Chapter 1454
Chapter 1456:
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The sound echoed down the sterile corridor — steady, deliberate, and heavy with menace. Cade and the soldiers froze, every muscle drawn taut. Recent events had left their nerves frayed to the edge. Could the thugs from before have brought reinforcements?
Their hands drifted instinctively toward their waists, fingers brushing the cold metal of their weapons.
But when the figures finally emerged into view, Cade’s breath caught.
They were impeccably dressed in tailored suits, though the fabric bore the marks of someone who had fled the earlier disaster — blood smears, smoke stains, the subtle evidence of chaos survived. Yet despite the disarray, they radiated authority. A noble bearing that demanded respect without asking for it. Their eyes cut through the air, sharp and calculating, their presence instantly commanding.
These were not ordinary men. They were members of The Mask — more precisely, the organization’s core enforcers, including the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Without hesitation, they advanced toward the room where Cade had witnessed the earlier chaos unfold. Then, as though enacting a sacred ritual, they sank as one to a single knee beneath his astonished gaze. Heads bowed. A unified murmur rolled through them.
“Sir p>
It was not merely a greeting. It was devotion made audible — loyalty given form.
Chris sat in the wheelchair, his injuries severe, his face partially obscured, yet the man radiated authority simply by existing. A single nod was enough to convey command.
Grayson, the renowned oil tycoon, stepped forward with a quiet, purposeful humility. He leaned close to Chris and murmured, “We need to move you. It is not safe here p>
Chris’s reply was soft and measured, yet carried weight. “All right p>
The immediate chaos had been contained — the thugs removed, the police involved, hospital security reinforced. Maia, for the moment, was safe. And yet a hollow ache gnawed at Chris’s chest, as though something crucial had slipped just beyond his reach.
𝖣o𝘸n𝗹оа𝖽 рD𝗙s 𝘧𝗿𝖾𝘦 о𝗇
His gaze settled on Grayson, who recognized the look immediately and stepped closer, attentive and poised.
“Protect Maia,” Chris said, each word deliberate, every syllable a quiet command.
Despite the detachment he felt toward her, despite his uncertainty about the nature of their bond, his instinct was unerring. Maia was his wife. Protecting her was a duty etched into something deeper than memory.
“Understood, sir,” Grayson replied, bowing slightly, solemn and unwavering.
Cade watched, bewildered. Questions churned through his mind. Was this group connected to the thugs? If so, why did they carry themselves with such an air of nobility? If not — why were they taking the same patient? He hesitated. One thing was beyond doubt: their presence could not be challenged by force alone.
Then a nurse appeared, flanked by several security guards. She planted herself firmly in their path.
“What on earth do you think you’re doing? He is our patient. You cannot simply take him away,” she demanded, though her defiance wavered under the sheer weight of their presence.
The corridor seemed to shrink around the imposing figures, tension crackling like static in the air.
Grayson, ever perceptive, recognized the risk immediately. Any confrontation here would draw unwanted attention — and that attention would fall on Chris. He stepped forward with an elegance that contrasted sharply with the raw authority behind him — a composed gentleman in the face of potential chaos.
From his jacket pocket, he produced a document and extended it to the nurse. “Please do not misunderstand, ma’am. This is an approved transfer request. We are here to move him to a safer and more suitable treatment environment p>
Cautiously, the nurse took the paper and scanned the contents. The hospital director’s signature and official seal confirmed its legitimacy.
Grayson remained perfectly composed. The document was genuine, of course — with the influence they wielded, arranging such a transfer was effortless. Had he not been delayed by that minor matter for even a few minutes, the thugs would never have reached the ward, never have disturbed Chris’s fragile peace. The others had been preoccupied tending to burns from the earlier fire, and no one had anticipated this intrusion. A small lapse — and yet a fateful one.
That Chris remained unharmed was a stroke of luck they would never take for granted. Had anything happened to him, forgiveness would have been impossible.
The close call only hardened Grayson’s resolve. Chris had to be moved — away from this place, away from a hospital that had already proven it could not protect him.