CHAPTER 96: GRAYSON

The morning after reconciling with Gigi, Grayson reassembles the box with the fake journal and sends it back with her. He then retrieves the briefcase of photographs from the safe-deposit box and goes to the loft library of his childhood, where a hidden staircase leads to a Davenport desk containing Sheffield Grayson’s original journal and translation.

Grayson begins placing nineteen years of photographs of himself into the desk, faceup. When he studies the dates written on the backs, he realizes that while the years and days are correct, the months are consistently wrong. Because the photographs were stored with withdrawal slips used to decode Sheffield’s journal, Grayson concludes the wrong months are not mistakes but part of another code.

Over three days, Grayson uses the numbers on the backs of the photos, arranged chronologically, to reconstruct the account information for seven offshore accounts containing millions of untraceable dollars. Once Grayson has the full information, he calls Alisa and asks whether sending that information to the FBI would likely stop authorities from continuing to search for Sheffield himself. Alisa says that, hypothetically, with the right influence, it probably would.

After hanging up, Grayson feels another dangerous secret has been tied off and buried. Gigi knows the truth about Sheffield and did not abandon him, which steadies Grayson. Later, as Grayson unpacks from London and Phoenix, he finds the velvet ring box Nash entrusted to him and finally lets himself consider Nash’s question about whether love and a future might be possible for Grayson too.

Grayson reflects on the invented girlfriend story he told Gigi, Nash’s breakup with Alisa, and the way Nash belongs with Libby. Holding the black opal ring, Grayson asks himself, “Why not me?” signaling a shift from self-denial toward the possibility of emotional openness.