Chapter 5: The Name on the Wall**
"Shut up!" Kane roared, though his voice cracked at the edges. "You don't know anything about me! You don't know what I've done!"
"I know you were eight years old when the foster home burned down in Detroit," Arthur said, his eyes steady and compassionate. "I know your mother died waiting for a kidney that never came, and your brother took a bullet on 7th Street because you weren't there to stop him."
Kane’s arm dropped an inch. The weapon suddenly felt heavier than lead. "How... how do you know that?"
"Because before I wore this blue uniform, I built the system that failed you," Arthur whispered. "I was Judge Arthur Vance. I signed your first juvenile detention order twenty-four years ago."
The steel bolt slipped from Kane’s fingers, clattering loudly against the concrete floor. The giant backed away, his eyes wide in disbelief.
"You..." Kane breathed, trembling. "You're the judge."
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"I gave you five years in youth reform," Arthur confessed, his voice heavy with ancient remorse. "I thought I was following the law. I didn't see the frightened child behind the paperwork. I sent you to a cage that turned you into a monster."
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