Chapter 106 Eyes In The Walls

Chapter 106 Eyes In The Walls
ROSEMARY

I noticed the staff changes immediately.

There were new faces in the kitchen. New cleaners. I noticed even a new maintenance crew. Nyra had played it off as a refresh for the new expansion phase, but something about the timing felt too convenient. Too precise.

I didn’t push her on it. Not yet.

Instead, I stood at the window that evening, staring out at the city that had once felt like mine, and wondered how many eyes had been watching me in my own home.

The texter had gone quiet again.

But I was starting to suspect that the biggest threat was not coming from outside the walls.

It had been living inside them all along.

JULIAN

I paced the hotel room like I was a caged animal, the conversation with Patricia still ringing in my ears.

She had been cold and direct during our argument about the documents, her voice carrying the kind of calculated ruthlessness that made her such a dangerous ally to My father.

“Father has eyes everywhere,” she had said.

“He had the penthouse wired when you lived there. He had hidden cameras. Some of the household staff who you lived with everyday have ties to him and report back to him with whatever he asks for. They always have. He doesn’t trust anyone. Not even his own son.”

The violation felt personal in a way nothing else had. Mario had been watching us. Listening to our fights, our intimate moments, and our most vulnerable conversations under what I had believed was our sanctuary.

I couldn’t tell Rosemary. Not yet. Not when she was already barely holding on and we were barely speaking.

Instead, I called Nyra.

“Rosemary won’t let me back into the penthouse,” I said without preamble.

“But you can always go in there. There are cameras. Hidden ones. Some of the household staff have been reporting back to Mario. You need to clean house. Thoroughly. Every trace. Every person who might be feeding him information.”

Nyra didn’t ask questions or joke too much. Not then. The urgency in my voice was enough.

“That's crazy that your dad is even more evil than you are. Consider it done,” she replied.

I hung up, the relief short lived. The knowledge that Mario had been watching us made my skin crawl.

I poured myself a drink, and wondered how much further I could fall before there was nothing left to save.

ROSEMARY

The revelation came like a crack in the foundation of a building I had thought was solid.

I had been reviewing security logs and staff records in the quiet hours of the evening, trying to make sense of the growing unease that had settled over the penthouse like a persistent fog.

The private investigator Mireille had been thorough, but it was Nyra who brought the final piece - she made a casual comment about how she was "refreshing the household staff" that suddenly felt too convenient.

“Nyra,” I said, my voice low as I looked up from the laptop screen.

“Why are you replacing almost the entire household staff? The cleaners, the laundry team, the maintenance crew - all of them. And all at once too.”

Nyra hesitated for a fraction of a second, then shrugged with her usual dramatic flair.

“Just refreshing things. New era, new energy. You deserve staff that matches your level, not the old guard who were getting too comfortable.”

But I saw the flicker in her eyes and the slight tension in her shoulders. I knew her well enough. She was covering for something.

“Nyra,” I pressed, my voice firmer.

“Tell me the truth. What is really going on?”

She sighed, dropping onto the couch beside me.

“Julian called me. He found out Mario had been spying on the penthouse when he lived here. He had hidden cameras. Some of the household staff \- the ones who handled laundry, cleaning and maintenance - they were reporting back to him. He asked me to clean the house thoroughly. Remove every funny looking device and fire every person who might be feeding him information.”

The violation felt personal in a way nothing else had. Not the blackmail, and not even the manipulation.

This was Mario inserting himself into the most intimate spaces of my life with Julian - the place where we had fought, laughed, made love, broken apart, and tried to piece ourselves back together.

I sat there for a long moment trying to gather all of my racing thoughts. The penthouse suddenly felt less like a home and more like a stage where every private moment had been performed for an unseen audience.

“Change them all,” I said quietly.

“Every single one. Make it look like a normal staff refresh so they don't think that we know they work for him. I don’t want any trace of Mario’s eyes in my home.”

Nyra nodded, her expression hardening with determination.

“Consider it done. I’ll make it look like a normal restructuring for the new expansion phase so no one would lift an eyebrow.”

She left to handle it immediately, leaving me alone with the weight of the revelation.
___

JULIAN

I stayed in the hotel, pacing like a caged animal, waiting for Nyra’s confirmation that the penthouse was clean.

The knowledge that Mario had been watching us - probably listening to our fights, our intimate moments, and our most vulnerable conversations - made me feel disgusted with him. It felt like the ultimate violation. Like my father had been in the room the whole time with us, smirking.

When Nyra finally called to confirm the sweep was complete, I felt a small measure of relief.

But it wasn’t enough.