Fabian watched Angelena's white blazer disappear around the corner of the hallway. He turned his head and shot a freezing glare at Arleen, who was still sobbing dramatically against the doorframe. A sudden, intense wave of irritation washed over him.

He didn't offer Arleen a single word of comfort. Instead, he walked back to the bed and carefully pulled the duvet up to Leland's chin. His movements were incredibly gentle, a stark contrast to his usual ruthless demeanor.

Eleonora slammed her cane against the floor again. "Fabian! Call security! Have that lunatic arrested for assault!"

Fabian rubbed his throbbing temples. "Enough, Grandmother," he said, his voice low and dangerous. "She just saved Leland's life. The Richmond family does not repay debts by calling the police. Atherton, escort them back to their rooms."

Arleen heard the subtle defense in his tone. Jealousy clawed at her throat, but she forced a sickeningly sweet, forgiving smile. "It's okay, Fabian. I don't blame her. She's just... pathetic."

Fabian ignored her entirely. He walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window, pulled out his phone, and dialed Alex.

"I want to know exactly what happened to Angelena Beasley five years ago," Fabian ordered, his voice cold. "Why was she kicked out? Who was involved? I want every single detail, no matter how deeply it's buried."

Meanwhile, Angelena sat in the back of a yellow cab, watching the neon lights of Manhattan blur past the window. She leaned her head against the cold glass, utterly exhausted.

Her burner phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out. It was a voice note from Ghost, her hacker partner.

[Hey Boss. The bounty for 'Angel' on the dark web just hit ten million dollars. The client is still Richmond Corp. You want me to open a channel? ]

Angelena pulled a wireless earbud from her purse and jammed it into her ear. "No," she replied, her voice dripping with ice. "I don't care if he offers a billion. I will never take a job from Fabian Richmond. Block the IP."

Ghost chuckled through the static. [Damn. Did the King of New York piss in your cereal? ]

"He's a blind, arrogant tyrant," Angelena spat, ending the call.

A second later, her regular phone rang. The caller ID showed an unknown, encrypted number.

She answered it.

"How much?"

Fabian's voice came through the speaker. It was deep, magnetic, and completely void of warmth. "Name your price to leave New York and never come near my sons again."

Angelena paused for a fraction of a second before letting out a harsh, mocking laugh. "Do you honestly believe your money gives you the right to buy people's lives?"

"I believe," Fabian said coldly, "that you approaching Leland is part of a calculated agenda. I will not allow a dangerous variable to remain in my children's orbit."

"You have severe paranoia," Angelena fired back, her grip on the phone tightening. "I don't care about your money, and I certainly don't care about you."

Fabian's breathing grew heavier over the line. "Don't think that because you got lucky with Leland today, you have leverage over me. The Richmond family has access to the best medical teams on the planet."

"Your 'best medical teams' couldn't even handle a febrile seizure," Angelena sneered. "They are a bunch of useless hacks."

The silence on the line was deafening. The psychological warfare between them crackled through the phone, neither willing to yield a single inch.

Suddenly, a small, clear voice broke through the background noise on Fabian's end.

"Mommy? Foy misses you."

Fabian immediately covered the microphone with his hand. "Foy, go back to your room," he hissed.

But Angelena had already heard it.

Her heart violently contracted. A physical ache spread through her chest. The primal, undeniable pull of a child calling for her shattered her icy armor instantly. Her eyes burned with unshed tears.

She ignored Fabian completely. She softened her voice to a gentle whisper. "Be a good boy. Go to sleep."

Then, she pulled the phone away and hit end.

Hearing the dial tone, Fabian's face turned ashen. He stared at the phone in his hand. The realization that this woman held more influence over his son's emotions than he did made his blood boil.

He looked down at Foy, who was staring up at him with defiant, angry eyes. Fabian's suspicion morphed into a dark, consuming paranoia.

The next morning.

Angelena walked into her biotech company's headquarters. Before she even reached her desk, Justice ran up to her, clutching a tablet, her face pale.

"Ms. Beasley, we have a massive problem. Our primary supplier for the new drug trial just cut off all raw materials. Effective immediately. The supplier is a subsidiary of Richmond Corp."

Angelena's eyes turned into chips of ice. Fabian was using his corporate power to starve her out of the city.

She slammed her briefcase onto her desk and leaned forward, her eyes burning with absolute defiance. "If he wants a war, I'll give him a war."

She flipped open her laptop. Her fingers flew across the keys, bypassing standard corporate protocols and diving straight into the dark web. She began contacting international smugglers and black-market chemical suppliers. She was going to use her underground network as "Angel" to break Fabian's siege.

Angelena's fingers danced across the keyboard in a relentless blur. Within forty-five minutes, she had secured a secondary supply chain through a shell company in Switzerland, completely bypassing Richmond Corp's blockade.

She slammed the laptop shut, letting out a long, hard breath.

