Chapter 31: The Reed Syndicate
Dusk painted the narrow confines of Administration Drive with long shadows. The street, already buzzing with the bumper-to-bumper crawl of rush hour, was lined with vendors emerging like nocturnal blooms: steel drums exhaling the sweet, earthy smoke of roasting sweet potatoes; ice-filled carts displaying glistening ruby chunks of watermelon; makeshift stalls offering pre-packaged salads for the weary commuter. A memory surfaced, vivid and bittersweet: his mother, Vivian Chambers, visiting her parents; his father, opting for the easy way out, would take him out for cheap fast food. Back then, young Elian Thorne had felt slighted, dismissed as an afterthought. Now, looking back, he recognized those were his golden years. Before gambling sank its claws into his father. Before the divorce sha
- Writer
