Chapter 94 Sleeping with the Enemy

Chapter 94 Sleeping with the Enemy
Joan stirred slightly in my arms and I tightened my hold around her instinctively.

“The stalker has escaped from custody. She broke out approximately two hours ago. We are still trying to find out how she managed to do that,” the police officer explained.

“How on earth did that happen?” I asked.

“There was a brief power outage in her cell block, but when the light came back on she was gone. There was no sign of forced entry on the outer block but we believe she had help.”

The word landed heavily in my chest.

The woman who had my photographs, stalked Joan, sent threatening texts, and took photos of us in the estate was free again.

Joan opened her eyes, lifted her head, and looked at me with concern.

But she didn’t talk.

Probably because she didn’t want to interrupt me.

“So… what’s going to happen now?” I asked, keeping my voice firm.

“We are investigating. Right now we have two options. We can treat this as a high-priority manhunt by issuing a public alert, releasing her photos to the media, and asking for tips from the public. That increases the chances of catching her quickly but it can also lead to public panic and media frenzy.”

“Or, we can keep the search internal for now. Making it discreet by using our internal resources as we investigate but that might take a little more time,” she added.

“If possible… Do it secretly,” I demanded firmly without hesitation.

“I do not want any public alert as I don’t want this to turn into a circus,” I added.

There was a brief silence on the other end.

Then her voice came again.

“Are you sure sir? She’s considered dangerous because she has already shown a willingness to stalk and threaten.”

“Just find her quickly,” I replied, wrapping my arms around Joan a little more tightly.

“Understood. We will keep you updated.”

With that, the call ended.

Then I set the phone down slowly.

Joan was still watching me with her eyebrows raised.

“What happened?” She asked calmly.

I looked into her eyes, contemplating whether to tell her the truth or not.

Then I pulled her closer and planted a kiss on her forehead.

“That woman escaped from custody,” I said, my voice low.

She froze in my arms, and I could feel her heartbeat rise against my chest.

“She’s out?” she whispered.

“Yes, but the police will handle it. I told them to make the search quiet. I don’t want this blowing out of proportion and dragging you into the spotlight again.”

She nodded against my chest, but I could feel the stiffness of her body.

“I’ve got you,” I murmured into her hair and held her tighter.

“I won’t let her get near you. I promise.”

She didn’t reply, but her fingers curled into my shirt as if she was binding herself to me.

I meant every word I said, and I would do whatever it took to keep Joan safe even if that meant going further than I ever had before.

ALEX HART’S POV

I waited until the house was completely silent.

Cassandra had gone to bed earlier, claiming she was exhausted from the pregnancy.

I waited in the living room with the lights off until I was sure she was asleep.

Then I moved.

I reached for the small camera I had bought earlier that day in my coat pocket. It was a compact, wireless, and motion-controlled hidden camera. 

I had chosen the most discreet model they had in the store, the kind that looked like an ordinary smoke detector.

Then I tiptoed into the study without turning on the main light, using only the glow from my phone’s screen.

I climbed onto the chair and carefully mounted the camera on the top shelf of the bookcase, and angled it downward so that it would take a clear view of the desk, the laptop, and the filing cabinet. I adjusted it twice until the live feed on my phone showed the entire study in sharp detail.

When I was satisfied, I climbed down and tested the motion sensor by waving my hand as I watched the live recording start on my phone.

It worked.

Then I left the study and walked back to the guest room, and locked the door behind me.



The next day, I sat in my office, phone in hand and refreshing the camera app every few minutes even though I knew it would notify me if anything moved.

When I didn’t see anything, I placed my phone back on my desk and tried to immerse myself in work.

Hours passed, and I still didn’t see anything.

I almost convinced myself I was wrong.

Then…

A few minutes later, the notification came.

“Motion detected.”

My heart started beating faster.

I opened the app and the footage of Cassandra inside my study came up.

My eyes widened instantly.

She was wearing a silk robe that barely covered her and she walked straight to the filing cabinet, pulled out the same folder she had been holding the other day, and opened it on the desk.

Then she took out her phone and started taking photographs.

She flipped through the pages and captured each sheet one after another.

She wasn’t just snooping, she was stealing information.

I watched, frozen, as she captured page after page, glancing toward the door every now and then as if she expected me to walk in at any moment.

When she was done, she carefully returned the folder to the exact place where she had picked it from, wiped the desk with the sleeve of her robe, and walked out of the room.

At that moment, the camera stopped recording.

The anonymous text finally made sense.

The enemy was sleeping under my roof and I had just caught her red-handed.

So the question now wasn’t whether she was betraying me.

The question was actually who she was working with.

And how far she was willing to go.

“Could she really be working with Sarah?”

My mind became busy with different thoughts.

I thought about handing her over to the police but I couldn’t because she was carrying a baby and that baby was mine.

But I needed to know why she was doing that and who she was working with.

“I have to confront her… before she strikes with those documents.”

I reached for my jacket and suitcase and headed to my car.

When I got home, I pushed the door open and stepped into the living room.

She wasn’t there.

But I knew she was home because her car was outside.

Then I walked down the hallway to the master bedroom.

I didn’t knock. I just pushed the door open.

Cassandra, who was sitting up in bed and scrolling through her phone, looked startled.

“Alex? What’s wrong?”

I didn’t speak at first. I just held up my phone and pressed play on the footage.

“Explain this,” I said firmly.

She flinched.

As she watched in silence, her face went pale and her fingers wrapped around her phone tightly until her knuckles almost turned white.

When the video ended, she looked at me, trying to balance herself.

“This… this isn’t what you think it is,” she stammered.

“Oh wow! Tell me about it. Which one isn’t? Photographing my private documents or stealing information from me,” I stated, my voice dangerously calm.

She set her phone down and stood up slowly, one hand protectively over her bump.

“It’s… it’s…”

Just as she wanted to talk, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed.

I lunged forward with reflex and caught her before she hit the floor, her body stiffened in my arms.

“Cassandra!” 

I shouted, but there was no response.

I remembered the doctor’s warning about stress and hurriedly picked her up.

My heart started beating rapidly as I carried her out of the house.

I laid her in the back seat of my car and drove her straight to the hospital.

At that moment, everything that was in my head was gone and all I could think of was that nothing should happen to her and the baby in her tummy.



The doctor walked out of the ward and headed towards me.

I also stood up and waited patiently for his reply.

“It’s nothing serious. She’s stable now,” he said.

“Thank goodness,” I muttered, heaving a sigh of relief.

“Can I see her now?” I asked.

“Sure,” he replied.

As I walked down the hallway toward her ward, I heard her voice, low and urgent.

I stood outside and peeped through the slightly opened door.

She was on the phone.

“… he caught me. I didn’t know there was a camera in the study. I pretended to faint, but he’s already suspicious and I don’t know what to do.”

My blood boiled.

Who was she talking to?

“I know,” she whispered.

The only thing keeping him is this baby. But what if he finds out the baby isn’t his?”

My phone nearly slipped out of my hand and the world around me went still.

The baby… wasn’t mine?