Chapter 10: The Iron Ledger of Oakhaven
The ashes of the Great General Julian Lascourine had barely settled before the sharks began to circle. While the public saw a grieving daughter, the financial world saw a "middle-class girl" who had inherited a fortress she didn't know how to defend.
They were wrong.
Lulan sat in the General's old study, the dark oak walls absorbing the blue light of a dozen holographic screens. She wasn't looking at funeral arrangements; she was looking at the **Short-Sell orders** hitting the Lascourine Medical Group.
"The Vanguard Fund and the Black-Stone Group have moved million against us," Kael reported. He was sitting on a plush rug, three different tablets balanced on his knees. "They think that without the General's military contracts, our stock is just glass."
"Let them sell," Lulan said, her voice as calm as a frozen lake. "In fact, Kael, I want you to leak a rumor that our primary research facility in Zurich has been 'compromised' by the transition of power."
### The Baiting of the Sharks
"Mother?" Lucian looked up from his weapon-cleaning kit. "If we tank the stock ourselves, we lose the liquid capital needed for the hospital expansion."
"We aren't tanking it, Lucian. We're **re-branding** it," Lulan explained. She stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the city of Oakhaven. "The General's wealth was built on the threat of death. My wealth will be built on the promise of life. We are going to buy back every single share at a discount, and then we are going to announce the **Lazarus Protocol**."
Bastian, always the one with an eye for the "Face," grinned. "A fire sale followed by a miracle. The markets will go into a frenzy."
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### The First Intrusion
The quiet of the study was broken by a sharp *chirp* from the security console.
"Movement in the North Hall," Silas's voice came through the comms. "Two intruders. They aren't paparazzi. They're using **Active-Camo** tech—the kind only the Belgravian Secret Service uses."
Lulan didn't flinch. She picked up a surgical pen—a hidden high-voltage stun device—and tucked it into her sleeve. "Lucian, clear the hall. Silas, don't kill them. I want to see who they report to."
A moment later, a muffled thud echoed outside the door. Lucian stepped back into the room, dragging two unconscious men by their collars. He tossed them onto the rug next to Kael's tablets.
Lulan knelt beside them. She didn't check their pockets for ID. She checked the **sub-dermal implants** behind their ears.
"Serial numbers from the Royal Guard," Lulan whispered. "Leonard is getting desperate. He didn't even wait for the mourning period to end before sending his dogs to sniff for the General's secret accounts."
### The Warning Shot
Lulan took one of the men's burner phones. She dialed a number she had memorized years ago—the Prince's private line.
"Leonard," Lulan said when the line clicked open. "You sent your men to the wrong house. My father is in the ground, but I am very much alive."
*"Lascourine,"* Leonard's voice was a mixture of fear and arrogance. *"You have no right to the General's tactical data. That belongs to the Crown. Hand it over, and I might let you keep the hospital."*
"I'm a doctor, Leonard," Lulan replied, her eyes flashing with a lethal light. "I don't hand over data. I perform extractions. If you send another man into my home, I will release the medical records of every mistress you've visited in the last three years to the National Press. Your 'Crown' won't survive the scandal."
She crushed the phone under her heel.
She looked at Silas, who stood by the door, his eyes reflecting the fire in the hearth.
"The General wanted me to be a blade," Lulan said. "He got his wish. But a blade doesn't just cut—it carves a path. We're going to Paris."