Chapter 2 - The Trail in the RainEvan followed Grace's taxi in his tinted Range Rover, tracking her away from the shiny lakefront towers toward the worn, crumbling streets of West Harbor. The city grew darker here—boarded windows, cracked sidewalks, and flickering streetlights.
Grace’s cab stopped at a small corner grocery named Mario’s Food & Deli. Evan watched through the rain as Grace went inside. The elderly owner greeted her warmly, embracing her and packing huge bags with rice, beans, canned soup, and bread. Grace paid him in cash, even pushing money back when Mario tried to refuse it.
Evan’s heart pounded. Why was his billionaire wife buying cheap bulk groceries in the exact neighborhood his bulldozers were scheduled to flatten in two weeks?
Grace carried the heavy grocery bags out into the downpour, balancing them alongside her heavy blue thermos. She didn't call another cab. Instead, she walked down an alley toward the looming shadow of St. Agnes Church—the very building Evan planned to demolish.
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Evan stepped out into the cold rain, keeping his hood low as he trailed her on foot. As she opened a heavy wooden door at the rear of the church, a warm, golden light spilled onto the wet pavement, accompanied by the low hum of chatter, laughing children, and clinking soup spoons.
Driven by a mix of anger, confusion, and fear, Evan slipped through the doorway behind her.
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