The monitors started beeping differently—sharp, uneven, alarming. Damiano jumped to his feet immediately, his heart dropping into his stomach as he looked at the nurses rushing inside the room. Aaliyah, still weak and pale from the coma, opened her eyes halfway, confused and terrified.
"Damiano… what's happening?"
Her voice was barely a whisper.
Before he could answer, the doctor stepped forward with a face that said everything wasn't okay.
Doctor: "Estrella's condition has changed. We're losing stability. We need to deliver her now—an emergency birth."
Damiano froze. Aaliyah's eyes widened in pure fear.
Aaliyah: "Emergency? But she's not ready—she's too small—"
Doctor: "If we wait, she won't survive."
Aaliyah broke. Tears spilled instantly, shaking her whole body, but the doctor wasn't done.
He looked at Damiano… then at Aaliyah.
Doctor: "…and there's something else. Aaliyah's vitals show an irregular cardiac pattern we did not see before. The stress and the previous collapse may have caused internal strain. We have to monitor her closely during the delivery. There is a risk for both of them."
Damiano felt the world tilt, a cold shock running through his chest.
Damiano: "What do you mean a risk? A risk for what?"
Doctor: "For her heart to give out under the anesthesia… or during the push."
Aaliyah reached for Damiano with trembling fingers.
Aaliyah: "If something happens… promise me—"
Damiano: "NO. Don't say anything like that. You're going to make it. Both of you."
Before the doctors could move her, the door slammed open—Winona and Dylan entering with security behind them.
Winona wasn't crying anymore. She looked like fire.
Winona: "We're coming with her. And nobody gets near this room without our approval."
Dylan checked every corner like a soldier.
Dylan: "There's been a breach attempt. Someone inside the hospital tried accessing Aaliyah's medical files. We found out who."
Damiano's jaw clenched.
Damiano: "Who?"
Winona: "A staff member paid by a media outlet. He's fired and security doubled. No one gets in. No more threats."
For the first time in days, the danger around them began collapsing—losing power, losing reach. Winona and Dylan had shut everything down.
But the real nightmare was happening inside Aaliyah's body.
The doctors began rolling her bed toward the surgical wing. Damiano walked beside her, holding her hand as if it were the last moment he would ever touch her.
She looked up at him, eyes full of fear and love.
Aaliyah: "Damiano… stay with me."
Damiano: "Always. I'm not leaving you. I'm not letting anything happen to you or Estrella."
A nurse tried to separate them.
Nurse: "Sir, you can't go past this point—"
But a deep voice echoed through the hallway.
A man in a tailored suit, guarded by two officials, stepped forward.
Powerful Figure: "Let him through. I'm overruling this. He stays. No cameras. No leaks. Total blackout."
Damiano recognized him immediately—one of the most influential cultural ministers in Italy.
Minister: "Italy owes you both protection. And after what the media has done, this is the least we can do."
He nodded at Damiano.
Minister: "Go. Be with your family."
Damiano followed Aaliyah into the pre–operation room, but before the doors closed, he turned one last time toward Winona and Dylan.
Damiano: "I need one thing from you… If Estrella is born weak—if anything happens—I want Aaliyah out of Italy. Immediately."
Winona nodded, fierce and loyal.
Winona: "Already preparing everything."
And Dylan added quietly:
Dylan: "No threats. No danger. No enemies. Not anymore. We end this tonight."
The doors closed.
Alarms echoed. Nurses rushed.
Aaliyah gasped in pain.
The doctors shouted for equipment.
And Estrella—tiny, fragile, fighting—was seconds away from entering a world already too loud for her small heart.
This was it.
The moment everything changed forever.