Chapter 7 - The Faded Memory
The two security guards reached for the weapons holstered under their jackets, responding to Jackson's frantic, screaming order.
They didn't even manage to unclip their holsters.
In a blur of cinematic, calculated violence, Gideon’s own shadow detail—five massive men in identical black suits who had been blending into the crowd—drew their suppressed weapons simultaneously. Five red laser dots instantly painted the chests of Jackson's security guards. The guards froze, slowly raising their empty hands in total surrender, completely abandoning their corrupt boss.
The ballroom erupted into panicked gasps, but no one dared to run.
Gideon didn't even flinch at the drawn weapons. He calmly reached his large hand into the inner breast pocket of his tailored black suit jacket.
Slowly, carefully, he pulled out a heavily worn, faded photograph.
He held it up right beside the antique silver hairpin. The photograph showed a much younger Gideon standing next to a beautiful, smiling woman with dark hair. And resting perfectly in her hair in the photograph was the exact same silver wolf and winter roses hairpin.
Gideon looked intensely into Harper’s deep eyes. He didn't see a muddy, ruined girl anymore. He saw an absolute savior. He saw an angel who had risked her own life, crawling through mud and dodging corrupt guards, just to bring a message to a man she didn't even know.
A subtle, powerful emotional pause settled heavily over the room as Gideon carefully placed the photograph back over his heart.
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"She's my mother," Gideon said, his voice deadly quiet, echoing with a promise of absolute, uncompromising violence against anyone who stood in his way. He looked at Harper. "Take me to her now."
👉 Gideon and Harper were about to leave, but the mafia boss had to deliver a brutal verdict to the traitor before walking out the door.
