The quiet in Aria's new hospital room was fragile like glass.
Everything felt too still, too sanitized.
And yet, the tension between each heartbeat screamed: You're not safe yet.
Aria lay curled in bed, eyes half-closed, pretending to sleep.
Damien had stepped out to meet with security.
She wasn't alone.
Not really.
Because something someone was watching her.
She could feel it in the air.
The unease wasn't from the monitors or the machines.
It was instinct.
In a surveillance room three floors above, Marcus zoomed in on the footage of Aria's old bedroom.
The tracker had been cleverly planted in a fake air freshener.
But more alarming was the time stamp of when it had been activated: four days ago, just before the press leak.
They cross-checked security logs.
"There," Marcus pointed at the screen. "That's the moment."
A staff member had entered Aria's room at 2:14 a.m. carrying what looked like a towel and a tray. But the footage froze as the figure turned.
The face was shadowed.
The uniform was standard.
The name tag… unreadable.
One of the guards frowned. "Can we enhance it?"
"Already did," Marcus replied grimly. "And ran it through our staff database."
He pulled up a match on the side screen.
Luca Tanaka.
Twenty-seven. Recently hired. Assigned to kitchen staff.
But there was one problem Luca had never shown up to his last shift.
He'd disappeared the same night the press leak broke.
Meanwhile, Damien met with his legal team in the hospital's private lounge.
"We've traced Kieran's legal moves," his lawyer said. "He's trying to destabilize your holdings through proxy firms. Quiet sabotage."
"How close is he?" Damien asked, jaw tight.
"Too close. He's already bidding on land Voss Corp was preparing to develop under a fake name. He's stealing your moves before you make them."
Damien stood up abruptly. "Because he has a mole."
The lawyer nodded grimly. "Someone who knows both your personal and professional schedule."
Damien's voice dropped to a growl. "I want every employee re-screened. Full loyalty audits. Discreetly."
"And your wife?" the lawyer asked gently.
Damien turned toward the hospital window.
"She doesn't need to know this part. Not yet."
But Aria already sensed it.
That afternoon, while Damien stepped out for a call, she overheard two nurses whispering in the hallway.
"…I'm telling you, that girl's not safe. They think someone on the inside is leaking things."
"Poor thing. Did you see the bodyguard by her door? Like she's royalty or a prisoner."
Aria turned her face toward the window and closed her eyes, heart pounding.
So it was true.
Someone close to them had been feeding information to Kieran.
And worse… she had no idea who.
That night, Damien returned to her side.
She looked up at him, gaze steady. "I need you to tell me the truth."
He blinked. "About what?"
"About the mole. The tracker. The fact that someone in your company maybe even your house is working against us."
Damien exhaled slowly. "You weren't supposed to hear that."
"But I did."
She sat up straighter.
"I want to know who's betraying us. Because if they could get into my room, Damien… they could get to our child."
He moved to sit beside her and took her hand.
"We have one suspect. Luca Tanaka. But I believe he was just a pawn. Someone higher up is pulling strings."
Aria stared at him. "Vanessa?"
"I don't know yet. But whoever it is, they have access. Timing. And personal knowledge."
Her voice dropped. "Do you think they were at the wedding?"
Damien looked away, his silence loud.
She covered her mouth. "God… this started even before I knew I was pregnant."
"Which means," he said, "this was never just about revenge. This was about control. Kieran wants to destroy everything I've built starting with you."
Meanwhile, in a dark penthouse in Midtown, Kieran Maddox poured a drink.
Vanessa stood across the room, arms folded, watching him like he was a bomb ready to go off.
"I warned you Damien was smart," she said. "Too smart to fall for your little media games."
Kieran smirked. "I don't need him to fall. I just need him to break."
He handed her a tablet. "Here's the next phase."
She looked down at the screen and frowned. "You're leaking court documents? Prenup drafts?"
"Exactly. I want the world to know his marriage was built on a lie. That the baby might be nothing more than an inheritance tool."
"And Aria?"
Kieran sipped his drink. "Let's just say… when I'm done with her, she'll wish she never signed that contract."