay’s family—or for that matter, Shay. I don’t know how the Ryder wealth is positioned, but her personal share could be in the top forty.

I was wrong.

Now, my momma raised me not to tell tales, gossip, or talk out of turn. I do appreciate that they want privacy.

But finding a twenty-seven-year-old Nicholas Fashola from Montclair was about as easy as finding socks on Amazon. Genealogy sites and public-record searches can tell you a lot. I think. Not sure…anyway…

Nick’s mom is Meredith. Her sister, Debbie, married Doug. Doug is the oldest living heir to the family fortune managed by Alderwick.

Plot twist—and this is all I’ll say—the family shares its surname with another top-thirty billionaire, but there’s no relation.

I can keep a secret like it’s a matter of life or death, so this one goes to bed with me. Now I can turn off my brain and actually sleep.

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