Bio - Tech Headquarters - Boardroom.The boardroom was filled with discontentment. Aground the huge, polished mahogany table, Bio - Tech’s most influential investors sat like judges in a court case, ready to to deliver a guilty charge. The air was thick with the scent of expensive perfume, bland coffee and pure fear.Charles Stewart stood at the head of the table, his knuckles white as he gripped the table, trying to look unshaken in the face of the storm.“Gentlemen, ladies, I assure you,” he began, with his voice an imitation of its former boom. “This is a temporary setback. A blip. Robinson’s alliance with Lawson is a facade built on sand. The SEC is already launching a full investigation into his finances. His house of cards will collapse by the end of the week.”A silver haired investor called Pierce, his face etched with skepticism, didn’t bother to hide his disgust. “A blip, Charles? My portfolio has lost eighteen percent of its value since this ‘blip’ began. The market isn’t r

Sawdust Industries - Arthur Ginger’s Office.The reception area of Sawdust Industries was going according to its name…rustic, solid and functional, with the rich scent of polished wood and parchment hanging in the air. It was a stark contrast to the cold glass and steel of Bio- tech or Austra.Charles Stewart stood there impatiently, feeling every ounce of that contrast, every second of the humiliating silence as the receptionist made them wait. Simeon stood beside him, like a statue with tension and worry etched on his face.Finally, the woman nodded. “Mr. Ginger will see you now.”Ginger’s office was an enormous space adorned with bookshelves of rare timber and framed blueprints of historical buildings. But Stewart’s eyes weren’t on the decorations. They were locked on the two men seated in the deep leather armchairs opposite Ginger’s desk.Arthur Ginger sat behind the desk, like a king in a throne room. And lounging casually in one of the chairs, swirling a glass of bourbon, was Gr