Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The Backless Gown

A single, tactical flashlight clicked on, its harsh white beam illuminating the center of the room. Marco stood by the elevator, holding a suppressed submachine gun, his team already positioning themselves behind Julian’s mercenaries, who were frozen with red laser dots painted across their chests.

Julian scrambled backward, his back hitting the glass window. "You're insane! If I don't check in with my server every ten minutes, the files go live to the FBI! You'll ruin everything you built!"

Enzo stepped into the beam of light, his expression entirely devoid of mercy. He didn't pull a gun. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, encrypted flash drive—the identical twin to the one Nathan had left behind.

"Your server was hosted in a private data center in Rosemont, Julian," Enzo said, his voice a low, terrifying rumble. "My men took the building twenty minutes ago. The dead-man's switch isn't routing to the FBI. It’s routing to my personal trash bin."

Julian’s face went entirely slack, his skin turning a sickly grey under the white flashlight beam. He looked at Enzo, then turned his desperate gaze to Harper, who stood just outside the light, her emerald gown shimmering.

"Harper, please," Julian begged, his voice cracking, the arrogant Ivy League charm completely shattered. "We're family. Preston was a monster, I know that! He hurt me too! He controlled me! I just wanted the money to get away from his shadow! You know what that’s like!"

Harper walked slowly into the light. She looked down at him, her eyes completely cold. She reached down, took the digital tablet from the table, and calmly dropped it onto the marble floor, shattering the glass screen beneath her heel.

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"You don't get to use his name to excuse your choices, Julian," Harper said, her voice echoing off the glass windows. "My father used a belt to make me small. You used his money to try and do the same thing to a hundreds of children who have already suffered enough. You aren't a victim, Julian. You're just the next monster in line."

She turned her back on him, the scars on her ivory skin glowing under the light. "He’s all yours, Enzo."