16

John quietly slipped through the heavy wooden door of the patient ward. 

He found Martin Roy propped upright against the crisp hospital pillows, his eyes blazing with an intense, calculated focus that entirely defied his medical condition.

 Before John could even utter a greeting, his phone buzzed violently in his palm with a flurry of incoming texts from the grandmaster sitting right across the room.

Martin:* So this is what you observed, John? Sara already changed my room when you were busy trying to follow her dad. She successfully tricked you guys into thinking she was heading straight home.*

John stared at the glowing screen, his breath hitching in his throat. 

He looked up at Martin, his mind reeling as the absolute brilliance of Sara’s countermove fully sank in. 

She hadn't just secured the perimeter; she had completely thrown them off her scent.

He quickly typed back, his thumbs trembling over the digital keyboard.

John:* Sir, so, she won now. She qualified all your four conditions: 1. She didn't stay alone with a stranger. 2. She didn't attend the interview. 3. She saved you from this fake problem. 4. Her dad didn't scold her for the money.

John: Did she win this game, sir?*

A dark, mocking chuckle rumbled deep in Martin’s chest. 

However, his physical posture remained perfectly rigid to avoid alerting Raghu, who was sitting quietly on the far side of the room. 

Martin’s fingers flew across the screen, his digital reply cold, sharp, and entirely unyielding.

Martin: *No. The third condition is not completed yet. I know my own room number. Just come inside and send those fake thugs, Ravi and Manu. I will show you exactly who wins this game.*

Reading the text, John felt a hollow, sinking sadness settle deep in his chest.

Sara already won the moment she hid you this well, he thought bitterly.

 His heart ached for the girl who had sacrificed her entire career path today just to protect a ruthless billionaire from an artificial threat. 

But he didn't dare cross his boss openly.

Martin: *This failure is entirely because of your insufficiency. If those thugs outside were real contract killers, do you honestly think just changing a room number would solve the problem?*

John: *You are correct, Sir. Fine, I will send them in to blackmail Raghu and create a scene. Let's show her that Sara's plan is completely waste in front of your genius brain.*

Outside in the corridor, John pocketed his phone and signaled the two hired actors, Ravi and Manu. 

The men tightened their leather jackets, adjusted their grip on the fraudulent corporate documents, and marched straight toward Room 504, ready to terrify an old man.

They burst through the heavy wooden door, their aggressive posture perfectly primed to execute the next phase of Martin's script.

But the room was completely wrong.

Ravi and Manu stopped dead in their tracks, looking around the sterile space in utter confusion. 

The patient lying on the bed was absolutely not Martin Roy.

Instead, a completely different, elderly man lay under the sheets, snoring softly and undisturbed by the intrusion.

Standing near the window down the hall, John frantically checked his device as a panicked new text from the actors arrived on his screen.

John: *Sir, you are not in Room No. 504. Where are you?*

Inside the actual, hidden recovery room, Martin's face flushed with a deep, boiling anger. 

His jaw clenched tight as he stared at the screen, furious at his assistant's complete incompetence.

Martin: *Can't you idiots even read a room number? I told you 504.*

Martin snapped his phone screen shut, his breathing heavy as he tried to control the sudden surge of rage. 

He slowly lowered his head, forcing his facial features to smooth out into a flawless mask of calm, before lifting his gaze to look across the small room.

There sat Raghu.

The middle-aged man was the absolute picture of pure, undisturbed peace. 

He was leaning back comfortably in a green plastic chair, quietly reading the morning newspaper and occasionally reaching over to eat fresh fruit from a small plastic bowl on the bedside table.

 He didn't have a single care in the world, completely trusting that his daughter had secured the perfect, unassailable perimeter for their patient.

Looking at Raghu’s completely relaxed posture, Martin felt a strange, frustrating knot tighten in his chest. 

The grandmaster of Roy Enterprises was being outplayed at every single turn by a simple family that didn't even realize they were playing a game.

Defeated for the moment but refusing to break character in front of his lone guardian, Martin subtly slid his hand back under the heavy hospital blanket. 

He cracked open his interface one last time, typing out a short, tight command to John.

Martin: *Then check every single room on this wing. You will find me.*

John: *Okay, Sir. Moving now.*

Outside, John signaled Ravi and Manu to abort the current scene and begin searching the private wing room by room. 

The final pieces of the chessboard were moving, and Martin Roy was about to realize that Sara's defense was far tighter than his empire ever anticipated.