She could hear the voices.
They were distant, muffled, slipping through the darkness like echoes in a bottomless pit. She tried to answer, to move, but her body refused. No matter how hard she struggled, she kept sinking, deeper and darker.
One voice lingered longer than the others. It was familiar, imprinted in her subconscious. Commanding. Silent. She wanted to reach for it. She wanted to respond. But she fell still.
For a month, Jade had remained like this — suspended between life and oblivion. Machines beeped steadily beside her bed, keeping rhythm with the fragile thread of her existence. The hospital gown swallowed her frame, making her appear smaller, weaker, lifeless.
Enzo had been by her bedside every single day. Their marriage hadn't been perfect. He had suspicions. He had doubts. But he had chosen to trust her. And now, seeing her lying motionless, he burned with fury.
The crime scene had been spotless. CCTV footage — tampered. Witnesses — nonexistent. Whoever had done this had planned it carefully.
He leaned closer, voice low, steady, meant more for himself than her.
"I will find him," he murmured. "And when I do… he will pay. With his life."
His phone rang, cutting through the tense quiet. He stepped outside to answer, finding Rocco leaning casually against the wall.
"Watch her," Enzo said. "I'll be back."
Rocco nodded. "Don't worry. She's safe."
Enzo lifted the phone, answering the caller's questions as he walked down the corridor. His smile was brief, controlled, but there was no mistaking the edge in his eyes.
When Enzo disappeared from sight, Rocco entered the room quietly. Every step was deliberate, calculated.
He approached the bed and took her hand in his. The touch lingered longer than necessary, possessive, intimate, controlling.
"Why did you leave in such a hurry that day?" he asked softly. "I told you to wait."
He leaned slightly closer, calm, almost tender — but in that calm, there was danger.
And there he stayed, holding her hand, watching her still form, the room thick with unspoken tension.