churned like a brewing storm as Naomi

he corporate offices lined with gla

ods like a secret shrine

ulled to a stop in front of a wrought-iron gate. Vines coiled up the

ough the windshi

wanted you to go?" D

e said it's where

and pulled out a Glock 19. "Then i

-

t resistance. No secur

ea

view-three stories of stone and timber, a faded symbol of Thorne

the car, gravel shi

go. Late at night, when Julian had whisp

n that she was standing

erimeter while Naom

foyer with high ceilings and a chandelier

her breath shallow. Then she heard it.

pepper spray in her pocket and

her from his favorite classics, the music room where she o

d the study. The door was ajar, and a flickering ligh

an T

if nothing had happened, as if the worl

under his eyes. But his smirk

e a greeting to an o

ld, spine straight. "You

you were always th

lowly. "Sophia left a t

ile fa

u. Knew what you were doing at Westha

. "She was hysterical.

Naomi snapped. "And y

rising. "I didn't

hired someo

ng enough to confi

. What I've built... It's bigger than morality. Bigger tha

be terrified righ

think leaking those files ends me? The publi

he flash drive.

e brave. I'll give you that.

ed into

i te

ove, Delaney's voice

from the de

laney stepped in, gun r

ft when the fire

eer. "The journalist and the mi

" Naomi said. "An

but for the fire poker by the h

the floor, clutching

nce," Naomi sai

her gun. "Why? H

we're not

-

wheeled him out on a stretcher, flanked by federal

aded, hands trembling from the adrenalin

. anticlimactic,

at's because the fig

o testify. Protect the girls.

rst cut," Delaney sa

phia said this was where it started

d. "Or where it

-

th a strange sense of peace. The world knew the truth now. Not just about Julian. But about

e and drafted a message

a powerful man's fall-it's about the silence that let him rise. And how breaking it can change ev

-now felt like a vacuum. Every room was still, yet her mind buzzed with movement. With i

the world had finally stopped pretending Julian Th

d

Mor

ng with the Westhaven story. NYT also

out there, Na

red at th

s

adow. As someone's secret. Even when she tried to

there was n

eep breath a

t hiding anym

-

o – Live

04

Lennox, every inch of her carefully styled by Eden's connections-a soft bl

e the nerves beneath her skin. Je

r of one of the largest whistleblower scandals in the las

throat t

she

not to protect, but to prey. And for too long, he got away

ed with him for over five year

e price. But before she died, she left behind the truth. I didn't want to be

use.

you a

"Yes. But I'm more afraid of what happe

ric. Eden watched from the control booth,

ter this break. D

-

s Later – Out

ed through the back do

und evidence of trafficking o

rating with th

in love

two plainclothes age

No comment

cameras flashing behind them.Ins

ct to feel lik

brity. You're a symbol now. And symbols ar

s smil

Delaney w

-

eral Safehouse

e table, flipping through

They're trying to get him released on house arre

ned. "But

"They're stalling. Hoping to

We've got sworn statements

m isn't kind to survivors. You know

e give them somethin

d an eyebrow

e. Inside was an audio recorder. Sop

e alive as long as he did. If anything happens to me, start with Westhave

aomi. "Where the he

ed behind old tax forms. She kne

ake this to the DOJ. It'l

"Then do it. No

-

ater – Nat

x hours. Sophia's voice- raw, frigh

Sophia tren

placed under investigation. Naomi received over a thousand messages- some hateful, many grateful. Survivors

t I was the

h. Thank you fo

me the sa

erson. Even a U.S. Senator invited her to speak at an upcoming hearing on human trafficking. But Naomi dec

-

al Stop – T

as Naomi stood before

dy been placed there-wh

newspaper clipping against the

n 37 Federal Counts; Pros

romise," Nao

stled throu

ybe part of you did. But I see now-you

pped down

ling it. For you.

ure. Her voice had once been buried by scandal. Now it echo