Chapter One: After the Flashbulbs

At 4:17 p.m., the wind on the twenty-seventh floor of Obsidian Entertainment was artificial. It came from fans on all four sides, lifting the silver hem of Wen Qi's gown without disturbing the lock of hair above her forehead that had been set three separate times. Outside the livestream frame, twelve people held their breath. Lin Jianwei knelt on the floor with a pearl pin between her teeth and her fingers inside a split hidden seam. “Forty seconds,” said Tang Li, the executive manager. The tear was as long as a hand. A couture loan should not have failed like this unless someone had tampered with the lining. There was no time to investigate.