Chapter 22: The Trap is Sprung

By 7:45 PM on Friday, the street outside the Chelsea Foundry was completely gridlocked.

Black luxury sedans and sports cars lined the wet pavement, their exhaust pipes sending white plumes of steam into the chilly air.

A massive crowd of onlookers, art students, and

Chapter 23: The Judgment of the Light

Silence filled the Chelsea Foundry after the curtains fell.

Three monumental panels stood beneath unforgiving white light.

The ballroom.

The hospital.

The woman rising from black water.

VIP guests, critics, investors, journalists, and board members stared

Chapter 24: The Fall of the House of Sterling

Four months later, spring arrived cautiously in New York.

Sterling Enterprises had entered court-supervised restructuring. The Vanguard merger was unwound, and independent directors assumed control of the company’s remaining legitimate operations.

The