Sunlight drips like honey through the canopy above Vaela's rose garden, casting shifting golden halos over the long stone table nestled beneath flowering vines and velvet umbrellas.
It's late morning, and the estate hums with a calm, decadent energy… half business, half brunch.
On one end of the garden, Lucien, Kai, and Thalos huddle around a holo-projection. Eris, appearing as a floating 3D form in a sleek silver suit, flicks through a dizzying number of charts and stock breakdowns.
"…and if Virgil acquires even ten percent more of that logistics arm, he can leverage the shipping contracts to destabilize Lucien's pharma chain," Eris says, voice clipped and precise.
Kai rubs his temple. "He's like mold. Once he finds a crack, he spreads."
Lucien's jaw flexes. "My family built that company over generations. I'm not letting him rot it from the inside."
