He sold the island to a man named Chen, who was a businessman from Shanghai, who had made his money in shipping, and who had paid, for the island, $47 million, which was $3 million less than Richard had paid for it eight years prior, and which was the price that Richard had accepted not because he needed the money but because he needed the island to be owned by someone who would not try to develop it, and which the Chen was the person he had chosen, because Chen had told him, in the meeting where the sale was negotiated, that he was buying the island not as an investment but as a private retreat, and that he intended to leave it in its natural state, and that he was buying it because he had always wanted an island, and because this island was the one he wanted, and which the wanting was what Richard had recognized, because Richard had felt it too, when he had bought the island, eight years prior, which was the wanting of a specific kind of place, and which the place was what the island was, which was a place that was not meant to be developed or improved or used for any purpose other than the being on it, and which the being on it was what both men wanted, and which the wanting was what connected them, in the negotiation, and which the connecting was what made Richard trust Chen, in the specific way that people trust each other when they recognize in the other person the same want, and which the same want was what made the sale happen, and which the happening was what Richard was satisfied with, on the day the papers were signed, and which the satisfaction was what he felt, in the signing, which was the satisfaction of having found, for his island, the right owner, and which the right owner was Chen, and which the Chen was what the island needed, and which the needing was what Richard had been doing, for the eight years he had owned the island, which was wanting someone to own it who would not try to fix it, and which the not fixing was what the island required, because the island was already what it was, and which the was was what made it valuable, and which the value was what Richard had recognized, and which the recognizing was what he had done, when he bought it, and which the buying was what he had done, eight years prior, and which the eight years was the time he had spent waiting for Chen, and which the waiting was what he had not known he was doing, when he was the owner, and which the owning was what he had been doing, for eight years, and which the eight years were over, on the day the papers were signed, and which the over was what he felt, in the signing, which was relief, and which the relief was the specific relief of having found, for the island, the person who would keep it as it was, and which the keeping was what he had wanted, for eight years, and which the wanting was what he was free of, now, in the signing.

Chen developed the island. He built a resort. He built thirty-two villas. He built a marina. He built a golf course. He paved the trails. He installed the generators. He brought in the staff. He turned the island into the thing that Richard had bought it to avoid becoming, and which the avoiding was what Richard had wanted, and which the wanting was what he had expressed to Chen, in the negotiation, and which the expressing was what he had done, when he told Chen that the island was valuable precisely because it was undeveloped, and that the undeveloping was what made it what it was, and which the what it was was what both men had wanted, or so Richard had believed, and which the believing was what he had been wrong about, in the sale, and which the wrongness was what he discovered, eighteen months after the sale, when he drove past the island on a boat and saw the cranes, and the construction, and the changes, and which the seeing was what he could not undo, and which the undoing was what he wanted, in the moment when he saw the development, and which the wanting was what he lived with, for the next four years, which was the time it took for the resort to be completed, and which the completion was what he read about, in the financial press, which described the resort as a triumph of vision and execution, and which the vision was Chen’s, and which the execution was what Chen had done, on the island, and which the island was what Richard had sold, and which the selling was what he regretted, in the way that people regret the things they chose to do, which is a specific kind of regret that is different from the regret of things that were done to you, and which the the doing to you was not what the sale was. It was what he had chosen. And the choosing was what he had done, in the negotiation, and which the negotiating was what he was good at, or so he had believed, and which the believing was what he had been wrong about, in the sale, because the negotiating was what he had done, and what he had negotiated was not the outcome he thought he had negotiated, and which the outcome was Chen’s resort, and which the resort was what the island had become, and which the becoming was what Richard had enabled, by the sale, and which the enabling was what he regretted, and which the regret was what he lived with, in the four years after the development, and which the living was what he did, in the house he had bought, after selling the island, which was a house in the south of France, and which the France was where he lived, and which the living was what he did, in the years after the sale, and which the after was what he spent looking at photographs of the island, before the development, and which the before was what he had wanted to preserve, and which the preserving was what he had thought he was doing, in the sale to Chen, and which the thinking was what he had been wrong about, and which the wrongness was what he regretted, and which the regret was what he lived with, in the house in the south of France, with the photographs, of the island, before Chen developed it, and which the developing was what Chen did, and which the doing was what Chen was paid for, by the guests, and which the guests were what filled the villas, and which the filling was what the resort was for, and which the for was what Richard had sold, when he sold the island, and which the selling was what he regretted, in the house, in the France, with the photographs, of the island, before the cranes, before the villas, before the marina, before the golf course, before the development, before Chen, before the sale, before the negotiation, before the eight years, before the wanting, before the island was what Richard had wanted it to be, which was undeveloped, and natural, and kept, and which the keeping was what he could not do, because he had sold it, and which the selling was what he regretted, and which the regret was what he lived with, in the house, in the France, and which the living was what he did, and which the doing was what he was, after the sale, and which the after was what he spent looking at the photographs, of the island, before it became what Chen made it, and which the the making was what Chen did, and which the doing was what Chen was paid for, and which the paying was what the guests did, and which the guests were what filled the resort, and which the resort was what Chen built, on the island, after Richard sold it, and which the selling was what Richard did, and which the doing was what he regretted, and which the regret was what he lived with, in the house, in the France, with the photographs, of the island, before.