The back of the glossy black sedan was quiet, insulated from the distant rumble of Central Avenue's evening traffic.
Troy Newman sat with his phone resting on his knee, the screen's harsh white glare illuminating his tight, drawn features. His fingers tapped a sharp, agitated rhythm against the leather armrest.
He opened the 'Veyra Financial Network' app, hoping to catch some piece of news he could leverage—a crack in the market, a sudden shift in commodity prices, anything. Instead, the bold top headline hit him like a physical blow.
[RIVERS AVIATION INCORPORATED: JAKE RIVERS CAPITALIZES NEW FIRM WITH 500M VM IN UNENCUMBERED EQUITY; ROYAL AVIATION STOCK PLUMMETS 24%]
Troy tapped the article, his eyes scanning the details in disbelief. Five hundred million marks. Pure, unencumbered liquid cash. Injected into a brand-new corporate entity on day one, fully absorbed without taking on a single copper of debt leverage.
