Chapter Two: The €4.7 Million Empty Cheque

At one in the morning, the top floor of Zagreb's Crown Hotel was still ablaze with light. Lin and Su had no invitation. They had taken a budget flight, rented a car whose engine warning stayed on, and booked the cheapest room with Harborbridge's final public-relations funds. Upstairs, three giants were taking turns showing the Kovac family private jets, image-rights packages, and visions of trophies. “Redfort offered eighteen million guaranteed plus seven in bonuses. Real Madeira offered twenty. Northcastle will pay the agency commission separately,” Su said, reading messages from other executives. “If we go upstairs, we become the joke.”