Chapter 165: I Called Him

Evren pushed off the submerged stone ledge, wading through the warm mineral water toward the wide steps.

He climbed out onto the heated basalt floor, grabbed a thick towel from the warming rack, and dried off his chest and arms. Pulling on a comfortable black lounge robe, he tied the belt around his waist and turned back toward the pool.

"Come on," Evren said, nodding toward the open glass doors of the adjoining lounge. "Let’s dry off and get out of the mist."

Amber let go of the edge, waded over to the steps, and pulled herself up onto the deck. Zephyra followed right behind her, water streaming off her dark swimwear. While Zephyra wrapped herself in a long slate-gray robe, Amber grabbed a dry linen towel and knelt beside the shallow bench where Calista sat.

Amber helped Calista dry her hair and shoulders, then lifted her out of the water and settled her into the cushioned magitech wheelchair. She pulled a warm fleece blanket over Calista’s lap, tucking the edges around her numb legs before wrapping a white robe around herself.

Amber wheeled Calista through the double doors into the private lounge.

Director Mikay stood next to the low mahogany table with his leather briefcase placed neatly on the smooth wood. Seeing the women enter in robes, Mikay lowered his gaze and adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses with a slight nod.

"Good evening, ladies," he greeted.

Amber parked Calista’s chair beside the long couch, sat down on the armrest, and crossed her legs. Her eyes were sharp with curiosity.

"Alright, Mikay," Amber said, leaning forward. "You can drop the stone-faced butler act now. What drove you three hours up the highway from Veridia in the middle of the night?"

Evren took a seat in the central leather armchair, resting his elbows on his knees. "I called him," he replied, looking around the room. "Right after Silas Drake left my lounge on seventy-eight."

Zephyra leaned against the doorframe, her arms folded over her chest. "Meaning Drake’s visit wasn’t just a ’debt cleaning visit’ like you mentioned earlier," she said then paused. "I knew a man like that doesn’t move in broad daylight without a cause," she added in a lower voice.

"Like I said, Drake came to clear a life-debt," Evren explained. "Back in Zone Two, when the volcanic shelf collapsed, I pulled Drake and his team out of an abyssal trench before the hydra crushed them. Drake has too much pride to owe anyone, especially a competitor. So he brought me a leak from inside the High Council."

Calista tilted her head, listening attentively. "A leak about tomorrow’s assembly?"

"About you, Calista," Evren answered. "And your family’s conservatory."

Calista’s breath caught in her throat. Her hands tightened against the fleece blanket over her knees.

"Elder Brandon Caldwell held a private caucus this morning at the Golden Griffin Club," Evren said, keeping his voice level. "He gathered five merchant lords and tried to buy off Solar Crown. Drake turned him down, but the other five signed Caldwell’s petition. Tomorrow at ten o’clock, Caldwell plans to drop an emergency requisition order on Grand Arbiter Kincaid’s desk."

"Requisition?" Amber frowned. "On what grounds? The property belongs to House Vesper. We hold the deed and the master key."

"Caldwell is using two statutory angles," Evren said. "First, the Imperial Herbaria Statutes. Under imperial law, any Grade-A botanical preserve left commercially inactive for over twenty-four months can be declared abandoned and seized by the Commerce Ministry. Second, the court liens Gavin Vance filed against House Vesper two years ago. Gavin is locked in imperial custody awaiting tribunal, but the forged liens were never expunged from the central courthouse register."

Evren looked across the table at Mikay.

"Caldwell thinks he’s dropping an ambush on an outsider who doesn’t know capital law," Evren continued with a cold smile. "He expects us to walk into that council chamber tomorrow morning blind, get hit with the seizure order, and spend six months fighting bureaucracy while his cronies strip the starlight soil bare. That’s why I called Mikay the second Drake walked out the door."

Mikay gave a nod, unlatched the brass locks of his briefcase, and flipped the lid open.

"The Chairman’s directives were clear," Mikay said, pulling out a thick, legal-sized folder bound in dark blue leather. "Defense through litigation would play directly into Caldwell’s hands. An injunction takes weeks, and a tribunal hearing gives them time to freeze the gates. Therefore, our response had to be swift and impossible to challenge."

Mikay opened the first folder and laid a single sheet of parchment on the table. In the center of the page was an official embossed seal stamped in deep purple wax.

"This is an expedited Certificate of Full Lien Satisfaction," Mikay explained, tapping the paper. "While I was on the highway, Attorney Sean Cole dispatched three senior partners already in the capital to the twenty-four-hour Imperial Municipal Court registry here in the capital. We did not contest the validity of Vance’s fraudulent debts. Instead, Apex deposited fourteen million eight hundred thousand dollars in certified bank funds directly into the court’s judicial escrow."

