Chapter One: The Stolen Blueprint

The minimum budget was still ten times her cash, but the phrase “minimum effective” suggested a route. She could presell design services, barter for reclaimed materials, and trade a share of the profit for labor. What she needed was not a miracle, but an execution plan credible enough to fund. Sitting on the dusty floor, she pulled her laptop from the box. By one in the morning, she had forty-eight pages: stop the water, stabilize the structure, then build the sales presentation. Every dollar was tied to an increase in value. The front room would be leased early as a model studio. She sent the plans to Noah Chen, her old classmate and a structural engineer.