Chapter 36: Walking Away Clean

Meanwhile, across the city at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Harper answered every question honestly and conscientiously...

She didn’t hide what she knew regarding the creative operations at Apex Studios, nor did she say a word more than necessary about what she didn’t.

Her demeanor made it abundantly clear to Agent Shepherd that she wasn’t lying.

Supervisory Agent Saul Thorne leaned against the cinderblock wall of the federal corridor, his gaze fixed on the door of Interview Room Four.

His career in the Financial Crimes division required clinical detachment. But today, an uncontrollable tightness constricted his chest, and his mind was a mess.

Harper had never mentioned Jude Lawson in front of him. Not a single word.

He had never imagined that Harper, an indie filmmaker who preferred vintage thrift stores to corporate boardrooms, would have any connection to a corporate raider like Lawson.

Time ticked by... The initial shock slowly gave way to fear.

He was afraid that Jude Lawson’s shadow-laced financial empire would truly implicate Harper.

He was even more afraid that she would cover for Lawson and become a federal accomplice!

About forty minutes later, the door of Interview Room Four finally opened.

Agent Shepherd was the first to emerge. He looked up, adjusting his tie, and saw Saul Thorne waiting by the door. He walked over and spoke in a low voice.

"Agent Thorne, we’ve asked everything we needed to regarding her appointment," Agent Shepherd said. "We didn’t find anything suspicious. Your girlfriend and Jude Lawson appear to have a protective brother-sister dynamic, but she genuinely doesn’t know much about his offshore financial affairs."

Saul Thorne’s pupils constricted. Brother and sister... this was obviously not just ordinary corporate employment!

"You had no idea she was the President of his studio?" Agent Shepherd asked, reading Saul’s expression.

Saul Thorne shook his head, a hollow feeling settling in his stomach.

Agent Shepherd sighed.

He reached out, patted Saul’s shoulder, and tried to comfort him. "You need to try and relax about this, Saul. The division will be investigating your girlfriend’s corporate footprint closely. If she isn’t found to be harboring his illicit funds, you don’t need to take this so seriously."

Soon, Harper also came out of the room, escorted by the female agent. Her expression was serene.

Agent Shepherd knew Saul Thorne would have things to say to his girlfriend, so he gave them space, beckoning the female agent to leave the corridor with him.

Saul Thorne looked at Harper, struggling to find his voice, but ultimately, he didn’t know what to say.

Harper smiled faintly. "Walk me out first."

They walked out of the federal building side by side. Saul Thorne didn’t reach out to take her hand, but Harper felt no sense of loss at the distance between them.

She knew Saul Thorne, and she understood the nature of his badge.

Saul Thorne didn’t stop walking until they were out the main entrance, standing on the steps under the overcast city sky. He looked at Harper, his expression complex, and finally spoke.

"Why didn’t you tell me?" Saul demanded.

Harper tilted her head up slightly to look at him.

To this day, she had never tired of looking at Saul Thorne’s face...

It was still just as handsome and sharply defined as when they had first met.

But at this precise moment, she was more clear-headed than she had ever been in her entire life.

"I’m not a suspect, Saul, much less a criminal. I have no obligation to come clean to you about my employment or my corporate benefactors," Harper said, her tone remarkably calm. "Besides, my relationship with him is my own personal affair. It has nothing to do with anyone else in this building, and I’m not obligated to tell anyone about it."

A flash of pain crossed Saul Thorne’s eyes, his voice rising in desperation. "But he’s not a good person, Harper! He is a ruthless corporate raider! You’re so close to him, you had to have known he destroys companies and ruins lives!"

"I understand what you mean." Harper nodded, her tone shifted, hardening slightly. "But everyone in this world has their own unique perspective from which they view people and things."

Saul stared at her, bewildered.

"From your point of view at the Bureau, of course he’s a bad man," Harper continued. "From the point of view of Wall Street, and maybe even most of the corporate world, he’s a monster. But to the artists he protects... to the people he elevates from nothing... and from my point of view... he’s a good brother and an incredible mentor."

Saul Thorne’s expression twisted into agony.

And Harper knew of Saul Thorne’s dedication to his identity as a federal agent.

So she gave a smile and said, "Saul, I’ve been very happy during my time with you. But now, we both know it’s over."

From the very beginning, all she had wanted was a simple romance...

But now, Jude Lawson was like a thorn that would forever be stuck in Saul Thorne’s heart.

Once a rift of this magnitude formed between them, the relationship would no longer be pure but would instead become complicated by federal subpoenas and mutual suspicion.

Harper would never let herself get trapped in such a compromised relationship. She had to get out now.

Because she would not sever ties with Jude Lawson for Saul Thorne. Even if the federal government managed to freeze Jude’s assets or put him on trial, she still had to manage Apex Studios for him.

Furthermore, the classified documents regarding the studio’s creative equity division and several of Jude’s private assets were resting in her safe.

This was Jude Lawson’s trust in her, and she would not betray it.

Saul Thorne looked at Harper, the words to ask her to stay caught in his throat.

If she said it was over, then it was over.

After a long silence, Harper knew Saul Thorne had accepted the end of their relationship. She looked at him, her smile still warm.

"I know you and your division will continue to investigate me and the studio. You’re a good federal agent; it’s your duty," Harper said softly. "Be it me, or Jude... if that day ever comes where you have to cross that line... I won’t blame you."

"Harper..." Saul Thorne murmured.

Harper just shook her head.

"Goodbye, Saul Thorne."

Harper turned and walked away down the steps without looking back.

Saul Thorne stood rooted to the spot, watching her figure recede into the distance until she disappeared around the corner.

Bound by his badge and his pride, he still didn’t say the words to make her stay...

Meanwhile, Harper got into her vintage car parked at the curb.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, she let out a sigh.

The sudden end of the relationship didn’t seem to have a devastating impact on her; she just felt deep down that it was a genuine shame.

But as she pulled away from the curb, heading back toward the monolith of Apex Media, her mind was at peace. Her loyalty belonged to Jude Lawson.