CHAPTER 34 —

The story went live like a train everyone knew was coming but nobody expected to derail. Maya’s piece hit at 11:52 p.m. with the kind of calm brutality that makes a rumor realize it’s now evidence: photos of Unit 94, the Polaroids, courier slips, payment traces, the ledger line to Ferrier Consulting with the stamped transfers. The headline was tidy, poisonous, and precise: Stagecraft & Shells: How a Prop Closet Led to Trustee Payments.

Nicole read it in Harrow’s office ...