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The string quartet at the conservatory-turned-venue played a melancholic Vivaldi piece, but Grayson Maddox couldn’t hear the music. His heart pounded like a jackhammer against his ribs. / Chapter 18 / 20

Chapter 18 - THE REUNION IN THE SHADOWSArthur Maddox didn't wait for an invitation.

By the following evening, a weathered, coughing old man in a frayed trench coat was standing outside the iron gates of the Brooklyn brownstone.

Grayson walked out alone to meet him, leaving Amelia and Chloe locked safely inside. The streetlights flickered overhead, casting long, distorted shadows across the pavement.

"Look at you," Arthur sneered, spitting onto the sidewalk as he looked Grayson up and down. "Tailored suit, expensive watch. You forgot where you came from, didn't you, boy?"

"What do you want, Arthur?" Grayson asked, his voice completely devoid of emotion, a shield of pure ice. "Name your price. How much money will it take for you to get back on a train and disappear forever?"

Arthur laughed, a harsh, rattling cough shaking his frail frame. "Money? Do you think I want your dirty corporate cash, Gray? I want something better. I want a family. I want to know why my successful, billionaire son is hiding away in a cozy little house in Brooklyn. Who’s inside, huh? A woman? A grandchild?"

Grayson’s blood ran cold. He stepped forward, grabbing the front of Arthur’s coat with enough force to lift him slightly off his feet.

"If you ever come near my family," Grayson whispered, his voice trembling with a terrifying, suppressed fury, "I swear to God, I will strip you of every breath you take. You will rot in a nameless grave before you ever lay eyes on my daughter."

Arthur didn't look scared. Instead, a twisted, triumphant smile crept across his wrinkled face.

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