### Chapter 41: Shadows and Echoes
The city never sleeps, but it knows how to pretend. As dawn broke over the skyline, casting a pale glow over rain-slicked streets, the illusion of peace was as fragile as the promises whispered in the dark alleys. Max Hastings watched the sunrise from the window of his office, a cigarette dangling from his lips. The smoke curled upward, blending with the early morning fog.
He turned back to the room, where Elena Alvarez was sifting through the contents of The Cardinal's ledger. They had struck a significant blow, but the war was far from over. The ledger was a map of corruption, a guide to the underworld that The Cardinal had cultivated with meticulous precision. And somewhere in its pages lay the key to finishing what they had started.
