The Meridian Towers had been Shaw Realty's flagship property for eighteen years—twin glass spires in the heart of the financial district that housed some of the city's most prestigious law firms and financial institutions. Elias had personally overseen their construction, had cut the ribbon at their opening, had used them in every marketing campaign as proof of Shaw Realty's commitment to excellence.Now, standing in the lobby at seven in the morning, watching maintenance crews try to repair flooding damage for the third time in two weeks, he felt like he was watching a slow-motion execution."Another pipe burst?" he asked Daniel Park, the property manager, though he already knew the answer.Daniel looked exhausted, his usually impeccable suit rumpled from an all-night emergency response. "Third floor this time. We had engineers inspect the entire plumbing system after the last incident. They certified everything was sound. But somehow..." He gestured helplessly at the water stains sp

Sera hadn't slept. At three in the morning, she sat in her home office surrounded by documents, her laptop screen casting a blue glow across her face. The Apex Capital proposal lay on her desk, but she'd moved beyond the legal terms hours ago. Now she was digging into something that had been nagging at her since Catherine Aldridge walked into their conference room.The timing was too perfect.Apex had reached out within hours of Shaw Realty's credit downgrade going public. They'd already prepared a comprehensive proposal—one that suggested weeks of analysis and diligence. Catherine had known specific details about their operational failures at Meridian and Harborview, information that wasn't public knowledge yet.How had they known so much, so fast?Sera pulled up Apex Capital's recent SEC filings, cross-referencing their limited partner roster against a database of corporate relationships she'd been building. Standard due diligence. She was looking for any connection, however tangent

The three days felt like seventy-two days.Elias had spent them in constant motion—meetings with lawyers, conference calls with the board, strategy sessions with Marcus and Sera that stretched past midnight. Catherine Aldridge had provided additional resources, her team working around the clock to document every connection between Dorian's network and the attacks on Shaw Realty. The federal prosecutor had reviewed their evidence and, while stopping short of promising immediate action, had indicated that what they'd compiled was "compelling and actionable."Now, at 8:47 AM on Thursday morning; thirteen minutes before Dorian's deadline, Elias sat in his office with Sera and Marcus, staring at the letter he'd written by hand on Shaw Realty letterhead. Old-fashioned, perhaps, but this deserved the weight of ink on paper."Last chance to change your mind," Marcus said, though his tone suggested he already knew the answer.Elias picked up the letter and read it one final time.Dorian,I rec

The war room—what used to be Shaw Realty's secondary conference room—looked like a military command center by 6:00 AM Friday morning. Whiteboards covered three walls, mapping out their properties, assets, vulnerabilities, and defensive strategies. Marcus Chen stood at one board, marker in hand, while Sera worked through financial models on her laptop. Elias paced, phone pressed to his ear, speaking with their legal team."Understood. File the motions this morning. I want every property title secured before noon." He ended the call and turned to the room. "Legal is moving on the asset protection trust. Even if Shaw Realty goes into bankruptcy, the trust structure will shield our key properties from immediate liquidation.""Meridian, Harborview, and Preston?" Marcus asked."And the Riverside Commons development, once it's complete," Elias confirmed. "They'll be held in a separate legal entity that's technically independent of Shaw Realty's corporate structure. It's not foolproof, but it

Elias found her exactly where he knew she'd be.The light from Sera's home office spilled into the hallway as he climbed the stairs, his footsteps heavy with exhaustion. He'd left the office ninety minutes ago, after seven straight hours of emergency meetings trying to contain the damage from Dorian's latest attack—a coordinated assault that had seen three major creditors simultaneously call their loans, triggering a liquidity crisis that had nearly collapsed the company in a single afternoon.Nearly. But not quite.He paused in the doorway, taking in the scene. Sera sat at her desk, still dressed in the same clothes she'd worn yesterday morning, her reading glasses sliding down her nose as she pored over a spreadsheet. Financial documents covered every surface—the desk, the side table, two chairs, even parts of the floor. Legal files were stacked in precarious towers. Handwritten notes on yellow legal pads formed a trail that mapped her thinking across the room like breadcrumbs throu