"And make her steak too," Seren continued quietly. "The recipe she likes so much." Seb stared at her for a second. Then slowly smiled despite himself. "I will, princess."

Another cough escaped Seren before she settled deeper against the pillows.

"You should rest now." Seb adjusted her blanket carefully while the nurses finished reconnecting her drips.

Within minutes, Seren’s eyes slowly closed again. This time, sleep claimed her almost instantly.

Seb remained standing there watching her for a while. The room became quiet except for the soft machine sounds surrounding her bed.

Then finally, he stepped away toward the far corner of the room and pulled out his phone.

The screen was filled with missed calls. Mostly from Damien. Seb frowned slightly before finally answering.

The call connected immediately. "Where the hell are you, Seb?" Damien exploded the second he picked up. "I’ve been calling you nonstop."

Seb rubbed his forehead tiredly. "It’s late," he muttered.

"That’s your response?" Damien snapped. "Do you have any idea what’s happening right now?"

Seb’s eyes drifted toward sleeping Seren again.

"No," he answered honestly. "And I don’t really care at the moment."

Damien went silent for one second.

That alone told him something was very wrong.

Because Sebastian Creed always cared.

"What is it?" Seb asked impatiently as he stepped out into the quiet hospital hallway. "I was busy."

Damien sounded close to losing his mind on the other end of the call.

"Our overseas stock is crashing," he said sharply. "And I mean fast." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Seb stopped walking.

His expression changed instantly.

"What?"

"People are dumping shares like crazy," Damien continued. "And some mysterious buyer is swallowing everything being sold."

Seb’s eyes narrowed dangerously. "Who is it?"

"I don’t know," Damien snapped. "We can’t trace it properly yet. The purchases are being spread through multiple accounts."

Seb’s jaw tightened.

"You need to get your ass here right now." Seb looked back once toward Seren’s hospital room.

Then, toward the hallway leading to Amara’s room. For the first time all night, hesitation crossed his face. He didn’t want to leave.

Not with both of them in the same hospital. Not when Julian was there. Not when everything already felt unstable. But Damien’s voice dragged him back to reality again.

"Hurry."

The line ended. Seb stood there for a few seconds, gripping his phone tightly before finally exhaling through clenched teeth.

"I’m coming." An hour later, Seb’s car pulled into the underground parking garage of the company headquarters.

The building was still brightly lit despite how late it was. Nobody had gone home. How could they? The market was collapsing in real time.

Employees rushed through hallways carrying files and laptops while finance teams crowded around screens with tense expressions.

The atmosphere inside the building felt suffocating. Panic hidden beneath professionalism. The moment Seb stepped onto the executive floor, Damien practically stormed toward him.

"Thank God you’re here." Seb didn’t waste time responding. Both men walked quickly toward his office while assistants moved out of their way immediately.

The large screen inside the office was already displaying live market numbers. Red. Everywhere. Seb stopped cold.

For the first time in years, genuine shock crossed his face. The decline was brutal. Fast. Calculated.

"This is bad," Seb muttered quietly. Very bad. He stepped closer to the screen while Damien pulled up additional reports.

"Someone’s targeting us on purpose," Seb said immediately. There was no doubt in his mind now. This wasn’t normal market behavior.

This was coordinated. Strategic. Personal.

"We need to start selling too," Damien said quickly. "If we don’t, we could lose billions before morning."

"No."

Seb answered instantly. Damien stared at him. "No?" he repeated incredulously.

Seb’s eyes remained fixed on the screen. Because this wasn’t just another investment. This stock was his safety net.

His hidden reserve. His recovery plan whenever things went wrong. Over the years, whenever the company faced crises, scandals, lawsuits, or near collapse.

This was the money that always brought him back. Sebastian Creed survived because he diversified carefully.

Because he planned ahead. Because no matter how badly he fell, he always had another way back to the top.

But now... Someone was attacking the very thing that kept him untouchable. And the terrifying part?

Whoever it was understood exactly where to hit him. Seb slowly sat down in his chair, eyes darkening.

"No," he repeated more quietly this time. "This can’t be happening." Damien looked genuinely worried now.

"What if we can’t stop it?" Seb didn’t answer immediately. Because for the first time in a very long time. He wasn’t completely sure he could.

"Listen, everyone!" Seb’s voice cut sharply through the chaos the moment he entered the analysis room.

The entire space fell silent instantly.

Massive screens covered the walls, numbers flashing red across every monitor while alerts kept appearing nonstop. The air itself felt tense, suffocating, like the company was slowly bleeding out in front of them.

Seb moved quickly toward the center workstation. "I want all of you buying back shares immediately," he ordered. "Every available route. Every connected account. Move now."

The analysts rushed into action instantly. Keyboards clicked rapidly. Commands were entered. Programs launched. Then "Sir..."

One of the analysts froze. Seb looked over sharply. "What?"

"I can’t buy." Another employee turned pale. "Same here."

"It’s not processing access permissions."

"My system’s locked out too."

"What the hell?" Damien muttered. Seb stormed forward immediately.

"Move." The employee practically jumped out of the chair.

Seb sat down behind the laptop himself, fingers moving rapidly across the keyboard.

Code flashed across the screen as he bypassed firewall after firewall, trying alternative entries, hidden backdoors, private access routes only he knew existed.

Fast. Precise. Dangerously skilled. But nothing worked. Every route was blocked before completion.

Every bypass is redirected. Every hidden entry sealed shut. Seb’s expression slowly darkened. Impossible.

He tried another sequence. Denied. Another. Blocked. Another. Nothing.

"How is this possible?" Seb suddenly roared. The keyboard smashed violently beneath his fist. The entire room jumped.

Silence followed instantly. Heavy silence. Damien stared at the screen in disbelief before slowly looking back at Seb.

"This..." he said carefully, almost cautiously now, "this must be serious." Nobody spoke.

Then Damien laughed once under his breath, though there was no humor in it. "Whoever this person is..." he murmured, "must be extremely powerful."

His eyes narrowed slowly toward Seb. "Because even you can’t counterattack."