Chapter Three: Admission to the Evernight Court

“Choose one.” “Then a third option: everyone learns the Gu family cannot settle tomorrow.” Shen pressed send. Su had scheduled the margin screenshots and receipt ledger for release. Phones vibrated throughout the hall; offshore investors began redeeming Gu fund shares. Gu laughed softly. “Three million to lever a century of family credit. You belong here.” He snapped his fingers. The case unlocked, and the black bars hiding the four trust authorizers vanished. Every name was Shen Yao. The authorizations spanned ten years. The earliest was signed when he was twenty-two, complete with a genuine paper fingerprint. Shen remembered the date: the day he received his first scholarship and signed a stack of bank forms.