Chapter 3 - The Immunity Token
Victoria stared at the spinning gold coin until it wobbled and fell flat. The emblem of the Manor—a blindfolded skull balanced on a scale—gleamed in the dim chandelier light. An Immunity Token was absolute. As long as Elena Sterling held it, the Manor’s lethal security protocols were completely blind to her.
"Julian left no heirs," Victoria stated coldly, though her mind was racing through centuries of genealogical records stored in her impeccable memory. "He traded his bloodline for his initial wealth in 1924. You cannot exist."
"And yet, here I am, breathing your dusty air," Elena said, pacing around the obsidian desk with casual defiance. She picked up the iron wrench left behind by the deceased debtor and inspected its rusted head. "My father was a master of loopholes. When he realized the Manor would eventually claim his soul, he didn't just accept his fate. He created a shadow trust. A subsidiary bloodline, hidden off-ledger in Manhattan."
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Victoria felt a cold tremor in her chest—not of fear, but of professional outrage. "A fraudulent diversion of collateral. That is an existential violation of the Ledger."
"Exactly," Elena said, turning to face her with hard, desperate eyes. "And now he’s pulling back the investments. That poor slob who just dissolved in your library? He was just the first trigger. My father is harvesting the souls of everyone tied to his old contracts to rebuild his physical form. I’m the last name on his list, Victoria. If we don’t balance his account tonight, he won't just take my life—he'll take your Manor."
