How to Tame a Silver Fox – Episode 40
The emergency lights painted the gala hall red as guests pushed toward the exits. Chris pressed a handkerchief to Harper’s injured shoulder, but she kept watching the service door through which Sloane had disappeared.
“It’s a shallow cut,” she told him. “Go before he reaches the street.”
Chris refused to leave her unprotected until Christina arrived with two federal agents. Only then did he follow Sloane’s trail into the lower corridors.
Harper should have remained with the medics. Instead, she checked the server status through Maria’s connection and discovered that the upload had completed before the drive vanished. Sloane could steal the device, but not the evidence already transmitted.
Cole traced the building blackout to the underground parking level. A vehicle registered to Sebastian’s foundation had started less than a minute earlier.
Harper relayed the location to Chris, then joined Christina in the elevator. Christina held the gala microphone she had used to expose her father, still broadcasting through the public stream.
“If Sloane talks,” Harper said, “keep him on camera.” Exposure had become their strongest protection.
They reached the garage as Chris blocked the vehicle’s exit. Sloane stood beside the open driver’s door with the stolen drive in one hand and a gun in the other.
Evan emerged from behind a concrete pillar. He had caused the blackout to reach Sloane before the agents, but his plan had failed when Sloane shot the man escorting him.
“End it,” Sloane ordered. “You’ve spent eight years obeying me to keep Cole alive.”
Cole’s voice came through Evan’s phone. Maria had connected father and son over the live channel. “I don’t need you to become him for me.”
Evan lowered his weapon. Sloane fired, but Chris pulled him behind the pillar as the bullet struck concrete.
Harper activated the garage fire barrier from the wall panel. A steel gate dropped behind Sloane’s vehicle, cutting off his escape.
Christina stepped into view with the microphone raised. “Tell everyone what you made my father do.” Her voice carried through thousands of phones watching the stream.
Sloane aimed at her, and Evan tackled him before he could fire. The gun skidded beneath the car while Chris pinned Sloane to the ground.
Federal agents arrived moments later. This time they secured Sloane under multiple cameras, while the completed upload froze every account Caroline had identified.
At the hospital, Harper received stitches and found Mark waiting in a wheelchair. He thanked Chris for bringing her back alive, but gratitude did not erase what he had seen on the security feed.
Harper took Chris’s hand in front of him. She would not allow their relationship to exist only in stolen moments and locked rooms.
Mark looked down at their joined hands, grief and anger replacing relief. “Harper, leave us alone.”
She refused. Mark turned to Chris and spoke the words both men had feared. “You promised to protect my daughter. If you love her, prove it by walking away.”