Before she could even take a sip of her cold coffee, her cell phone rang. The caller ID showed the pediatric wing of the Manhattan Private Hospital.

"Ms. Beasley," the head nurse said, her voice strained. "Leland Richmond was admitted for observation. He's refusing all treatments and throwing a massive tantrum. He keeps screaming for you."

Angelena's jaw tightened. She wanted to say no. She wanted to tell them to call his arrogant father. But the image of Leland's pale, tear-streaked face flashed in her mind.

"I'm on my way," she muttered, grabbing her car keys.

Half an hour later, Angelena strode down the pristine, white-tiled corridor of the hospital's VIP wing. She pushed open the heavy door to Suite 1.

Leland was huddled in the corner of the large hospital bed, clutching a pillow to his chest, tears streaming down his flushed cheeks. Foy stood next to the bed, looking helpless and frustrated as he tried to pat his brother's back.

The moment Leland looked up and saw Angelena, his eyes lit up like stars. He scrambled across the mattress, practically throwing himself off the edge of the bed and straight into her arms. He wrapped his small arms around her neck in a death grip.

Angelena's heart melted into a puddle. She caught him effortlessly, burying her face in his soft hair, rubbing his back in slow, soothing circles. She didn't even notice that the room was otherwise empty.

Foy walked over. He reached out and grabbed Angelena's free hand, his small fingers wrapping around hers. He looked up at her, his usually cold eyes soft. "Mommy. You finally came."

Angelena's body stiffened. She knelt down, keeping Leland in one arm while looking Foy directly in the eye. She spoke gently but firmly. "Foy, I am just an auntie. You can't call me Mommy."

Foy shook his head stubbornly. He placed his small hand flat against his chest. "Right here tells me you are Mommy. No one else smells right. Only you smell right."

The sheer, innocent certainty in his voice felt like a physical blow to Angelena's chest. Her psychological defenses crumbled. She pulled Foy into the hug as well, holding both boys tightly against her.

At that exact moment, the door to the VIP suite was pushed open.

Julian Finch, the hospital's Chief of Medicine and Fabian's close friend, walked in holding a clipboard. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and a tailored white coat.

Julian stopped dead in his tracks. His jaw dropped slightly.

He had known Foy and Leland since they were born. These two boys were notoriously icy. They despised being touched by anyone, especially the women Fabian occasionally brought around. Yet here they were, clinging to this woman like she was their lifeline.

Julian pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, clearing his throat loudly. "Excuse me. And you are?"

Angelena quickly released the boys and stood up. Her face instantly morphed back into a mask of cold, professional detachment. "I am just a friend. I know a bit of medicine."

Julian's eyes gleamed with intense curiosity. He walked over and checked Leland's vitals on the monitor. He raised an eyebrow. "The febrile seizure symptoms are completely gone. No residual neurological stress. What exactly did you do?"

"Just a traditional acupressure technique passed down in my family," Angelena lied smoothly, avoiding his gaze.

Julian didn't push it, but his smile turned knowing. "Fabian rarely lets outsiders near his sons. You must be very special to him."

Angelena let out a sharp, derisive scoff. "If it wasn't for the fact that I pity these children, I wouldn't be within a hundred miles of that man."

Julian chuckled softly. He found her brutal honesty incredibly refreshing. No wonder she could handle the two little terrors.

Heavy, rapid footsteps echoed in the hallway outside.

Fabian burst through the door, bringing a wave of freezing, hostile energy into the room. He had just received a text from his security detail that Angelena had bypassed his guards and entered the hospital.

Fabian's eyes swept the room. He saw Angelena standing close to the bed, her hand resting gently on Leland's head, while Julian stood right next to her, smiling warmly.

The image looked sickeningly domestic. A violent, irrational surge of jealousy exploded in Fabian's chest. The blood rushed to his head, blinding his logic.

He crossed the room in three massive strides. He grabbed Leland by the arm and roughly pulled the boy away from Angelena. "Who gave you permission to be in this room?" Fabian snarled.

Leland shrieked in terror at his father's sudden aggression. He burst into fresh tears, reaching his hands out desperately toward Angelena.

Angelena's blood boiled. She violently shoved Fabian's arm away, stepping protectively in front of Leland. "Are you insane? ! You are terrifying him! You are a tyrannical, abusive monster!"

Julian quickly stepped between them, holding his hands up. "Fabian, calm down. She was just visiting the boys. They asked for her."

Fabian couldn't hear him. The roaring in his ears was too loud. He glared down at Angelena, his eyes dark and lethal, looking like he wanted to tear her apart piece by piece. The tension in the room was stretched to the absolute breaking point.

The air in the VIP hospital room was thick enough to cut with a knife. Fabian stared at Angelena, the vein in his forehead pulsing visibly.

Before he could unleash his fury, his phone vibrated violently in his suit pocket. He pulled it out. It was an encrypted, urgent email from Alex.

