Two years after Lucien’s father’s passing, the Elena Ashford Foundation — expanded considerably under Lucien’s own careful stewardship, now merged in part with resources from Marcus Cole’s own charitable work following a partnership neither man could have imagined possible during their years of bitter conflict — celebrated its most significant milestone yet: the publication of Dr. Osei’s complete research findings, offering the first genuine, scientifically grounded understanding of the mechanism that had shaped four generations of Ashford lives.

“It’s strange,” Lucien said, reviewing the final published paper with Ezra beside him, both of them settled comfortably in the study that had, over the years, become less a place of crisis...