And then she got an email from Rian, who said she was just “checking in.”

Jade called her immediately, and explained to her that she’d inherited a painting. “I really need your advice, Rian,” Jade said anxiously.

“Okay … have you asked other people?” Rian asked gently.

“I’ve heard a ton of advice, including from people in Brown, and RISD, but … I really want to know what you think!” Jade interrupted her, starting to hyperventilate for some reason.

“Calm down, Jade, we can figure this out,” Rian said calmly. “Take deep breaths, baby.”

Before Jade realized what had happened, Rian had taken charge of things, including negotiating with the auction house to include the painting in a forthcoming fall auction on impressionist art, and having the painting transported directly to the auctioneer’s warehouse in New York for safekeeping until the auction. The painting had been appraised at between $2 million and $3 million, which Rian advised Jade was a fair appraisal, based on research she’d done.

The auction had taken place a month ago, and by the time the gavel fell, the painting had fetched nearly $4 million.

Jade’s head was still spinning with the implications of everything that had happened.

“Okay, if you don’t accept a percentage, I’m going to convert that into a percentage of what I’m going to do with part of the money I got from the auction,” Jade now said, her voice more insistent.

Rian laughed lightly. “Are you deciding to go into that franchising thing with the dad of your friend?”

Jade had talked to a range of people after hearing from the auctioneer about the result of the auction, and had been convinced that she would invest part of the proceeds in a thriving business that was well-managed. A friend at Brown had introduced her to his father, who’d been visiting a pizza franchise in Providence that he’d owned. He and Jade had met several times after that, and, after Jade convinced him that she was serious about investing, he allowed her to see his business plans for the area, including possible franchises he was considering to buy from a well-known chain of sandwich shops as well as another pizza chain. He hadn’t thought of bringing on board another investor, since he was using the ample cash flow from the pizza franchise he already owned to finance setting up the new franchises.