Chapter One: The Fifty-Million-Euro Scar

At 1:17 in the morning, cold rain began to fall over Paris. Lin Mo pushed his cleaning cart through the underground corridor of Étoile Athletic's medical center. With every turn, the right wheel gave a faint squeak, as if someone in the dark were counting seconds under his breath. This should have been the quietest shift of the week. Instead, the most expensive guest in European football had arrived. León Vega. Twenty-one years old, Uruguayan, striker, twenty-seven league goals in Spain last season. Three hours earlier, Étoile Athletic had announced his fifty-million-euro transfer from Puerto Madrid. Hundreds of supporters had blocked the airport road and sung his name.