Calloway Group stood at the heart of Corholt's business district, where tall buildings stood side by side like people crammed too close together in an elevator that nobody was willing to move first.But among all of them, Calloway Group was different.Twenty-two floors. A facade of dark grey granite and reflective glass that caught the afternoon sky in a way that made the building look like part of the sky itself. A ground-floor lobby with white marble floors and lighting that had no visible source but illuminated everything beneath it with perfect evenness.The Calloway name was engraved above the entrance in metal lettering that was neither too large nor too small—a size chosen by someone who understood that the right name doesn't need to shout to be heard.Norman had once stood in front of this building during high school, with classmates who had no idea who he actually was. They looked at it the way you look at something from another world—whispering about how lucky the people ins

Charles didn't read the message twice.He immediately pressed the sender's name.One ring.Connected."Are you certain this information is accurate?" His voice came out before the man on the other end had a chance to say a single word."I've verified it three times, Mr. Calloway." The voice on the other end was calm, professional. The tone of someone long accustomed to delivering sensitive information without unnecessary dramatization."The National Digital Security Authority is in the final stages of a new regulation that will require all financial institutions—banks, insurance companies, investment firms, all of them—to adopt layered encryption systems across all their digital transactions and asset storage. This regulation is scheduled to be passed within the next two weeks."Charles didn't interrupt."What makes this significant, Mr. Calloway, is the technical specifications. The government has already set out very specific encryption standards—multi-node verification, zero single

At five in the afternoon, Norman left Norman Meridian Capital. Instructions had been given to his four employees. Documents that needed to be completed, follow-ups to be done with the NexVault legal team for formalizing the ownership structure, and the initial framework for Elias's employment agreement that needed to be ready before tomorrow. They all knew what had to be done now. And Norman moved on to the next part of his plan. He got into the BMW and took a different direction from usual. Not toward Grand Corholt Tower, not toward the Calloway estate, but toward the western edge of the business district where the big buildings thinned out and the city center grew more distant. --- Ironclad Investigations. The name was printed on the frosted glass of door number 78, twelfth floor of an older fifteen-story building whose facade had been showing its age in ways that no fresh coat of paint could hide. The lobby below was clean but not lavish, the elevator worked but wasn

The BMW glided down the road toward Corholt's business district at fifteen minutes past eight.Norman's phone vibrated on the console.A message from Jack's number."Last night's report: First target (female) did not leave the residence. Condition clear. No contact with second target.""Second target (male): Left his residence at 20:14. Headed to a bar in District 2. Consumed a significant amount of alcohol until 01:26. Left the bar with a woman. Returned to his residence at 02:34.""This morning: Second target left his residence at 08:47. Direction confirmed toward Calloway Group."Norman read through it once.Then replied."Good work. Keep it up."He set the phone back on the console.Jack.He had only been instructed to watch Lily, not Paul. Watching Paul wasn't part of last night's briefing, wasn't part of the hundred thousand dollars already agreed on.But Jack had taken the initiative on his own.Placed his people at two points simultaneously, made sure there were no gaps in cov

In the women's dormitory of Aldwick University. Specifically in Lily's room. Nine o'clock at night.Lily's phone screen went dark as the call ended.She stared at the screen for a moment—the way someone does when they've just received something and haven't decided yet what to do with it.A party. Tonight. Paul's invitation.In a chair across the room, Serena was already sitting up straight before Lily even set the phone down—the way someone does who has heard enough from one side of a conversation to know where it's going and has already prepared their response."What are you waiting for?" Serena smiled, in the way that had been well-practiced to look like genuine enthusiasm. "Just go, Lily. I'll come with you. Nothing to worry about if I'm there."Lily didn't answer right away.Her eyes drifted toward the bedroom window. The sky was already dark, Aldwick's campus lights glowing outside.Night. A party. This wasn't something she normally did, and she knew that."Don't go."A voice fro