Part 2: “Gray areas.”

“Organized crime?”

His expression did not change.

“Gray areas,” he repeated.

Aurelia should have walked out. Every rational thought in her body told her to take Micah, call Corinne, and say no amount of money was worth this.

Instead she saw Micah’s worn sneakers.

She saw the rent notice.

She saw the way Jae had looked at her art, not like decoration, but like language.

“I’ll send the contract tonight,” she said.

As she left, she did not see Jae pick up the space dragon Micah had forgotten on the couch.

She did not see his head of security, Henry Seo, step into the room a moment later.

“Boss,” Henry said. “Wei Chen’s men were seen near the waterfront.”

Jae kept looking at the drawing.

“Handle it.”

Henry paused. “And the artist?”

Jae folded the drawing carefully and placed it beside his phone.

“Make sure Ms. Hayes and her son get home safely.”

“Does she know she needs protection?”

“No.”

“Should she?”

—————————————
LEAVE “ANY ICON” BELOW HERE IF YOU WANT TO READ PART 3 TO END OF STORY  Thank you so much!
I’ve updated the post with the FULL STORY. If you can’t see it [the blue text], try this: In the comment section pick “Most relevant” and switch it to All comments – then see 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭—𝐭𝐚𝐩 𝐢𝐭 and it will take you to the full story. Enjoy the read!