Her face hardened. “You don’t give the orders here anymore, Adrian. You’re in no condition to manage staff.”

I didn’t argue. I let the silence stretch until it became uncomfortable, and then I allowed a faint smile to reach the corner of my mouth.

I watched the exact second it happened — the first flicker of real fear in Vanessa’s eyes. She’d just seen something looking back at her from that bed.

She recovered fast. She tossed her hair and huffed. “Fine. Keep your pathetic little maid. It won’t matter in the end.”

She spun out of the room and slammed the door.

She was wrong. It mattered entirely. Because Clara had already found what I needed.