She did not raise her voice. She moved past Derek and stopped a few feet from Jason, close enough to speak without performing for the room.
"How do you intend to pay for it, Jason?"
For a second he only stared at her. Then he laughed, loud and sharp, a sound meant for everyone listening.
"Cash," he said. "I announced it when I walked in. Cash. Were you not listening, or is comprehension part of the staff training now?"
Chloe glanced at him, then at Lily. "Jason."
"No, it is fine." He smoothed his jacket, recovering the audience he thought he owned. "She wants to help with the sale. Let her help. Cash, sweetheart. Three million, paid in full, today."
Lily said mildly, "Cash meaning what, exactly? Notes in a case? A transfer from an account in your name?"
"It means money," Jason said. "A concept you used to chase quite hard. Some of us stopped chasing and started having it."
"From which account?"
His smile thinned. "That is between me and the dealership."
"Then let us ask the dealership." Lily turned, unhurried, to Derek. "Mr. Sloane, did you verify his funds?"
Derek blinked. Color climbed into his face, and he pulled himself taller, salesman first, man second.
"Mr. Cole is a Senior Vice President at Vanguard Capital," he said. "His standing was confirmed when the appointment was made."
"That was not my question," Lily said. "Did you verify funds for this purchase?"
"I do not discuss a client's finances in the middle of my showroom with, with a walk-in."
"Your showroom," Lily repeated, without any edge at all. "Did you see a bank statement? A letter from Vanguard? Anything at all?"
Derek glanced at Jason for rescue and found none. "We operate on trust with clients of this level. There are procedures, and they are followed at the appropriate stage. Nobody walks in here and demands proof from a man like Mr. Cole because some nobody got curious."
"Some nobody asked a simple question," Chloe said quietly.
Jason turned to her. "Chloe, do not engage. This is beneath you."
"She asked you how you will pay," Chloe said. "You keep answering me instead."
"It is handled," Jason said. "Everything is handled. Derek, perhaps your guest could wait somewhere else while adults finish a transaction."
Lily kept her eyes on Derek. "One more question, then. Did you verify funds for a prototype that is not for sale?"
Derek gave a short, offended laugh. "Everything in this room has a path to sale if the buyer is serious. Management decides the final terms. My job is to bring serious buyers to the table, and Mr. Cole is serious."
"Did anyone in management tell you this car could be sold?"
"Conversations happen," Derek said. "Private conversations. A bold offer changes a conversation. Three million dollars changes most conversations."
"And if the offer could not be paid?" Lily asked.
"It can," Jason snapped. "Stop implying otherwise. You have no idea what my position is, what I earn, what I have access to. You never did understand scale. That was always your problem. Small shop, small thinking."
Grace, behind the reception desk, had gone still. The couple Derek had been courting that morning drifted closer, drinks forgotten. A young man in work boots stopped pretending to study a Meridian and watched.
Lily let Jason's words finish echoing before she answered. "You are right about one thing. I should ask someone who deals in facts."
She turned her head slightly, no more than that.
"Marcus."
Marcus Webb stepped in beside her, exactly where he had been waiting, a slim dark folder held against his chest like something he had carried a long way to deliver.
"Yes," he said.
"May I see the file, please?"
"Of course."
Jason frowned at the folder, then at Marcus, then back at Lily, and his laugh came again, thinner this time. "What is this? What file? Marcus, what is she doing with dealership paperwork? Who is she?"
Marcus did not answer him. He held the folder out to Lily with both hands, the way a man hands over something that matters, and she took it the same way.
"Thank you," she said.
"You are welcome," Marcus said, and stepped back half a pace, leaving her alone in the clear space in front of the Aurelion One.
Lily opened the folder. She did not hurry. She looked at the first page, and the showroom, which had been full of Jason's voice a moment ago, went quiet around the small, ordinary sound of paper.
Jason said, "Lily."
She turned the page.
"Lily, whatever that is, put it down."
She said nothing. She read, calmly, while the dread she could feel gathering behind him finally found its way into his face.
Chapter 22: Not for Sale