Chapter 5 - THE STORM BEFORE THE CALMThe weekend passed in an eerie, suffocating silence.
Conrad Vance moved through the mansion like a master puppeteer, checking security logs, reviewing shareholder proxies, and preparing for the Monday morning board meeting that would legally transfer the entirety of the Concincaid estate and shipping conglomerate into his name.
He hadn't seen Jasper down in the west wing, and he assumed the younger Concincaid brother was simply sulking in his quarters, intimidated by the sheer scale of the empire he was too weak to control.
On Sunday night, Jasper slipped up to the third-floor nursery.
The room was dark, save for the pale moonlight filtering through the window. Jonah was curled in the corner of the rug, clutching his tattered teddy bear. When the door creaked open, the boy didn't flinch. He just looked up with those hollow, haunted eyes.
Jasper walked over and knelt down on one knee, coming eye-level with the child.
"Jonah," Jasper said softly.
The boy stared at him, his lips pressed into a tight line.
Jasper reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a heavy, silver pocket watch—the exact watch Harrison Concincaid used to carry. He popped the casing open. The tiny internal gears began to tick, a steady, rhythmic heartbeat in the quiet room.
He laid it gently on the floor between them.
"Your dad says hello," Jasper whispered.
For three seconds, nothing happened. The boy stared at the watch, his breath catching in his throat. Then, slowly, painfully, Jonah's eyes widened. A single tear broke free from his lashes, cutting a clean path down his dust-stained cheek.
Jonah's lips parted. He opened his mouth, and for the first time in six months, a sound came out—raspy, broken, but undeniably real.
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"...Daddy?"
Jasper smiled, reaching out to gently rest a hand on the boy's small shoulder. "He's coming back, Jonah. Tomorrow morning, we take our house back."
