2026-05-23 21:18:27
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Chapter 326: Tiny
The door opened slowly. Mara's head appeared in the gap."Lily said you needed me?""Yeah." Gray waved her in. "Come in."She stepped inside and looked around. It was Gray's room and she'd never been inside it before, at least not properly or with only two of them alone. It was neat, more organized than she'd expected, though she wasn't sure where that expectation had come from. Everything had a place and was in it. She stood there for a second taking it in.Gray picked up the folded clothes from the corner of the bed and came to her."You're still in your work clothes," he said, holding them out. "I figured you'd want something more comfortable. You've been running around all day."Mara looked at what he was holding. Then at him.She took the clothes slowly. "You prepared these for me?""You're here, so I should take care of that." He said it simply, like it wasn't a remarkable thing to say.Something in Mara's chest moved in a direction she chose not to examine right now."Thank you
Chapter 325: Where To Hit
The door hadn't fully opened before Lily came through."Brother!"She hit Gray around the waist at full speed. He caught her, laughing, and looked up to find Eli standing a step behind, walking a little faster than usual, his face doing the thing it did now when something was good."You're back early," Eli said. He sounded relieved in the way he still sometimes did, like Gray's return was something that needed to be confirmed."I promised," Gray said. "Remember?"Both of them nodded."And I didn't come alone." Gray stepped to the side.Mara came into view, already raising a hand.Lily's eyes went wide. "Sister Mara!"She let go of Gray and ran. Eli didn't run, but he moved toward her, and the small smile on his face was unmistakable."It's good to see you both," Mara said, crouching to meet them."We missed you!" Lily said. "You haven't visited in ages. We keep waiting.""I know. I've been busy.""You're always busy.""She is," Gray confirmed from behind them.Lily looked up at him, c
Chapter 324: Pizza Night!
The election changed the city quickly. Banners went up on lamp posts overnight. Posters appeared on walls and shop windows and the sides of bus shelters all had candidates' faces stacked one above the other in some places, the same intersection carrying four different promises from four different people. Alistair's face was everywhere: the same shot repeated across half the city, a wide smile below large text about hope and protecting the future. His campaign ads started running on television too, Alistair speaking directly to the camera about children's programs, social services, community investment. A better West Arcadia for everyone. He wasn't the only candidate doing this. The city was full of them. Older faces, younger faces, some trying to look serious and some trying to look approachable, all of them saying variations of the same things. But Alistair's presence was the loudest. He'd spent years making himself visible, and the machine he'd built for it was running at full ca
Chapter 323: The Day Before
Mara reached out and took the envelope with both hands.Anne watched her. Then she gave a small, tired nod."Thank you," she whispered.There wasn't much left to say after that. Anne finished her drink slowly. They sat in the kind of quiet that followed something difficult, both feeling spent. When Anne's cup was empty, she stood, simply said goodbye, and left.Mara watched the door close. Then she looked at the envelope in her hands.Gray appeared beside her a moment later. "Ready?""Yeah."They didn't talk much on the way out.---Back at the office, they went through everything Anne had given them.The photos were worse than expected.Children's arms and legs. Marks across their backs. Faces of staff members caught in moments that were now evidence. Mara went through them carefully, one by one, and said nothing for a long time."I can't believe this is is real," she said finally. Her voice was low and flat."Yes, it appears so." Gray said. His jaw was set.---The weeks that follow
Chapter 322: When To Stay Quiet
"I'm already here," Mara said.She'd chosen a table near the window and was sitting with her phone face-up on the table, earphone in, the line open. The cafe was small and quiet — a neighborhood place, not the kind anyone would look twice at.Gray came through the door two minutes later. He didn't look her way. He went straight to the counter, ordered a cup of coffee, opened his laptop, and took a seat two tables back and to the left. Close enough to hear everything through the connection. Far enough that he read, to any casual observer, as a man in a cafe getting some work done.Mara glanced at his reflection in the window. She almost laughed. He was very good at looking ordinary when he wanted to."Is she close?" she asked quietly."Just got a message," Mara said. "She might be here.""Right. Take out the earphone and set it near you. Leave the mic open, I'll record from here."Mara slipped the earphone out and tucked it under the edge of her handkerchief on the table. She glanced a
Chapter 321: Something Dirty
Once they were sure Eli was settling, Gray knew it was time.He'd waited as long as he reasonably could. Eli needed to feel safe first, he needed to know the condo was real and the people in it were staying. That came first. But Alistair and Lita hadn't stopped existing while Gray was patient, and whatever was behind the adoption application hadn't gone away either.One night, after Eli was in bed and Lily's door was closed and the condo was quiet, Gray sat in the living room with the lights down. He should have been sleeping. His mind wouldn't cooperate.Selina came out of the kitchen and settled beside him on the couch, folding her legs up beneath her."Planning again?" she said."Was it obvious?""You go quiet like this," she said. "Like there's something turning over behind your eyes and you're waiting for it to come around right."Gray looked at the ceiling. "I've waited long enough. Eli's settled. It's time to move."Selina didn't look surprised. She'd known this was coming. She
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