As the Canary Contract Expired, I Left New York Carrying My Father’s Ashes Chapter 09
One day in June, I spotted a black Maybach parked on the corner of the street.
It had been there for half a month.
The driver changed every day, but the person sitting in the back never stepped out.
Until one weekend, when my friends and I returned from the ski resort and took a photo together outside the shop. The car window lowered slightly, and I caught a glimpse of Caleb’s profile.
He had lost a lot of weight.
He looked older, more worn down than before.
Across the street, our eyes met for a brief moment.
He immediately rolled the window back up.
I didn’t walk over.
The next day, my landlord came to the shop and told me that the entire block had been purchased by an offshore company.
The new owner wasn’t planning to raise the rent, but they required every business owner to sign a new supplemental agreement.
I flipped to the final page.
A familiar signature caught my eye.
Caleb Crawford.
I didn’t sign it.
That afternoon, he finally walked into my shop.
His suit was still perfectly pressed, every detail flawless like always. But his face was pale, and his right hand remained pressed against his stomach.
“Nancy. It’s been a long time.”
I put down the flower stems I was trimming.
“Do you need something?”
His eyes reddened slightly.
“The heating system here isn’t good. Winters are too cold, and your hands and feet have always gotten cold easily. I already had the heating system replaced. As for the apartment upstairs, I bought it and had it renovated.”
His voice lowered.
“Come back.”
I pressed the emergency call button.
“Hello, officer. There’s an unfamiliar man in my shop. He used property ownership to pressure me into signing a new agreement and has been repeatedly following me.”
Caleb’s voice stopped instantly.
“You don’t know me?”
“The agreement between us ended three years ago.”
I pushed the unsigned contract back toward him.
“And although the property deed for my apartment is currently under your name, my lease is protected under local law. You have no right to enter my workspace, interfere with my business, or make decisions about my heating or where I live.”
The police arrived quickly.
Caleb provided his identification and the property documents.
He claimed he was only there to handle a property matter.
But after the responding officer reviewed the surveillance footage I had preserved, they issued him a formal warning.
The record of his vehicle appearing outside my shop for half a month was enough to establish a pattern of harassment.
He was ordered to leave and prohibited from coming within five hundred meters of my shop during the restriction period.
As Caleb reached the entrance, he suddenly bent over.
His stomach twisted violently.
Cold sweat appeared on his forehead almost instantly.
The officer moved to call an ambulance, but Caleb waved him off.
He dropped to one knee, bracing himself against the ground, then looked up at me.
“Nancy.”
His voice was hoarse.
“Can you insult me once?”
I picked up a cup of hot water.
A fragile, almost pitiful hope appeared in his eyes.
He thought it was for him.
I poured the water onto the muddy floor beside his feet.
“Excuse me. You’re blocking the way.”
I looked down at the mess.
“You got my shop dirty.”
He stood outside the door, watching as I picked up the mop.
The officer urged him to leave.
Caleb didn’t resist.
Instead, he took a document from his pocket and placed it beside the entrance.
“I’ll transfer ownership of this street back to the original landlords.”
His voice was quiet.
“The supplemental agreements are void. The rent will remain unchanged.”
He looked at me.
“I’m not using this to ask for anything from you.”
This time, there truly were no conditions attached.
One week later, ownership of the block was restored, and all the businesses’ leases remained unchanged.
After making the corrections, Caleb never stepped inside my shop again.
But every day when I closed, I still saw a silent figure standing at the corner of the street, five hundred meters away.
No bodyguards.
No entourage.
Just him alone.