CRIMSON IVY

Chapter 14: The Final Exam

​The counter-strike happened during finals week, a cruel irony that wasn't lost on Sloane. While the rest of the Blackwood seniors were huddled over coffee and flashcards, she was tucked into a corner of the law library, her laptop connected to a secure, encrypted server. Every time she bypassed a firewall, she felt a rush of adrenaline more potent than any drug.

​She was tracking the money. Following the digital trail her father had left in his codes, she found the Sokolovs' primary artery: a shell company disguised as a luxury car import business. With a final, decisive keystroke, she didn't just delete their funds—she redirected the evidence to the federal authorities.

​Outside the library’s gothic windows, the world shifted. The rhythmic Swish-Swish of the windshield wipers on the black SUVs parked at the curb increased. Suddenly, the silence of the quad was shattered by the distant, wailing sirens of federal agents. Not the campus security, and not the local police who were in Dante’s pocket, but the heavy hitters.

​Sloane closed her laptop and walked out of the library. Across the quad, standing by the fountain, Dante was waiting. He looked perfectly composed, his arms crossed over his chest. He watched as the agents hauled the Sokolov associates out of their "legitimate" offices in the campus business park.

​He didn't move until Sloane reached him. The rain started to fall, a light mist that turned the world grey. Dante reached out, his hand tangling in her hair, his thumb tracing the gold ring on her finger that finally felt like it belonged there.

​"It’s done," she said, her voice steady. "The Sokolovs are being frozen out. My father is safe."

​"The debt is paid," Dante agreed, his voice a low, hot-blooded rumble that vibrated through her. He leaned down, his eyes searching hers for any sign of regret. "But the marriage, Sloane? That wasn't part of the debt. That was the only thing I did for myself."

​Sloane looked at the ring, then at the man who had stolen her quiet life and replaced it with a throne. She didn't want the library anymore. She wanted the fire. "Then we’d better get back to the estate, Dante. We have a dynasty to build, and I’m already late for my first briefing."