Ms. CEO’s Baby Daddy Is the Merchant of Death – Episode 25
Scarlett held her eye before the scanner until verification appeared. The counterfeit core unfolded its first layer and displayed authentic Aegis architecture. Voss’s engineer confirmed that the system recognized her biometric authority. Triumph loosened the tension in Voss’s face.
Beneath the runway, Connor used that moment to bridge the bomb receiver. The vest still displayed an active signal, but its detonator no longer answered Voss’s monitor. He sent Scarlett a single vibration through the concealed communicator. Summer could now survive the assault.
Voss ordered Scarlett to transfer full control. She entered the sequence her mother’s letter described, activating Guardian behind the false interface. The program accepted Voss’s network as a hostile weapons environment. It began mapping every connected device before revealing itself.
Summer was pushed toward the center line as partial payment. Scarlett walked forward, afraid any sudden movement would change Voss’s mind. Mother and daughter reached for each other across the final few feet. Then Voss ordered his guards to seize them both.
The runway lights died. Connor emerged through a maintenance hatch and struck the guard nearest Summer before anyone adjusted to darkness. Scarlett pulled her daughter down and shielded the explosive vest with her body. Dominion teams entered through the fuel tunnel as gunfire crossed the hangar.
Voss attempted to detonate the vest. The signal showed success on his device, but nothing happened. Connor reached Scarlett and cut the disabled harness from Summer. Only when it struck the ground did he allow himself to believe she was free.
Guardian completed its scan. Every weapon connected to Voss’s command network locked simultaneously, while evidence files began uploading to Dominion, police, and international regulators. Screens displayed transactions, kidnappings, and orders bearing Voss’s authorization. His stolen technology had become a witness against him.
Voss fired an independent pistol and wounded one of Connor’s operatives. Connor pursued him across the hangar, abandoning neither control nor rage. Their fight carried years of betrayal into every strike. Voss accused Connor of becoming weak, and Connor answered that family had finally given him something worth surviving for.
Scarlett led Summer behind an armored vehicle. The child clung to her but remembered Voss’s confession. She repeated that he knew Grandma and said her death was a correction. Scarlett stored the words until they were safe enough to understand.
Police closed the outer runway after receiving Guardian’s transmission. Bennett attempted to flee through a private access road and drove directly into their blockade. Officers arrested him with encrypted devices and Whitmore shipping records in his car. His role in the conspiracy could no longer be dismissed as investment.
Connor cornered Voss near the underground passage. Before he could capture him, an explosion opened a section of the old fuel tunnel. The blast knocked both men down and filled the hangar with smoke. Someone outside the airport had triggered a prepared escape route.
Voss disappeared through the breach with a gunshot wound in his side. Connor followed until the unstable tunnel began collapsing. Summer’s frightened cry reached him through the radio. He chose to return to his family instead of pursuing the enemy into darkness.
The decision surprised Voss’s remaining men more than Connor. The Merchant of Death once chased every threat until nothing remained. Now he understood that victory could also mean knowing where he was needed most. He returned to Scarlett and lifted Summer into his arms.
Medical staff confirmed that the explosive vest had caused no physical injury. Summer refused to release either parent, so they remained together throughout the examination. Connor apologized that his world had reached her again. She answered that he had still come when she called.
Cypher reported that Guardian destroyed Voss’s active network and preserved extensive evidence. The authentic Aegis core remained secure, but an unknown C-7 user had attempted to access its vault during the exchange. The inside collaborator was still operating. Voss’s escape proved the conspiracy had not ended.
Investigators recovered a storage module from the counterfeit core. It contained a file that had not been placed there by Dominion engineers. Guardian appeared to have unlocked it automatically when Scarlett completed biometric confirmation. The signature belonged to her mother.
Scarlett played the audio with Connor beside her. Her mother’s voice explained that Aegis was designed to guide rescuers through darkness, never weapons toward human targets. When someone inside Dominion demanded military control, she hid the core and prepared evidence. She feared she would not live long enough to expose the betrayal.
The recording named no individual. Portions had been erased using high-level Dominion encryption. One warning survived intact: the person responsible occupied a trusted position near the company’s center. Voss was dangerous, but he had never acted alone.
Summer told Scarlett everything she remembered from captivity. Voss had spoken as though he participated in Grandma’s death, yet he repeatedly referred to another person who made the final decision. He called that person the one who truly understood power. Scarlett realized the murderer might still receive Connor’s trust.
The audio ended with a message meant for her daughter. “If you hear this, someone inside Dominion betrayed me.” Connor looked toward Cypher’s incoming report about C-7. Somewhere inside his empire, the architect of Scarlett’s oldest loss was already preparing the next attack. The enemy had survived for years by standing close enough to watch Connor search in the wrong direction.
