hapter 184 Retreat And Reckoning
They, too, had heard about Sidonie’s behavior during the mission and had long felt she was unworthy of today’s guest seat.
Sidonie staggered, as though her legs might buckle, then covered her face and suddenly bolted backstage.
“Sidonie!” Trent sprang from his chair and hurried after her.
Quinn watched the pair leave with cool detachment, then sat back down. “Honestly, I believe the true heroes are the rescue workers seated here. They risk their lives to save others; such spirit is worthy of our respect and emtion.”
With that single sentence, she steered the show neatly back to its original theme.
The Host seized the cue and continued the interview.
Meanwhile, when Sidonie burst into the green room, Trent rushed in right behind her.
“It’s all Quinn’s fault–every bit of it!” Sidonie raged. “She set me up on purpose. She recorded me, then aired it during the taping just to humiliate me in front of the whole country!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything for you,” Trent said.
Sidonie’s heart lurched, and she clutched Trent’s sleeve as though she had just seized a lifeline. “You have a way?”
“The show is prerecorded,” Trent exined. “Once we’re done, I’ll have a word with the production team and tell them to cut every single frame and topic that mentions you. Problem solved.”
Sidonie’s eyes flew wide as the obvious finally hit her. <i>That’s </i><i>right</i><i>–</i>it’s <i>a </i><i>taped </i><i>show</i>, not a <i>livestream</i>.
“But will they agree?” she asked, the hesitation clear in her voice.
“With enough money, nothing’s impossible,” Trent replied. In his view, the issue was hardlyplicated, and if all footage of Sidonie were deleted, then her public im that the two of them were engaged would never actually be revealed.
Atst Sidonie exhaled, the tension easing from her shoulders.
“Stay here and rest for a bit; I’m going to look for whoever’s in charge of the production team,” Trent said.
“Alright,” Sidonie answered softly.
After Trent left, she was alone in the green room.
Just then her phone rang. The caller ID showed an unfamiliar number, but the moment she tapped the answer button, the voice that spilled through the speaker drained all color from her face.
The caller was using a voice changer. “Murderer… Sidonie Stonehurst, you’re a murderer. Did you think no one would ever find out what you did? Plenty of people know. I’m cing the evidence inside the studio right now. Once the show starts, everyone will see you’re no firefighting hero at all…”
Sidonie’s hand jerked so hard she nearly dropped the phone.
“Who are you? I don’t understand what you’re talking about!”
Chapter 184 Retreat And Reckoning
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“You don’t have to understand. What matters is that the evidence will show everyone you’re no hero.” With that, the caller hung up.
Panic wed at Sidonie’s chest. <i>If </i><i>that </i><i>person </i><i>really </i><i>has </i><i>evidence</i><i>… </i>
<i>No</i><i>–</i><i>I </i><i>absolutely </i><i>cannot </i><i>let them bring </i>it <i>into the </i><i>studio</i>.
With that thought, she bolted out of the green room–only for a baseball bat to swing at her head the instant she crossed the threshold.
The blow sent her staggering forward. As she fell, she twisted desperately, trying to scream, trying to see who had struck her.
Before darkness swallowed her, she caught only a blurred glimpse of a grotesque, menacing mask.
During the mid–show break of the talk show, Julius Whitethorn strolled over to Quinn’s side. “Once this episode airs, everyone will know we’re seeing each other. You won’t regret it?”
“What’s there to regret?” she answered with a lightugh. Since she had chosen to be with him, hiding the rtionship had never been part of the n. “Or are you the one who doesn’t want it made public?”
“Not a chance,” Julius said, tly denying it.
He was eager for the whole world to know he and Quinn were together, eager for everyone to realize that Quinn had chosen him, thereby cutting off anyone else’s designs on her.
Especially Han.
In Julius’s mind, Han Ingram was the greatest threat–a man who had known Quinn longer than he <i>had</i>, who had once served alongside her in the military, arade to whom she could literally entrust her life in dangerous moments. <i>With </i><i>a </i><i>man </i>like <i>that </i><i>around</i><i>, </i><i>how </i><i>could </i><i>I ever </i><i>feel </i>at <b><i>ease</i></b>?
That was why he wanted to im Quinn publicly as his.
Coming here today, he had calcted that the production team would never pass up a sensational topic and would certainly ask about their rtionship.
The only variable had been how Quinn would respond once the question was raised.
She would never know just how ecstatic he’d been when she answered without the slightest hesitation and acknowledged they were dating.