Amber stared at the purple seal, then let out a sharp laugh. "You paid off the entire fake debt in cash?"

"In full," Mikay replied without a flicker of emotion. "Under Imperial Commercial Code Section Forty-Two, once disputed funds are held in judicial escrow, the court is legally required to issue an immediate lien discharge. As of ten-fifteen tonight, House Vesper owes zero debt to any entity in the empire. Caldwell’s debt seizure argument no longer exists."

Calista stared at the purple seal on the table. Her lips parted, her eyes wide as she read the words Discharged in Full stamped across the ledger of her family’s ruined estate.

Two years of suffocating terror and fabricated debt had simply vanished beneath a single wire transfer.

"That solves the liens," Zephyra noted from the doorway, narrowing her dark violet eyes. "What about the dormancy clause? The conservatory has been locked for twenty-four months. You can’t build a functioning pharmaceutical factory between midnight and ten in the morning."

"We don’t need a factory," Evren said. "We just need active commercial purpose."

Mikay pulled a second dossier from his briefcase. This one was bound in clean ivory parchment, tied with a dark crimson ribbon. He set it down beside the court certificate and turned it toward Calista.

Embossed across the cover in silver lettering was a new corporate insignia: a four-pointed starlight crest intertwined with an alchemical vine.

Beneath the crest read: Starlight Pharmaceuticals.

"Under the Imperial Herbaria Act, a botanical preserve cannot be deemed dormant if it is actively bound by a registered corporate research and cultivation contract," Mikay said. "Using Apex Conglomerate’s existing S-Rank commercial charter, Sean Cole drafted and filed an expedited corporate formation tonight. This is the registration for Starlight Pharmaceuticals."

Amber leaned over the armrest, her eyes flicking across the title page before locking onto Evren. A grin spread across her face.

"Starlight Pharmaceuticals," Amber murmured. "You’re establishing a whole new company."

"Not me," Evren said.

He reached across the table, took the ivory folder, and placed it onto the blanket covering Calista’s lap.

Calista looked down at the silver lettering, then looked up at Evren with wide eyes. "Evren... what is this?"

"It’s yours," Evren told her. "I’m not buying your mother’s conservatory from you, Calista. And I’m not turning you into an Apex employee. Starlight Pharmaceuticals belongs to House Vesper. You are the Founder, the Chief Alchemist, and the sole owner of the brand."

Calista shook her head, her breath catching. "I... I can’t even stand up, Evren. My legs don’t work. My mana channels are still damaged. How can I own a pharmaceutical company?"

"Because you’re the last Star Alchemist of House Vesper," Evren answered, looking directly into her eyes. "Your family spent three generations cultivating that starlight soil. You know every root, every leaf, and every potion formula in those domes. Your body is healing, and your hands are already steady enough."

Evren rested his hand over the edge of the folder on her lap.

"Apex Conglomerate isn’t taking over your life," he continued. "We’re acting as your venture partner and your shield. We’re providing an initial twenty-million-dollar capital advance to restore the domes, hire staff, and fund your research. But the company is yours. Nobody will ever take your mother’s legacy from you again."

The room went completely silent.

Calista sat motionless in her chair.

For two years, people had only seen her as a broken tool... someone to lock in iron shackles, someone to drain of starlight blood, someone to rob of her family’s name. No one had ever asked her what she wanted to build. No one had ever placed her future back into her own hands.

Calista looked down at the folder, her eyes stinging as she held back tears.

Mikay reached into his inner suit pocket, pulled out a black-and-gold fountain pen, and set it on top of the dossier.

Beside the pen, he turned back the first page of the folder, revealing a single white parchment titled: Partnership & Registry Authorization.

"The main corporate bylaws and operating covenants are in this binder," Mikay said, gesturing to the thick stack of pages beneath the cover. "Those will take several days to review and finalize."

Evren picked up the fountain pen and placed it between Calista’s fingers, closing her hand around the polished barrel.

"Take the full binder to bed tonight," Evren said, meeting her gaze. "Read through every line at your own pace. If there’s a single rule or clause you don’t like, we’ll cross it out and rewrite it. But this front page is what Sean Cole needs at eight o’clock tomorrow morning."

Evren pointed to the neat, blank line at the bottom of the registration page.

"That line authorizes Sean to register the conservatory under Starlight Pharmaceuticals before the High Council convenes," Evren told her. "Once your name is on that page, Caldwell’s petition dies the second he opens his mouth."

Amber watched from the armrest, her dark brown eyes bright with pride. Beside the door, Zephyra’s mouth curved into an approving smile. Mikay stood waiting at attention, his dispatch seal resting against his briefcase.

Calista looked down at the white sheet on her lap.

Her fingers tightened around the gold pen. She raised her hand and brought the nib down toward the paper, holding the black ink just above the empty line next to Founder & Proprietress.