The air inside the grand auditorium of the State Capital’s primary Auction house had grown heavy, saturated with a tension so thick it felt like a physical pressure against the lungs of everyone present. Marshal Kane leaned back in his front-row seat, adjusting the cuffs of his pristine white blazer. A smug, oily smile played on his lips—a look he had been perfecting for the last ten minutes. In his mind, he had already composed the speech he would deliver to Ace Kane the moment the young man finally bowed his head in defeat.
“Hey, you little backwater stray,” Marshal whispered, loud enough for his voice to carry to Suzy’s ears. “What’s the matter? Why did you stop playing with the big boys? It’s only reached thirty-nine point five million. Taking a plot of this caliber at such a bargain