Fabian opened the file. His pupils dilated. His face turned a terrifying, deadly shade of pale.

The report contained a series of blurry paparazzi photos. They showed Angelena walking out of a restaurant, and right behind her was Carlo Meyer. In the sequence of shots, Carlo was seen intimately draping his own suit jacket over her shoulders, leaning in close to whisper something in her ear that made her smile. The attached text from a high-profile financial gossip rag didn't just imply a relationship-it blatantly stated that insider sources confirmed Angelena was Carlo Meyer's secret fiancée, and that a massive corporate merger disguised as a wedding was already in the works.

Carlo Meyer was Fabian's most ruthless, bloodthirsty rival in the corporate world.

The fuse on Fabian's sanity completely burned out.

He hurled his phone across the room. It smashed against the leather sofa with a loud, violent thud. Foy and Leland jumped, shrinking back against the hospital bed in fear.

Fabian closed the distance between him and Angelena in one step. "You are unbelievable," he sneered, his voice dripping with pure, concentrated venom. "Playing the loving mother to my sons, while spreading your legs for Carlo Meyer? Is this his new strategy? Sending his whore to infiltrate my family?"

Angelena stared at him in utter confusion. "Who the hell is Carlo Meyer?"

She genuinely had no idea who he was talking about. But Fabian's words were so vile, so deeply insulting, that she didn't care to ask for clarification.

She tilted her chin up, her eyes blazing with absolute defiance. "Even if I were to sleep with a homeless man off the street, it would be a step up from a narcissistic, paranoid psycho like you."

Fabian's vision went red. He reached out, his large, calloused hand clamping brutally around Angelena's jaw. He forced her face up, making her look directly into his furious eyes.

He leaned in, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper. "If I find out you are using my sons to steal corporate secrets, I will make you beg for death."

The grip on her jaw was agonizing. But Angelena refused to show a single ounce of pain. Her eyes remained cold and unyielding.

Without breaking eye contact, she lifted her foot. The sharp, stiletto heel of her Louboutin slammed down with bone-crushing force directly onto the instep of Fabian's custom Italian leather shoe.

Fabian grunted in sudden, sharp pain. His grip loosened just enough.

Angelena ripped her face away, taking a quick step back. She rubbed her reddened jaw, glaring at him like he was a piece of trash.

Julian rushed forward, grabbing Fabian by the bicep. "Fabian, stop! You're in a hospital, for God's sake!"

Foy suddenly darted forward. He wrapped his small arms tightly around Angelena's leg, placing himself between her and his father. He glared up at Fabian, his eyes identical to the man he was defying. "Don't you touch her! I won't let you hurt Mommy!"

Leland began to wail from the bed. "I hate you, Daddy! I want to go with Mommy!"

The sight of his own flesh and blood turning against him, protecting this woman, hit Fabian like a freight train. A wave of profound, sickening defeat washed over him, quickly replaced by explosive anger. His authority was being completely dismantled.

He pointed a shaking finger at Angelena. "Guards!" he roared.

The two massive bodyguards stationed outside rushed into the room.

"Throw this scheming bitch out of the hospital," Fabian ordered, his chest heaving. "If she ever comes within fifty feet of my family again, break her legs."

The bodyguards lunged forward. They grabbed Angelena by both arms, their grips like iron vices, and began to drag her toward the door.

Angelena struggled violently, her heels scraping against the linoleum floor. "You are a cold-blooded sociopath!" she screamed at him. "You don't deserve those boys!"

Foy and Leland went feral. They threw themselves at the bodyguards, biting, kicking, and punching the men's legs, screaming for them to let Angelena go.

Seeing his sons reduced to sobbing, violent messes completely broke Fabian's resolve. The noise was unbearable.

"Let her go!" Fabian yelled over the chaos.

The bodyguards immediately released her. Angelena stumbled, catching her balance against the doorframe. She straightened her white blazer, smoothing down her hair. She took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing the humiliation and rage down into a tight, cold ball in her stomach.

She looked at Fabian one last time. Her voice was terrifyingly calm. "One day, Fabian Richmond, you are going to pay in blood for your arrogance."

She didn't look back at the crying boys. She knew if she did, she would break. She turned and walked out, the sharp click of her heels echoing down the hallway until it faded into silence.

Fabian stood frozen in the center of the room. A bizarre, sharp pain twisted in his chest as he watched her leave, but he immediately crushed the feeling, labeling it as anger.

Julian sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. "Fabian, I think you've made a massive mistake."

Fabian slapped Julian's hand away. "She is a corporate spy. End of story."

He walked over to the bed, looking down at his two sons, who were glaring at him with pure, unadulterated hatred. A deep sense of powerlessness settled over him.

He pulled out his phone. He needed to cure his sons, and he needed to cure his insomnia. He needed to cut that woman out of their lives forever.

"Alex," Fabian commanded. "I don't care what it costs. Find the real 'Angel'. Now."