Chapter 4

The air in the Port Authority archive tasted of salt-rot and chemical ink, a suffocating atmosphere that had settled into the floorboards decades ago. Elias stood at the center of the room, his stillness a sharp, discordant note against the frantic activity of the clerks. Before him lay the Lane family ledgers—bound in cracked, heavy leather that predated the current marriage alliance by a generation. They were relics of a time when the Lane name meant sovereign control, not a target for a hostile takeover.

"The audit team is already in the building, Mr. Lane," the head clerk whispered, his voice thin with terror. He slid a fresh manifest across the mahogany desk, refusing to meet Elias’s gaze. "They aren’t here for tax discrepancies. They have a mandate to seize the physical assets by midnight. Councilman Chen... he’s bypassed the oversight. He doesn’t care about the federal seal anymore."

Elias didn’t look up. His fingers traced the brittle edges of a ledger entry dated 1994. The handwriting was frantic, documenting cargo that never arrived and

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