The morning sun broke over Veyra in sharp, metallic shards, reflecting off the glass monoliths of the financial district. By Thursday afternoon, the city's upper echelons were already humming with the quiet, nervous energy that always preceded a Ministry of Commerce function.
In the corporate headquarters of Golden Investments, the atmosphere was entirely different.
Jake Rivers stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows of his top-floor penthouse office inside the Apex Plaza, his sleeves rolled up to his forearms as he stared down at the sprawling grid of the city below. On the glass coffee table behind him, a sleek black-and-gold invitation to the Grand Pavilion sat open, the official seal of the Ministry gleaming under the recessed lighting.
