Chapter 143

• Third Person's POV
• Under the harsh neon gleam of Shadowbane Hospital's seventh floor, Bastien, rattled by the night's chaos and lying on a gurney, had barely registered their existence-he was a relic, tangled in debts that stretched deeper than memory, and no longer commanded the regard of those around him.
• The heirs, glinting with opportunistic hunger, lingered by the operating doors, lips sharp with words of inheritance. When the patriarch finally drew breath, they exchanged glances-some of relief, some of irritation-but none had the weight of consequence.