Money could buy a private jet, a penthouse overlooking the Manhattan skyline, and a table at one of the most exclusive restaurants in the city.

By 1:00 AM, the quiet luxury of Le Rêve had been replaced by the gleaming, glass-walled conference room on the 50th floor of the Volkov Tower in Midtown Manhattan.

Cassidy had shed her black waitress apron. She sat at the head of a massive marble conference table wearing an oversized white silk button-down shirt provided by Natalia’s personal stylist, a cup of strong black coffee steaming at her right hand.

Surrounding her were ten of Wall Street’s most elite corporate attorneys and forensic accountants, all working frantically on laptops while oversized screens displayed live international trading markets in London and Tokyo.

"We just verified the Singapore filings," the lead attorney announced, looking up from his screen in disbelief. "Miss Brooks was dead on. Pierce’s shell company committed a massive reporting breach to hide his forty-million-dollar loss. If this hits the SEC desk, his fund is finished."

Victor walked into the conference room, stripping off his suit jacket and rolling up his sleeves. He placed a thick, gold-embossed leather folder on the desk right in front of Cassidy.

"Your contract, Cassidy," Victor said, his eyes filled with profound respect. "Signed by me and approved by the board ten minutes ago. The two-hundred-thousand-dollar signing bonus has already been wire-transferred to your banking institution."

Cassidy unlocked her phone. A private banking notification was sitting on her lock screen:

ALERT: WIRE TRANSFER RECEIVED - $200,000.00 FROM VOLKOV CAPITAL LLC. AVAILABLE BALANCE: $203,450.12.

A wave of emotion washed over her. The crushing weight that had sat on her chest for three agonizing years—the threatening letters from collection agencies, the fear of losing her childhood home, the exhausting double-shifts carrying heavy food trays—instantly dissolved into nothing.

She picked up the Montblanc pen and signed her name at the bottom of the executive contract: Cassidy Brooks, SVP of Eurasian Operations.

"Welcome to the firm," Natalia said, leaning against the glass wall with a glass of sparkling water. "Now, let us finish Mr. Pierce."

"He’s already moving," the lead accountant interrupted, pointing at a red spike on the Tokyo market board. "Pierce just authorized an offshore transfer of fifteen million dollars to a private short-selling firm in the Cayman Islands. He’s planning to release a forged smear report on Volkov Capital’s tech holdings at 6:00 AM Eastern time."

Cassidy stood up from her chair. She walked over to the interactive wall screen, tapping the glass to pull up the financial structure of Dominic Pierce's flagship firm, Pierce Tech Global.

"He’s using his Cayman account as collateral to leverage the short position," Cassidy pointed out, her finger tracing the flow of capital. "Which means if his Cayman collateral is frozen by an SEC regulatory order, his main fund automatically triggers a margin call."

"How fast can your legal team file the SEC injunction?" Victor asked his attorneys.

"With the evidence Miss Brooks provided? Two hours," the lead lawyer replied. "It will hit the federal judge’s desk at 4:00 AM."