Grace locked the hospital door with trembling hands.

For the first time in five days, I was no longer pretending to be unconscious.

And for the first time in years, I was looking at someone without knowing whether they wanted something from me.

That thought bothered me more than I wanted to admit.

Everyone who had entered this room had brought an agenda.

Lawyers wanted control.

Family wanted power.

Business partners wanted protection.

Veronica wanted my money.

But Grace?

Grace had nothing to gain.

She was the only person who had walked into my room and treated me like a human being.

“Tell me everything you heard,” I whispered.

Grace looked terrified.

“Mr. Moretti, if they find out I spoke to you…”

“Who are they?”

She looked toward the door.

Then she lowered her voice.

“Everyone around you.”

The answer chilled me.

Grace pulled a small notebook from her apron pocket.

“I started writing things down three days ago.”

I stared at it.

“Why?”

“Because nobody listens to people like me.”

Her words were quiet, but they carried years of frustration.

“People talk around servants. They think we’re invisible. They argue in front of us. They make plans in front of us. They forget that we have ears.”

She opened the notebook.

The first page contained dates.

Times.

Names.

My chest tightened as I read.

Veronica.

Anthony.

My lawyer.

Even my consigliere.

They weren’t just waiting for me to recover.

They were preparing for me to disappear.

“Grace,” I said slowly. “Why help me?”

She looked down.

“Because Nico saved my life once.”

My eyes narrowed.

“My driver?”

She nodded.

“Six months ago, I almost got fired because I accidentally damaged something at the penthouse. Nico told everyone it was his mistake.”

I remembered Nico.

He was always quiet.

Always loyal.

Always the first person at my door in the morning.

Grace swallowed.

“He told me something that day.”

“What?”

She looked at me.

“He said, ‘Mr. Moretti trusts too many people. One day, that will be the thing that hurts him.’”

The room became silent.

Nico had known.

Maybe not everything.

But enough to worry.

I closed my eyes.

The brake failure.

The fake tears.

The sudden interest in my accounts.

It wasn’t one betrayal.

It was an entire operation.

“Grace, I need you to do something for me.”

She nodded.

“Anything.”

“Go to my office.”

Her expression changed.

“The penthouse?”

“Yes.”

“You can’t go there.”

“I know.”

“That’s where they’re watching.”

I smiled weakly.

“Exactly.”

Grace looked confused.

“What are you looking for?”

I stared at the ceiling.

“The one thing they don’t know exists.”

For years, I had built my empire on preparation.

Every major decision had a backup plan.

Every contract had protection.

Every account had security.

But there was one thing nobody knew about.

Not Veronica.

Not Anthony.

Not even my lawyer.

A hidden archive.

A private system that recorded every important transaction, conversation, and authorization connected to my company.

I created it after my father died.

Because my father trusted the wrong people.

And I refused to make the same mistake.

“Can you access my office computer?”

Grace hesitated.

“I clean there. I know where everything is.”

“Good.”

She looked at me carefully.

“Mr. Moretti… if we find proof, what will happen?”

I looked toward the window.

The city lights reflected against the glass.

“Then everyone who thought I was dying will discover something.”

“What?”

I turned back to her.

“That a man pretending to be helpless is sometimes more dangerous than a man holding all the power.”

Before Grace could answer, my phone suddenly vibrated.

My heart stopped.

The screen showed a message.

Unknown number.

I opened it.

There was only one sentence.

I know you’re awake, Dominic.

My blood went cold.

Grace saw my expression.

“What is it?”

I showed her the screen.

A second message appeared.

You should have stayed unconscious.

Then came a photo.

A picture taken inside my hospital room.

From the corner near the flowers.

From an angle nobody should have been able to see.

Someone had been watching me.

Someone had known.

I looked at Grace.

“They’re inside the hospital.”

Her face turned pale.

Then my phone received one final message.

Ask your maid why she really came into your room tonight.

The room went silent.

I looked at Grace.

She looked at me.

And for one terrifying second…

I wondered if the only person who knew the truth was also the person who had been sent to hide it from me.