MasukAlthea slowly realized after looking back and forth at the drawings and the dinosaurs, the dinos are no longer toys anymore.They’re markers! She thought frantically. Directional markers.She immediately rearranged the drawings, placing each dinosaur beside corresponding symbols.The room disappeared as her mind entered the place Dominic jokingly called"The Pattern World."Where nothing existed except relationships.Connections.Geometry.Logic.She whispered."Not rooms..." She whispered as her breathing quickened. "They're directions."She rearranged another paper."No." She muttered as she rearranged another sheet on the floor. "They're orientation points."She looked at the Tyrannosaurus.Then the Triceratops.Then the Stegosaurus.North.South.East.West.Her eyes widened."The species..." She started but froze and let out a soft, quiet and disbelieving laugh. She shook her head. “No. No way.”Althea reached toward Nicholas' bookshelf and removed the children's dinosaur encyclo
The first rays of sunlight slipped through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the master bedroom, washing the room in soft amber light. Outside, a gentle morning mist clung to the gardens, making the fountains and ancient trees appear almost ethereal as dawn came quietly.For the first time in several nights, the estate itself felt still despite the problems still being there.It was because exhaustion had finally forced everyone into sleep.Almost everyone.Althea's eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the light.Years of medical training had conditioned her body to wake before sunrise regardless of how late she slept.She remained lying still for several moments, breathing and listening.The steady rhythm beside her immediately caught her attention.Dominic.Still asleep.She slowly turned her head.He rarely slept this deeply.Not anymore.The past several days had stolen what little rest he usually managed to get. His brow, usually furrowed even in sleep, was finally relaxed. His breat
Blackstone Estate had finally quieted down but not asleep or more like it had never truly slept anymore ever since the Axis and Matteo.Not since Alessandro's secrets had begun resurfacing one by one.The hallways are now illuminated by warm lights and the security teams quietly rotated shifts.The gardens outside glowed beneath moonlight.Everything looked peaceful but also felt deceptive because beneath Blackstone's calm exterior, every person inside was carrying something.Questions.Fear.Suspicion.And tonight, Althea carried Matteo Valtieri.She was not carrying the man himself but his patterns.Althea entered her room with Dominic quietly and the familiar scent immediately greeted her as she stepped inside.Sandalwood.Fresh linen.Dominic.Home.The room itself had always been her sanctuary.A place where she could allow herself to stop being Dr. Althea Johnson or Miracle Hands.A place where she could simply become Althea.Althea Valtieri.A mother.A woman.Dominic’s wife an
Thirty minutes later, Althea finally finished telling them everything that happened between her and Matteo.She was silently glad that nobody interrupted, spoke nor moved when she was talking.The entire room listened to every detail she spoke.The locker room.The encounter.His words.His smile.His offer.His confidence.His knowledge about the vault.His attempt to recruit her.When she finished, nobody said anything for almost a minute.Then Antonio stood up immediately, with a look of anger on his face."I'm going to f8cking kill him." He growled angrily.Enzo grabbed his arm."No!” He countered evenly. “You’ll only make it worse!”Antonio pointed toward Althea, his anger starting to get the better of him. “That f8cking lunatic intentionally cornered her!” He shouted furiously. “How dare he talked to her and had the balls to recruit her.”"He—.""No, Antonio." Enzo repeated hardly. “Get that f8cking temper down, man.”Antonio looked genuinely angry."Why the hell not?""Because
Blackstone Estate is still wide awake when Althea, Michael and the medical team finally returned.The lights are turned on throughout the corridors, the fountains outside continued their gentle rhythm and the gardens bloomed with the flowers planted around.Everything looked peaceful and normal.It was a lie as nothing had been normal for weeks.Ever since the Axis Core.Ever since Matteo.Ever since Alessandro's secrets began resurfacing.The estate itself seemed to know.The walls felt heavier, the hallways quieter like the house itself was listening.Althea exited the SUV slowly with her bodyguards remained close.Michael stepped out behind her. He immediately noticed her silence that is not from the exhausted silence after surgery. It was also not the emotional silence after saving a life.Something else and it’s darker."That bad, huh?" He commented gently.Althea looked toward the estate and then nodded, looking up at him."Yes."Michael frowned, knowing that Matteo was in Mont-
The locker room’s large and private toilet sat empty and quiet as Althea entered and walked towards the lavatory counter. She placed her toiletries gently and for a few minutes sat on the bench provided, breathing in and out slowly and deeply.After twenty minutes, Althea finally stood up and started to wash her face, feeling the cold water on her face, refreshing her face and then gently pressing her knuckles on her closed eyes, massaging them.Once she had freshened herself up, she changed into comfortable clothes, brushed and retied her hair.Her body still felt heavy but her mind is heavier.She reached for her bag, turned and then stopped immediately.She stiffened, gripping her fist because something changed. She had still lived with the instinct of knowing something had shifted in her surroundings.The air.A feeling.Someone’s here. She thought tightly and every instinct she possessed awakened instantly.The room no longer felt empty and she slowly turned the knob of the door
Dominic was twelve when he learned that walls could whisper.He did not know it then unlike the way adults knew it. It was not fear that had sharpened into instinct.But something in him had stirred that night, making him unsettled and alert, like an animal sensing weather long before the clouds ar
No summons received.It was not the kind that will be delivered through intermediaries or wrapped in veiled threats. The Valtieri family did not waste ceremony on what they considered inevitable.Only one call came directly.Dominic answered on the first ring.“Dominic.” Seraphina stated on the oth
There were no alarms.No urgent calls placed to Dominic’s private line for sudden confrontations.The discovery arrived the way all dangerous truths did in the Valtieri family. It came quietly, inevitably, through data that could not be persuaded to forget.Blood had entered the system and once log
Morning arrived softly at the Devereaux complex, filtered through glass and quiet.The night’s alarms had settled into a hum of vigilance. The are monitors blinking steadily, guards changing shifts without sound, corridors washed in pale light that felt almost merciful after the dark.Althea finall







