Chapter 51 The Vault

• The hum inside the gallery vault is a hush no one notices — old metal breathing under marble and hush-money paintings.
• Ellerei stands with her back to a faux Monet, nails tapping her clutch while the mark Langford talks himself in circles about provenance and collectors and deals made behind locked doors.
• She nods, polite, poison-sweet, eyes flicking just once to the slim gap where the hidden safe’s seam glints behind the frame.