The numbers began to bleed red before dawn.

Ethan was already awake when the first alert hit his phone—an encrypted message from his risk desk, stripped of pleasantries and full of panic. Futures sliding. Credit lines tightening. A rumor moving faster than any correction could. He sat up, shoulders tense, the city still dark beyond the glass, and read the same sentence three times.

Liquidity shock triggered by foreign exposure. Counterparties freezing positions.

Across the city, Alyssa stood barefoot on cold marble, coffee untouched, watching the market crawl like a wounded animal across the screen. She didn’t need to be told who had done this. Davin had always preferred chaos...