Chapter 20 - THE SHADOW IN THE MIRROR
Thorne began buying buildings.
Then businesses.
Then leases.
Rent doubled.
Small shops received eviction notices.
The neighborhood began disappearing piece by piece.
Claire watched it happen.
"This isn't development," she said.
Marcus shook his head.
"It's conquest."
Then Lily came home from school.
"Mommy?"
Claire turned.
"There's a man who keeps taking pictures of the playground."
Marcus went still.
"Where?"
"In a black car."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
Thorne wasn't only watching the property.
He was watching them.
Then a package arrived.
Inside were documents from eight years earlier.
Marcus's signature appeared beside Julian Thorne's.
A note was attached.
ASK YOUR HUSBAND ABOUT HIS PAST.
Claire stared at the papers.
Marcus walked into the room.
He saw them.
His face changed.
Claire's heart sank.
"What did you do?"
Marcus didn't answer immediately.
Then he said:
"I worked for him."
The past had returned.
May you like
And this time, it had Marcus's name on it.
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