Noa's POV

I woke up in a panic state, about to jump out of the hospital bed when Damiano gently pushed me back.

"It's okay," he said, trying to calm me down. "Mom is fine. She is not badly injured."

I paused. "You went to check up on her?" I asked.

He nodded. "She was about to come looking for you too."

He then chuckled. "Like mother, like daughter, huh?"

Rather than joining in, tears streamed from my eyes, and Damiano quickly embraced me in a hug.

"Hey, it's okay. Mom is okay, she simply has a few bruises there and there, all that happened was that she passed out."

"I put my Mom in the crossfire," I muttered.

"..."

"Who did it?"

"Alaina-"

"And where's Dad?"

Damiano replied. "He went to meet with Alaina-"

I got out of bed, but Damiano stopped me again. Mom was basically by herself, Dad was nowhere to be seen and wait! Alaina just decided to put MY mom in the crossfire?! She was not getting off easily.

"Princess, calm down. It's okay. I have solved it already."

I looked at him, puzzled. "You did?"

"Yeah," he replied. "How about you relax and take some rest?"

I looked at him. "Damiano..."

Just then, the doctor walked in before I could inquire more. The doctor ran some more tests, then told me that I could be discharged today. Luckily, I could see Mom. I asked the doctor about my Mom and he told me that she was discharged a long time but was taken by grandma and uncle. I simply nodded, thanking him, as my thoughts slightly spiraled. Grandma and Uncle already knew. Just how soon enough would it take before Cybric Flash News publish the next story?

I went to change to the clothes Damiano brought and after getting the doctor prescription for the medication and ointment, we left the hospital. Before getting into the car however, I checked the car seats for any stains, especially quickly scanning Damiano's side.

"You didn't stain the car seats," Damiano said, his gaze a little longer than intended. "Besides, this is just a car. You mean more to me than this."

Letting out a chuckle, and a huge smile, I thanked him. We got in the car and drove off. Damiano sent someone to get the prescribed medication, and he took me to my favorite fast food restaurant - the Pizza Corner. I wanted to hide my blush but failed. 

"You can't be making me blush in such a time, babe," I teased, looking at him. "Let me guess, you know my favorite meals?"

"Like the back of my hand."

"Ha. Mom told you, right?" I asked. "She loves you then."

"Compliments already?" he asked. "I'm flattered."

I shook my head as he ordered through the drive-thru and continued on our way home. Silence fell over us, but I kept my eyes out on the window. I pulled my phone to see missed calls from Ria instead.

"Ria?"

"Noa. I heard you got injured. Are you okay?"

"It's fine. My husband took care of everything,
but thanks for checking up on me Ria.
How's everything?"

"Good actually."

"But...?"

"Kevin has been annoying. He spoke about
him asking Alaina to 'knock some sense into
you' and all that."

Damiano tapped my knee, gesturing me to put the call on loud speaker. 

"So he has been in the company lately?"

"Yes."

"Did you manage to get it on record, somehow?"

Ria fell silent for a moment before letting out a chuckle, slightly puzzled.

"Your husband solved everything for us,
and the entire family. Even Selene
and Ramiro were sold by the plan."

I shook my head, then turned to look at Damiano but he kept his eyes on the road.

"I must yet to find out. I am glad everything is sorted.
Let us know if there's anything."

"Will do."

AT THE LANZO VILLA

Walking inside the house, I looked at Damiano and grabbed his arm, his gaze on me. With a smile, I thanked him for the work he did for the short time that I was out.

"Thanks for everything - for taking care of Kevin and Mom... that means a lot."

"You didn't have to ask," he answered, brushing it off before his hand caressed my cheek. "Anytime."

I looked at the balcony, a wave of relief hitting me as I walked there, letting Damiano go. He followed me there. Standing next to each other, I looked at Cybric's horizon, letting its view calm me down. I was never the type to experience some sort of anxiety or fear. Ever since I married Damiano, I felt emotions I never knew existed. 

"You know?" I asked. "You never really told me what you really want from me."

"..."

"Apart from me teaching you manipulation- It's not even a thing, that's called a reaction to trauma."

I froze. Reaction to trauma? Since when did I have the audacity to say things like that?

It's been years since I last spoke of trauma. Not that they scared me, I accepted the fact that I manipulated people (who didn't listen) to channel my trauma elsewhere. And also the fact that I was also curious to see people's reaction to my manipulation weapon. Works every time.

But my stubborn self would never allow any room for embarrassment. I continued. "So, spit it out, sir."

He simply nodded. "You are right. Manipulation isn't the only thing I want."

He then locked eyes with me, his gaze always having this choking effect of wanting to let him in way more than he should. "But I will tell you when the time is right."

"The time isn't right, now?" I asked.

"No," he replied, his hand finding its way to my cheek again. "Because we need to get ready for a battle South Cybric - or the North - has seen ever."

Unintentionally intrigued, I smirked. "What trick do you have up your sleeve, babe?"

Not wanting to say it himself, he simply took out his phone and let me read the article from CFN.

"The Battle: Playing With Fire - Behind The Masks, will take place on Channel 231 live on Monday, at 8 am on our broadcast channel."

I widened my eyes, turned to Damiano then looked back at the email. This... this was never part of my thought process of a clean revenge, but... Damiano was surely ticking all the right boxes. This saves resources, time and energy - we simply bring out the witnesses, and with the allies we have, we were sure to have the upper hand.

MONDAY MORNING

CYBRIC FLASH NEWS CONFESSION ROOM

"Alaina and Summer are the most selfish people alive."

Little did we know that the road to revenge was only getting started.