Chapter 650

Madeleine let the fruit knife slip from her hand and straightened up, fixing Gregory with a cold stare. Gregory winced as he yanked the knife out of his side. He grabbed some tissue to press against the bleeding wound and gritted his teeth. "Back in the '60s and '70s, Pinebrook's business scene was booming. The Schroeder family was one of the first locals to make it big. Then old man Grayson showed up outta nowhere and started from scratch. The Schroeders didn't see him as a threat. Figured some outsider couldn't possibly stir things up." He held the tissue tightly against the wound and sank into the couch. All this went way back — way before their time — back to the old generation's grudges. "What they didn't expect," Gregory sneered, "was that Grayson was nothing if not ruthless. That guy rolled in from Yarrin dirt poor, but managed to build something real in Pinebrook. Even married the daughter of the Haedleigh Business Association chair." That'd be Beckett's grandma. "Back then, if