Chapter 16
Chapter 16: The Man Who Stayed
Mack wakes early, helps Alex prepare for the meeting with Michael Chen, and shares a quiet moment that reveals his own hidden burden. The chapter ends with Alex walking into the office, leaving Mack to wait outside with the weight of his own secrets.
Mack woke before the alarm, the way he always did when something important was coming. The guest room in Alex's Cambridge apartment was still dark, but city light leaked through the blinds, painting pale stripes on the ceiling. He lay there for a moment, listening to the unfamiliar silence, then swung his legs over the side of the bed.
The floor was cold against his bare feet. He found his jeans draped over a chair, pulled them on, and padded into the kitchen. The coffee maker was one of those fancy European things that looked like a science experiment, but he figured out the basics after a minute of button-pressing. It hissed and sputtered, producing a cup that was too small but smelled right.
He was halfway through it when Alex shuffled in, hair pointing in four directions, wearing a t-shirt that had seen better decades.
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