Friday evening arrived in Aurelia under a blanket of deep dusk, the city's skyline glowing with millions of cascading LED lights. The chill in the air was sharp, but inside the bustling commercial heart of the capital, the energy was electric.
Near the center of the financial district stood the Meridian Crown—a sprawling, multi-tiered culinary haven featuring marble pillars, warm ambient lighting, and glass enclosures that looked out over the private gardens below. Owned under the expanding portfolio of Golden Investments, it was renowned as the premier dining location for high society, foreign diplomats, and corporate elites.
At nineteen hundred sharp, a gleaming silver sedan pulled up to the valet bay at the entrance of the Crown.
