Jacob drove into the quiet suburb where Mr. Cole lived with a focus so absolute the rest of the world slipped into a muted background. The city’s noise peeled away behind him and a nervous calm settled in his chest. He’d rehearsed what he would say a thousand times on the drive: how he’d used his own money to buy back shares, why he’d hidden the originals, how David had been humiliated with carefully planted fakes — but practice never took the place of the rawness he felt now.
He parked a short distance from the lawyer’s neat bungalow and walked the rest of the way. The garden smelled of clipped hedges and citrus; a fountain burbled in the courtyard. From the gate he could see the porch light still on, a welcome that steadied him.
When the door opened, Mr. Cole’s face appeared — calm, gr
