He Pretended to Have Nothing to Test His Blind Date—Then One Plus

Cassie felt the concrete floor drop completely out from beneath her feet.

She stumbled backward, her hand flying to her mouth as the horrific news hit her.

"My dad?" she gasped, her voice cracking with pure terror. "Why would anyone take a sick old man?"

Thiago caught her arms, steadying her trembling body with his strong, warm hands.

His expression was a terrifying mix of deep regret and absolute, cold fury.

"Because they know I just bought the hospital," Thiago explained, his voice hard as steel. "And they know you are currently standing next to me."

"Who?" Cassie demanded, tears of frustration burning her eyes.

"The Moretti syndicate," Thiago growled, pronouncing the name like a curse. "They control the illegal pharmaceutical black market in the city. They've been trying to force me to transport their stolen narcotics using my refrigerated trucks for years."

Cassie realized the dangerous world she had just blindly stepped into.

This wasn't just corporate espionage; this was a ruthless, violent mafia war.

"What do they want?" Cassie asked, fighting to keep her panic under control.

"They want me to hand over the security codes for my entire Northeast transportation fleet," Thiago said, checking the magazine of a sleek black pistol he pulled from a hidden ankle holster.

"If I give them the codes, they can move millions in illegal drugs completely undetected by federal authorities."

Thiago grabbed his radio and ordered his tactical security teams to converge on the hospital immediately.

He pulled Cassie toward the service elevator, refusing to leave her side for a single second.

They rushed back to the roof and boarded the waiting helicopter, soaring violently back toward the city.

Cassie stared out the window, her hands shaking so badly she had to clasp them together in her lap.

"I'll give them the codes," Thiago stated firmly over the headset, looking directly into her fearful eyes. "I will not let an innocent man die because you saved my life."

Cassie shook her head vigorously.

"No," Cassie argued. "If you give them the codes, they'll just kill my dad anyway to tie up loose ends. That's how these people work."

Thiago looked at her, completely surprised by her sharp, pragmatic understanding of the criminal underworld.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Thiago asked, genuinely wanting her input.

"We don't give them the codes," Cassie said, her jaw setting with fierce determination. "We give them exactly what they asked for, but we make sure they can never use it."

Ten minutes later, the helicopter landed on the roof of the private hospital.

The building was surrounded by police cruisers, but Thiago’s heavily armed private security forces had already established an inner perimeter.

Thiago’s head of security, Mateo, met them at the helipad door.

"They have him on the fourth floor, in the intensive care wing," Mateo reported grimly. "Five armed men. They've barricaded the doors and are threatening to execute the hostage in ten minutes if you don't call them with the codes."

Thiago pulled out his encrypted smartphone and dialed the number the mercenaries had provided.

The phone answered on the first ring, the gruff voice of the Moretti enforcer echoing through the speaker.

"You have the codes, Bellacort?" the man sneered.

"I have them," Thiago lied smoothly, looking at Cassie who was furiously typing on a hospital computer terminal nearby.

"Good. Read them to me, and maybe the old man lives to see tomorrow."

Cassie looked up from the screen, giving Thiago a sharp, confident nod.

Thiago began reading a long string of complex alphanumeric codes over the phone, completely improvising the sequence.

"Got it," the enforcer laughed. "Now, order your men to fall back, or I shoot him anyway."

The line went dead.

Thiago looked at Cassie, his heart pounding with raw adrenaline. "Did it work?"

"I just accessed the hospital's automated HVAC control system," Cassie said, her fingers flying across the keyboard.

"The fourth floor ICU uses an isolated, specialized ventilation system to prevent airborne infections."

"What did you do?" Mateo asked, staring at the brilliant waitress.

"I just pumped the entire supply of the hospital's surgical-grade nitrous oxide directly into the fourth-floor air ducts," Cassie stated calmly.

Thiago stared at her, completely awestruck.

Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, was a powerful anesthetic used in heavy surgeries.

Within three minutes, the armed mercenaries barricaded inside the ICU began to violently hallucinate and lose consciousness.

Thiago’s tactical team breached the doors, easily disarming the incapacitated thugs without firing a single shot.

Cassie sprinted down the hallway, bursting into the hospital room to find her father safe, breathing through an oxygen mask that had protected him from the gas.

She collapsed beside his bed, crying tears of absolute relief.

Thiago stood in the doorway, watching the beautiful, brave woman hold her father's hand.

He realized he didn't just owe her his pride or a warehouse of vaccines.

He owed her his heart.

Before Thiago could step into the room to comfort her, the hospital's emergency alarms suddenly began screaming with a terrifying, high-pitched wail.