Chapter 3: The Weight of Inheritance
"Because I've seen what happens when people look the other way to keep their paychecks," I said, pulling my hand back just enough to fold the towel neatly across my apron. "My uncle was a chief engineer in this building when the old management restructured. He raised flags about the structural integrity of these exact service shafts. They didn't fire him—they discredited him until he walked away himself."
Marquina walked slowly toward the back corner of the room, where a heavy metal safe was bolted into the cinderblock wall. He didn't speak for a long moment, the quiet hum of the server racks filling the silence between us.
"My father built this empire on concrete and handshakes," Marquina said quietly, his back to us as he spun the combination dial of the safe with practiced ease. "He believed loyalty was something you bought with high salaries and corner offices. He didn't understand that ambition has no price tag. The men who smile at you across a boardroom table are often the ones holding the knife behind their backs."
He pulled a thick, leather-bound ledger from the safe—an old-fashioned physical record of asset transfers and security contracts that predated digital encryption. He dropped it onto the metal desk with a heavy thud that rattled the empty coffee cups.
"Open it to page eighty-four," Marquina instructed, looking at the bodyguard. "Tell me if the corporate seal matches the shell company currently buying up our debt."
The bodyguard flipped the pages open, his thumb tracing the embossed stamps. "It matches, sir. Every single line. The same lawyers, the same offshore routing numbers."
Marquina turned back to face me, his expression unreadable, though the tension around his eyes had eased into something colder and more dangerous. "You're too smart to be pushing a broom on the night shift, employee. What’s your real name?"
May you like
"Clara," I said, lifting my chin. "And I like having a job where people don't look at me unless something is broken. Usually, it's just plumbing. Tonight, it's your security detail."
A faint, humorless ghost of a smile touched the corner of Marquina's mouth. "Clara. Stay close. We aren't done clearing this building yet."
