Chapter Four: The Missing Twelve Seconds

Roland called, his voice cold. “You're using our phantom-bid lesson against us?” “Tuition is eight hundred thousand. Fair enough.” Seamount signed before dawn. At noon, Northport rejected Royal Sanctum. Sanctum immediately withdrew Quinn's loan proposal. The press finally recognized the injured burden hidden inside the offer. NORTHPORT MISSES CHANCE TO CASH IN became LIN FORCES GIANT TO REVEAL POISONED BAIT. In Round Seven against second-place River Crown, Costaro lost the ball in the sixty-eighth minute. This time he did not surrender those twelve seconds. He chased forty meters, made the tackle, rose, and sprinted into the box. Marcus's long ball dropped eight yards out.