“This one’s free,” she said. “You look like you need it.”
It was too sour. Too watery.
And somehow, it was the best thing he’d tasted in years.
She sat beside him and talked.
About her life in the Bronx with her grandmother, Maria.
About selling lemonade to help with rent.
About wanting to be an astronaut—or a chef—or both.
Arthur, a man who usually measured every word, found himself talking too.
About stars.
About chess.
About life.
They became friends without asking permission from the world.
Every Wednesday, they met on that same bench.
He taught her chess.
She taught him how to laugh again.
Quietly, without telling her, he paid off her grandmother’s rent and arranged a scholarship for her school.
But he never wanted her to see him as a billionaire.
Just as Arthur.
The man who loved stars and lost chess games to a seven-year-old.
But Something Dark Was Growing
Behind the scenes, Mark—his assistant—fed information to Daniel.
And Daniel, driven by greed, had been slowly altering Arthur’s medication.
Making him weaker.
More confused.
Easier to control.
Arthur began to suspect it when his memory loss worsened unnaturally. Even his doctors noted inconsistencies.
So he started documenting everything.