Chapter 99: One Little Problem

"Everything will go smoothly," Helen said.

Lenny looked back slightly. "You two are onboard, but what about Sophie? She isn’t going to push back when I walk in, is she?"

"There won’t be an issue," Helen said, waving a hand. "$300,000 is what covers her brother’s procedure. She understands that."

"She knows where things stand," Arthur added. "Besides, Lenny, someone running 2 fitness locations with property holdings... it’s a stable setup for her."

Lenny pulled toward the curb to park, then hit the brake as he spotted the black Koenigsegg Jesko sitting 20 feet ahead.

His easy expression tightened.

Parked against the worn brick facade of a Queens tenement block, the custom hypercar made his sedan look completely out of place.

Lenny parked behind it, grabbed his briefcase and boxes from the trunk, and followed the Reeds down the narrow walkway.

As they turned the corner toward Building 4, Helen looked up at the commotion ahead and stopped dead, dropping her packages onto the pavement.

"Leo—!"

Spotting the thin figure standing on the 6th-floor roof parapet, Arthur and Helen broke into a run toward the base of the building.

"That’s their kid on the roof?" Lenny muttered, hurrying behind them with the case.

60 feet up, Leo stood near the edge, his breathing ragged.

Climbing 2 flights of stairs from the apartment had drained what little energy he had left...

"Leo! What are you doing up there?" Arthur yelled from the courtyard. "Step back right now!"

"Come down, Leo!" Helen called out, her voice shaking.

Leo looked down at the courtyard, gripping the edge of the brickwork. "Dad, Mom... I can’t keep doing this. Every month I’m sick drags the house down and forces Sophie into this. If I’m gone, Sophie doesn’t have to leave the school, and she doesn’t have to marry anyone."

"Stop talking like that!" Helen cried. "Get away from the edge!"

Arthur turned toward the stairs, looking around.

"Where is your sister? Why wasn’t she watching you?!"

A crash sounded from the entrance of the alley. A rose-gold bicycle lay on its side on the flagstones, a paper bag torn beside the front wheel and a sandwich spilled across the pavement.

Sophie came running through the archway, her face pale.

She had just returned from the bakery when she looked up and saw Leo on the ledge.

The moment Arthur saw her, his panic turned straight to anger.

He stepped toward her, pointing a finger. "Where did you go? You were supposed to be inside watching your brother!"

Arthur swung his right hand toward her face, aiming a hard slap to her cheek.

Sophie flinched, pulling back.

The strike never landed.

3 inches from her face, a hand caught Arthur’s wrist in mid-air.

It was Jude.

"Speak without swinging your hands," Jude said.

"Who are you to step into my family’s business?!" Arthur barked, trying to wrench his arm free. "Let go of my wrist!"

Jude didn’t answer. He simply tightened his grip slightly.

Arthur let out a sharp cry as his knees dropped toward the pavement, sweat breaking across his forehead.

His wrist felt locked in a vise, the pressure threatening to crack bone if he pulled against it.

"Let go... I’m not hitting her! Let go!" Arthur gasped out, his defiance breaking instantly.

Jude opened his fingers, releasing him.

Sophie looked up in shock, recognizing Jude and Dean Victoria Liu standing beside him.

"Mr. Lawson... Dean Liu? How did you..."

She swallowed hard, turning her eyes up toward the roof. "Leo! Please step back!"

On the 6th-floor parapet, Leo looked down at the courtyard. "Dad, don’t touch Sophie! I lied to her and sent her out for food so I could get up here. Soph, I know you don’t want this marriage. Once I’m gone, nobody can force you."

"Leo, stop," Sophie called back, tears in her eyes. "Nobody forced me. I agreed to it. Getting you treated is all that matters."

"Don’t lie to me, Soph!" Leo shouted down. "If you wanted this, why did you lock your door and cry all night? You spent your whole life working to graduate and play music. You’d never quit on your own."

Sophie looked down, unable to answer.

"Mom and Dad are forcing you out of the Conservatory to take a $300,000 settlement for my surgery," Leo yelled across the alley. "I’m not letting you trade your future for my medical bills. It ends right here."

A murmur of disgust rippled through the 40 residents gathered in the courtyard.

Beside Sophie, Victoria Liu turned toward Arthur and Helen, her expression furious. "So this is why you came to my office demanding an immediate withdrawal? Pulling a 19-year-old student off a full scholarship to force an arranged marriage?"

The neighbors joined in, shouting toward the Reeds.

"Selling off their own daughter to clear bills?"

"Look at the guy standing behind them with the briefcase!"

Arthur flushed with embarrassment, turning toward the crowd with his hands raised. "Keep your mouths shut! None of you are dealing with a kid who can’t get out of bed! None of you offered $300,000 for his care. What other option was there?"

As Arthur shouted back at the tenants and Leo shifted unsteadily on the parapet, Jude stepped out into the open courtyard, looked up at the 6th floor, and spoke in a clear voice,

"Leo Reed! Your reasoning makes complete sense. If your goal is to save your sister from this family, stepping off that roof right now is the most effective move you have."

The shouting in the courtyard stopped instantly...

Every neighbor turned toward Jude in complete silence, stunned by the words.

Up on the ledge, Leo froze. He blinked down through the wind, his voice hoarse. "You... you think I should jump?"

Jude kept his hands in his pockets. "You’re ill, the family lacks the funds for the procedure, and your sister is being pushed into an arrangement to cover it. If you step off, the medical debt disappears, and they have no reason to pressure her into a marriage. For someone in your position, it solves the financial problem... except for one detail."