Chapter One: The Stolen Blueprint

Structural restoration: feasible. Optimal use: three-bedroom urban residence with independent design studio. Minimum effective renovation: $28,400. Post-restoration market value: $248,000–$276,000. Critical risk: northwest beam decay. Removing the east dining wall will cause collapse. Lena snatched her hand away. The vision vanished, and dizziness drove her against the doorframe. She touched the wall again. The golden structure returned, even outlining a corroded pipe. At the marked spot, she lifted the carpet. Intact walnut parquet lay beneath it. For the first time, eighty thousand dollars no longer felt like a tombstone. It was a problem that could be measured and divided.