Preston hesitated. The hesitation lasted exactly long enough for Zachary to press harder, and not one second longer.“He called you an ungrateful old man.” Preston’s lip trembled and his eyes squeezed shut. “He said you fed him and housed him for three years and he cursed the hand that gave him everything. He said an old man like Zachary Hartford should just lie down and die already because the world has moved past men like you.”Zachary’s face did not move. But something behind his eyes shifted like tectonic plates grinding against each other underground.“He said Quinn carried the Hartford name on her back while you sat in your office pretending to matter.” Preston’s voice cracked on the last word. “He said every business deal you ever made was built on the work of people smarter than you, and that without Quinn propping up the family name, Zachary Hartford would be nothing but a senile old fool counting money he did not earn.”Zachary’s fist hit the hospital room wall.The sound cr

“Not poison, medicine.” Preston raised both hands calmly. “Do you think I would feed my own blood a risk? Give me the first dose. I will take it tomorrow in front of you. If I wake up laughing, you take yours.”The old man stared at his grandson for a long time. His eyes grew wet.“You would do that for me?”“I would do anything for this family.” Preston placed a hand over his heart and looked as sincere as a priest at a funeral.Behind that face, a different voice whispered inside his skull. The drug was no trance. It was a slow killer that would stop the old man’s heart or turn his brain to porridge. Sterling Fairbanks had promised him backing and a seat at the top. With Zachary gone, the family fortune, the stocks, and the Love Island store rights would all fall into Preston’s lap like ripe fruit.Zachary dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief. Then he straightened, and the old fire returned to his voice.“No test.” Zachary waved a hand sharply. “I will not let you swallow any needle

Silence filled the office. Dempsey crossed the room and stood beside the desk. She looked at Quinn’s face and saw something there that she had not seen in months. The old Quinn. The girl who longed for a grandfather’s approval and never once received it.“It could be a trick.” Dempsey said it gently, like she was setting a glass on a table that might shatter. “He has done it before.”“I know.” Quinn stared at the black screen. “But what if he did not?”Her hand was already moving. She dialed Preston’s number and pressed the phone to her ear. It rang twice.“Quinn?” Preston’s voice came through broken and thick, and the sound of sobbing leaked down the line. “Oh, thank God you called. I did not know how to reach you. I did not know if you would even pick up.”Quinn’s heart sank into her stomach. “Preston. What happened to Grandfather?”“He collapsed three days ago.” Preston choked on the last word. “At the villa. The doctors say it is his heart, and his kidneys, and something in his bl