Chapter 4 - The Woman in the Dark
The heavy, lethal silence dragged on for three agonizing seconds. Gideon’s dark eyes were completely locked onto the silver wolf in Harper's hair. It was impossible. It had to be a trick of the light. But the intricate carving of the winter roses was undeniable.
Jackson noticed the mafia boss staring and felt his stomach drop into an abyss of pure terror.
"Guards!" Jackson shrieked, his voice cracking into a high-pitched panic. "I said get her out of here immediately! Take the hairpin from her, she obviously stole it!"
The guards took one hesitant step forward.
Gideon didn't even turn his head. He simply raised one single finger. The guards instantly stopped, paralyzed by the unspoken, lethal threat.
Harper stood her ground. Her periwinkle-blue dress was ruined, and she was surrounded by enemies, but she refused to back down. She lifted her chin with a fierce, defensive pride. Slowly, with a trembling hand, she reached into her dark, messy hair.
She carefully removed the antique silver hairpin, holding it out toward the terrifying man in the black suit.
"I didn't steal it," Harper said, her voice firm and remarkably steady despite the chaotic circumstances. She looked directly into Gideon's cold eyes. "An elderly woman gave it to me."
"Liar!" Jackson screamed, sweat completely soaking his tuxedo collar. "She's a lying thief!"
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Harper ignored the corrupt billionaire. "I work as a night cleaner at the Miller Estate on the edge of the city," Harper continued, her voice echoing clearly in the silent ballroom. "There is a woman locked in the underground isolation ward. She has been there for years. Tonight, she slipped this pin through the feeding slot. She begged me to escape. She told me to find the wolf, and tell him the roses are dying."
👉 Harper had delivered the cryptic message, but the tiny detail on the back of the hairpin was about to freeze the mafia boss's blood.
