Chapter Two: After Nine Matches

But the ninth appearance approached. Graycastle sent a legal notice claiming the automatic extension followed the loan. One more match, they said, and Northport owed two years of inflated wages. “Put him in the stands,” Hall said publicly. “Destroy your own hero.” Lin touched the notice. [True intent: manufacture a dispute and force a €3m early purchase.] The old contract said ten official matches “representing Graycastle.” Only an unsigned loan draft used the words professional competition. Graycastle had stamped the wrong appendix. At the press conference, Lin projected both documents. “Marcus will play his tenth, twentieth, and thirtieth games. If Northport's matches represent Graycastle, they are welcome to claim our league points too.”