Chapter 133 One thirty three

Chapter 133 One thirty three
Damien’s POV

He handed me the tablet without saying anything else, his expression carefully neutral but his eyes betraying a level of urgency that told me whatever he was about to show me was not something minor, and I took it from him slowly, my fingers steady even though my mind was already preparing for the worst.

I placed it on the desk in front of me and leaned slightly forward, my gaze locking onto the screen as the footage began to play, the faint glow of the video reflecting in my eyes while the room around us fell into a heavy, expectant silence.

At first glance, everything looked normal.
Too normal.

The hospital corridor was exactly how it should be, nurses moving in and out of rooms, doctors passing by with files in their hands, patients being wheeled around, the quiet chaos of a functioning system playing out in a way that was almost routine.

I didn’t react immediately.

Instead, I watched. Carefully waiting to know if I'll see anything unusual.

Letting every second of the footage sink in, my eyes tracking movements, patterns, behaviors, searching for anything, anything at all, that felt out of place.

But nothing felt out of place.

Minutes passed, and still, there was nothing unusual, nothing that stood out enough to raise suspicion, and yet I didn’t stop watching, because experience had taught me that sometimes the most dangerous things were the ones that blended in the best.

Eventually, I leaned back slightly, my jaw tightening just a fraction as I closed the tablet halfway before looking up at him.

“I don’t understand,” I said calmly, though there was a sharp edge beneath my tone, because I didn’t like wasting time, especially not when it came to something this serious.

He didn’t look surprised by my response.
If anything, he nodded, like he had expected it.

“Yes,” he said. “That’s the whole point.”

I held his gaze for a second, my expression unreadable, before he stepped closer and reached for the tablet again, opening it fully and turning it slightly toward himself as he replayed a specific part of the footage.

“Watch closely,” he added.

I didn’t argue.

I leaned in again, my focus sharpening as the video played, this time slower, more deliberate, and then…

He paused it.

Right on a frame.

My eyes followed his hand as he pointed at the screen.

At her.

A woman dressed in a nurse’s uniform.

At first, she looked like every other nurse in the building.

Nothing special.

Nothing looked different or unusual about her.

But the moment he singled her out, I knew there was more to it.

“What about her?” I asked, my tone low, controlled.

“I checked the hospital records,” he said, his voice steady but carrying a quiet intensity. “She wasn’t scheduled to be on duty that day.”

I didn’t speak immediately.

I just stared at the screen, my gaze narrowing slightly as I took in her appearance again, this time not as part of the crowd, but as an individual detail within it.

That alone was enough to shift the entire situation.

“And yet,” he continued, “she was there… moving freely, interacting with staff, entering restricted areas without raising any suspicion.”

A slow breath left my lungs as I leaned back again, my mind already beginning to piece things together, because situations like this didn’t happen by accident.

“Which means,” he added, glancing at me briefly before continuing, “either someone inside was bribed to let her in and alter Aria’s drip…”

He paused for just a second.

“Or…”

My eyes darkened slightly before he even finished.

“...it wasn’t her.”

Silence settled between us.

“Someone else,” he said, his voice quieter now, “wearing a customized mask made to look exactly like her.”

I didn’t react outwardly, but internally, everything sharpened.

Because that…

That was not something just anyone could pull off.

That required resources. Connections. Precision. And most importantly…Intent.

“They all claim they’ve never seen her before,” he added, straightening slightly as he closed the tablet again. “No one recognizes her. No one remembers interacting with her. It’s like she was never there.”

A low hum left my throat as I leaned back in my chair, my fingers tapping lightly against the armrest as I processed everything he had just said, because the more I thought about it, the more it started to make sense in a way that was both unsettling and strangely… clear.

“Hmmm…” I murmured under my breath.
He waited.

He knew better than to interrupt me when I was thinking.

“This is making sense,” I said finally, my voice calm but carrying a cold edge that hadn’t been there before, because now that I had the missing piece, everything else was beginning to fall into place.

“That’s why I didn’t find anything in the footage I reviewed earlier,” I continued, my gaze drifting slightly as I replayed the memory in my head. “Whoever she was… she blended in perfectly.”

Which meant this wasn’t her first time doing something like this.

“Have you looked into her?” I asked, shifting my attention back to him, my eyes locking onto his.

He shook his head.

“No,” he admitted. “I wanted you to see this first before making any move.”
Smart.

Very smart.

Because now…

This wasn’t just a suspicion.

It was a confirmed breach.

And breaches required immediate action.

I stood up slowly from my chair, the movement deliberate, controlled, as a quiet resolve settled into my chest, replacing the earlier uncertainty with something far more dangerous. Clarity.
Purpose. Because now I knew…

This wasn’t just a random guess. Or an incident.

Someone had targeted Aria.

And by extension…

They had targeted me.

I walked toward the window, my hands slipping into my pockets as I stared out at the city beyond, the lights flickering in the distance, unaware of the storm that was quietly building beneath the surface.

For a brief moment, I said nothing.

I just stood there.

Tracing every possible angle, every possible motive, every possible outcome, because in situations like this, hesitation was not just a weakness…

It was a risk.

And I didn’t take risks when it came to what was mine.

My jaw tightened slightly.

Behind me, I could feel his presence, waiting, watching, knowing that whatever I said next would determine everything that followed.

And he was right.

Because there was only one move to make.

Only one option that mattered.

I turned slowly, my gaze sharp, cold, and unwavering as it met his.
“Find her,” I said.