The next morning, John was ready before his usual time.

He adjusted his sleeve in front of the mirror.

Then he checked his phone once and stepped out into the corridor.

Adam’s father was already standing there.

The older man looked like he had not slept well.

John smiled as if he had not noticed.

"Uncle," he said, "shall we go? I will take you to my father’s rally."

Adam’s father looked at him and nodded once, but he did not move right away.

"Before that," he said, "can we go to the college campus once?"

John was not surprised.

He had expected this.

If he refused, the old man would become restless. If the old man became restless, he might stop trusting him. Worse, he might try to go alone and ask the wrong person the wrong question.

So John smiled.

"Of course," he said. "We will go there first."

Adam’s father looked a little relieved.

That relief was useful.

John needed him calm until the right moment. A frightened man was difficult to guide. A calm man walked where he was asked to walk and believed the person beside him was helping.

The campus visit was not a problem for John. It was another chance.

If Adam was watching his father through someone, the campus would shake that person. If Adam was nearby, he might appear before the rally even began. And if nothing happened, John still had the rally waiting after this.

They went down to the car. John’s driver opened the door. One of John’s men sat in the front, and John sat beside Adam’s father in the back.

The car started moving through the morning traffic.

John looked out of the window.

His face was calm, but his mind was already working.

Today had to move the game forward.

He had waited long enough. Adam had not called. He had not sent anyone. He had not appeared anywhere John had expected.

That silence was beginning to irritate him.

John still had two ways to pull him out.

The first was the cleaner one in his mind. At the rally, Adam’s father could get hurt in a way that looked like an accident. Not a serious injury. Nothing too large. Just enough to spread through people and clips. Enough that if Adam saw it, he would not be able to stay hidden.

The second way was to put the old man in front of the cameras and make him call for Adam himself.

John did not like that one as much.

Too many things could go wrong when ordinary people spoke in public. Adam’s father could say something emotional, and one wrong sentence could turn the whole rally into a problem.

An accident was easier to control.

John looked at Adam’s father from the corner of his eye.

The old man was staring outside with worry on his face.

John’s smile stayed soft.

He did not hate the man. Not really.

But John needed Adam to come out. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

And Adam loved his family. John had seen enough to believe that. However clever Adam was, family was still a place where his thinking could become weak.

The car entered the road toward the campus.

Adam’s father sat straighter as the college buildings came into view.

"This is the place?" he asked.

"Yes," John said. "This is the campus."

The car stopped near the entrance.

Adam’s father got out first.

John followed him.

Morning students were moving through the campus paths. Some were walking in groups. Some were standing near the gate. A few looked at John and then quickly looked away.

John walked beside Adam’s father.

Adam’s father kept looking from one building to another.

Every few steps, his eyes stopped on a student as if he might suddenly recognize his son among them. The hope on his face did not last long, but it kept returning.

John noticed it.

That hope was exactly what made the old man useful.

"We can ask at the office," Adam’s father said.

"We can," John said gently. "But let us first walk a little. Maybe someone who knows him will be around."

Adam’s father nodded.

John was about to say something else when a voice came from ahead.

"Uncle!"

John turned.

Monica was coming toward them with her hand raised. She had noticed Adam’s father and looked pleasantly surprised.

John smiled at her.

"Today is turning into a busy morning," he began.

He did not finish.

Behind him, Adam’s father suddenly shouted.

"Adam!"

The word hit John like cold water.

For half a second, he did not move.

Then he turned.

Adam was walking toward them from inside the campus.

He was coming openly, as if he had every right to be there.

John’s smile froze.

This was not the reaction he had planned for.

Adam looked thinner than before, and there was a tiredness around his eyes, but his steps were steady. His gaze moved once to John and then went straight to his father.

His heart was beating fast.

Seeing his father standing beside John brought back memories that he had tried to bury. In his last life, this man had been used against him. That pain was still there, sharp enough that Adam almost forgot the plan for a second.

But he held himself.

He had not come here by rushing into John’s trap.

He had entered through the front.

Adam reached his father.

For a moment, his father only stared at him.

Then the older man’s face changed.

"Adam," he said again, but this time his voice was smaller.

Adam stepped forward and hugged him.

His father held him at once.

John stood beside them and watched.

Adam closed his eyes for a brief moment, then opened them again.

He pulled back just enough to look at his father.

"Forgive me, Father," Adam said. "The college sent me out for some work, and my mobile broke on the way. I could not contact you or Mom."