Chapter Two: A Construction Site Funded with $2,600

Noah arrived the next morning with testing equipment. He emerged from the attic covered in sawdust. “One-point-seven meters of decay. The joint ends are sound.” He slapped his report on a folding table. “Your guess was an X-ray. But the beams, shoring, and permit will cost six thousand.” Lena pushed three contracts toward him. She had presold six months of desks in the future street-front studio to three freelancers, raising $4,800. A salvage yard would exchange windows and old brass hardware for promotional renderings. Noah would receive two thousand in cash and two percent of the sale profit. “You sold rooms that don’t exist?” “I sold a fixed delivery date and an open ledger.”