By Wednesday morning, news of Amani’s "disappearance" at the Ol Njorowa site had been discreetly leaked to the Nairobi financial press.
Vance Global’s public relations firm issued a brief statement expressing deep regret over the tragic accidental fall of Mrs Amani Vance during a field inspection. In London, Vance Global’s stock price rose after the company announced that the Rift concession was expected to proceed on schedule. The statement made no mention of Amani’s role in the Sun-Gazer Trust. Hawthorne had already submitted a fraudulent emergency notice claiming that Amani was missing and incapacitated, attempting to have himself appointed interim custodian of the Trust.
Unknown to Hawthorne, Kaelen had already submitted the encrypted archive to the medical regulator and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) under sealed cover late Tuesday night.
Inside a private office on the top floor of the Sun-Gazer Trust Building in Nairobi’s Upper Hill district, Amani stood before a full-length mirror.
She no longer wore the simple linen dresses of her past. She was dressed in a tailored black wool suit with sharp, structured shoulders, paired with a dark gold silk blouse. Around her neck sat a heavy, antique necklace of hand-carved brass and amber—the official seal of the primary trustee.
Kaelen walked into the room, holding a legal portfolio.
"The High Court of Kenya has just issued Emergency Preservation Order 402," Kaelen reported. "Our solicitors presented your sworn affidavit confirming that you were alive and had never authorised the transfer. All attempts by Hawthorne to assume temporary control of the Sun-Gazer Trust have been frozen."
"And the land registry?" Amani asked, adjusting her cuffs.
"The Nakuru Land Registrar has confirmed that the surface parcel containing Sector Four has been registered to the Sun-Gazer Land Trust since 1924," Kaelen said with a smile. "Hawthorne’s concession application cannot proceed without the Trust’s land-access approval, geological-data licence, and community-benefit agreement."
Amani picked up her briefcase. "What about Elena Sterling?"
"Sterling BioTech has secured sixty million dollars in pre-launch licensing commitments for the anti-ageing peptide," Kaelen said. "They are scheduled to announce the filing of International Patent Application SG-809 during the summit’s afternoon investment forum."
"Then we will give them an announcement they did not plan for," Amani said calmly.
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