The glass doors of Sterling Apex Motors opened at exactly nine in the morning.

Inside, everything looked impossibly expensive.

Polished white marble stretched across the showroom floor.

Thin strips of light ran through the ceiling.

Behind enormous glass walls sat machines that most people would never even see on the road.

A black hypercar with doors raised toward the ceiling stood beneath a spotlight.

Beside it was a silver machine worth more than most houses.

And at the center of the showroom sat the newest addition—a midnight-blue Veyronis X9, a hand-built hypercar limited to twelve units worldwide.

Its price was $4.8 million.

That morning, nobody paid attention to the young woman who walked through the door.

Her name was Elena Brooks.

She was twenty-six.

She wore a simple gray sweater, faded blue jeans, and white sneakers that had clearly been worn many times.

Her brown hair fell loosely over her shoulders.

She carried no designer handbag.

No expensive watch.

No jewelry.

And she didn't look like someone who had come to buy a $4.8 million car.

She looked like someone who had accidentally entered the wrong building.

A salesman named Grant Keller noticed her immediately.

He leaned toward his colleague.

"Another one."

His colleague glanced over.

"Window shopper?"

"Probably."

They laughed quietly.

Elena heard them.

She pretended she hadn't.

Instead, she walked toward the midnight-blue hypercar.

Her eyes widened.

For several seconds, she simply stared.

She had seen photographs of the X9.

But photographs didn't capture the way the car looked beneath the lights.

The carbon-fiber body seemed almost liquid.

The doors were raised.

The front headlights were narrow and aggressive.

Elena whispered:

"Beautiful."

A man beside the vehicle heard her.

He was wearing a perfectly tailored navy suit.

His name was Richard Cole.

He was the dealership's senior sales executive.

He looked Elena up and down.

"Do you need help finding something?"

Elena smiled politely.

"Yes."

Richard waited.

"I'd like to know if I can see the X9."

He glanced at the car.

"See it?"

"Yes."

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No."

Richard smiled.

"I'm afraid we only allow scheduled clients to inspect that vehicle."

Elena looked confused.

"I only want to look."

"I understand."

His tone made it clear that he didn't.

Elena stepped back.

"I saw it online."

"Many people do."

She nodded.

Then she noticed something on a nearby table.

A black key fob.

The same symbol as the X9.

She pointed.