Episode 7 — When Trust Bleeds

The alarms wouldn’t stop.

Red lights washed over the hospital room, staining everything in warning.

Internal override activated.

The words echoed like a verdict.

Isabella couldn’t breathe.

“I didn’t do anything,” she whispered, but her voice sounded distant, small even to her own ears.

Gabriel had already stepped toward the door, speaking sharply into his earpiece.

“Trace the signal. Lock all sectors. No one leaves this floor.”

Dominic never looked away from her.

That was worse than if he had shouted.

His gaze was unreadable.

Calculating.

Cold.

“You believe me,” she said, the words trembling as they left her.

It wasn’t a question.

It was a plea.

Dominic’s jaw tightened slightly.

“I believe,” he said slowly, “that systems don’t lie.”

Her stomach dropped.

“And I believe you’re not a traitor.”

A fragile thread of air slipped back into her lungs.

“But,” he continued quietly, “someone is using you.”

The room felt smaller.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “How could they use me? I’ve never had access to anything.”

“You do now,” Gabriel replied from the doorway, his voice grave. “Your biometric profile was integrated into the estate security the moment you signed the marriage contract.”

Her blood ran cold.

“So someone stole my code?”

“Not stole,” Dominic said softly. “Copied.”

Her pulse pounded in her ears.

“How?”

Silence.

Then Dominic’s eyes shifted slowly to the IV line in her arm.

The room seemed to tilt.

“You were unconscious for thirty six hours,” he said.

The implication hit her like a physical blow.

“No,” she breathed. “You think someone accessed my biometrics while I was in surgery?”

Gabriel’s expression was tight. “It’s possible.”

Dominic’s gaze sharpened.

“Which means,” he said quietly, “the traitor is inside my inner circle.”

A chill crawled down her spine.

Because there were only a handful of people with access to that wing.

Doctors.

Security chiefs.

Gabriel.

Dominic.

And her.

“I didn’t betray you,” she whispered again.

This time, Dominic reached for her.

His fingers wrapped around her wrist, firm, steady.

“I know,” he said.

But something in his tone wasn’t absolute.

And she felt it.

The hospital floor went into lockdown.

Guards flooded the halls.

Weapons drawn.

Gabriel coordinated from outside, voice sharp and efficient.

Dominic remained seated upright despite the fresh sutures in his side. Monitors beeped angrily at the strain on his body.

“You should lie down,” Isabella said weakly.

He didn’t even look at the machine.

“I don’t lie down when someone is inside my system.”

A technician rushed in moments later, pale.

“Sir. The override attempt originated from within the estate. East wing servers.”

Dominic’s eyes turned lethal.

“Who’s on shift?”

The technician swallowed. “Head of security. Marcus Reed.”

The name meant nothing to Isabella.

But it clearly meant something to Dominic.

His jaw hardened.

“Bring him to me.”

An hour later, Marcus Reed was dragged into the private hospital conference room.

Tall.

Muscular.

Confident but sweating.

“Sir, I swear I didn’t authorize any override,” Marcus said quickly. “My clearance was used without"

Dominic shot him before he could finish.

The sound exploded through the room.

Isabella gasped.

The bullet hit Marcus in the shoulder, sending him crashing to his knees, screaming.

Dominic lowered the gun calmly.

“That,” he said evenly, “was a warning shot.”

Blood pooled on the marble floor.

“I don’t tolerate lies.”

“I’m not lying!” Marcus cried. “Someone cloned my credentials too!”

Dominic’s expression didn’t change.

“Who?”

“I don’t know!”

Dominic lifted the gun again.

“Dominic!” Isabella shouted instinctively.

His eyes flickered toward her for half a second.

Half a second was all it took.

Marcus lunged.

Everything happened too fast.

A concealed blade flashed in Marcus’s hand.

He didn’t aim for Dominic.

He aimed for her.

Isabella froze.

Dominic moved faster.

He shoved her aside as the blade sliced through his injured side instead.

The sound he made

Low.

Controlled.

Terrifying.

He shot Marcus point blank.

This time, it wasn’t a warning.

The body hit the floor.

Still.

Dead.

Silence swallowed the room.

Dominic stood there, breathing heavily, blood spreading across his shirt again.

Isabella’s heart hammered violently.

“You’re bleeding,” she whispered.

He didn’t look at the wound.

He looked at her.

“Are you hurt?”

She shook her head, trembling.

He nodded once.

Then swayed.

Gabriel rushed forward as Dominic’s knees buckled.

They caught him before he hit the ground.

“Get him back to surgery!” someone shouted.

Everything blurred again.

More blood.

More chaos.

More fear.

Hours later, Isabella stood alone in Dominic’s dark hospital room.

Again.

She stared at the empty chair beside the bed.

Her mind replayed it over and over.

Marcus didn’t try to run.

He didn’t beg.

He didn’t defend himself properly.

He tried to kill her.

Not Dominic.

Her.

Why?

Her gaze drifted toward the window.

Something felt wrong.

Too quiet.

Too still.

A faint vibration buzzed in her pocket.

She frowned.

She didn’t have her phone.

Slowly, she reached into the pocket of the borrowed cardigan she was wearing.

A phone.

Black.

Sleek.

Not hers.

Her breath caught.

The screen lit up automatically.

One message.

Unknown number.

You’re closer than he thinks.

Her hands began to shake.

Another message appeared.

He killed the wrong man.

Her pulse spiked.

A third message.

Check your reflection.

Ice slid down her spine.

Her eyes slowly lifted to the dark hospital window across the room.

At first, she only saw herself.

Pale.

Shaking.

Alone.

Then a shadow moved behind her reflection.

Her breath stopped.

The phone buzzed again.

Turn around.