The reaction was instant. The voices faltered. Cameras lowered. Eyes widened. A murmur swept through the crowd.
"He's not Kai."
"Where is he then? He was just here!"
Reporters spun in frantic circles, scanning every corner of the lot, their heels clattering against concrete as some bolted toward staircases, others toward the exit ramps. The once-unified frenzy fractured into chaos, chasing a ghost.
Ryan stood frozen in the storm. Sweat slid down his temple, cooling fast in the underground air. His breath came uneven, his chest heaving under the weight of realization.
He set this up. Kai had walked with him, step for step, only to dissolve at the moment the lights hit. He hadn't run. He hadn't pushed. He had simply… vanished. Clean, seamless. Using Ryan as the perfect decoy, the perfect distraction.
The bitter taste of betrayal burned in Ryan's mouth. But beneath it, stronger still, was awe.
Because Kai hadn't just escaped the press.
He had rewritten the air itself, leaving Ryan to face the world, while he slipped into shadows so deep, it was as if he'd never been there at all. And Ryan was left with one maddening question twisting in his skull: If he wasn't here… then where the hell did Kai go?
Ryan's ears still rang with the reporters' voices even after the crowd had scattered in different directions, chasing shadows of a man who wasn't there. His own mask dangled from his hand, damp with sweat, while his pulse thudded at his temples.
"Kai…" he muttered under his breath, spinning on his heel again.
Nothing. Only the low hum of engines starting, the sharp clicking of cameras fading farther away, and the hollow echo of his own footsteps in the cavernous parking lot. He walked toward the far side, checked between SUVs, around concrete pillars, near the stairwell doors. Nothing.
"Kai!" His voice slipped louder, ragged, before he quickly bit it back. He couldn't look unhinged in front of the few reporters still loitering, pretending to pack their equipment but clearly watching him.
Where could he have gone? They'd walked down together. He was right there.
Ryan yanked out his phone, thumb hovering over Kai's name in his contacts. For a second, his finger trembled. Then he shoved the phone back into his pocket. If Kai wanted to be found, he'd be found. If he didn't… Ryan knew it was pointless.
Still, the unease gnawed at him, each step heavier than the last. He did one final sweep of the lot, circling back toward his car. His chest felt tight—anger, confusion, something that almost tasted like betrayal.
And then He froze. Because there he was. Kai Arden.
Sitting in the back seat of Ryan's car like he'd been there the whole time, one leg stretched out, mask still on, scrolling his phone as casually as if this were any other morning commute. The faint glow of the screen lit his sharp profile, his thumb sliding lazily over the glass.
Ryan's hand fell uselessly to his side. His breath hitched, caught between relief and exasperation. "…You've got to be kidding me."
Kai didn't look up immediately. Only when Ryan wrenched the driver's door open did he glance sideways, a slow, deliberate turn of his head. Behind the mask, Ryan swore he saw the curve of a smirk.
"Problem?" Kai's tone was flat. Effortless. Like vanishing in front of thirty reporters was something he did before breakfast.
Ryan stared at him, words clogging in his throat. "You—How—? I looked everywhere. You were—" He jabbed a finger toward the concrete lot. "You were right behind me!"
Kai's thumb flicked again on the screen, dismissive. "I'm still behind you."
Ryan's jaw clenched. His heart was still thrumming like he'd run a marathon, but Kai sat there as if the air hadn't just split with chaos, as if cameras hadn't nearly blinded them both.
The sharp contrast made Ryan's skin crawl. It was too clean. Too controlled. And that's when it hit him.
The way Kai had slowed just slightly before the reporters surged. The way his posture had shifted, his steps light, like he'd been preparing for something. He'd never intended to face them. He had already decided seconds before that Ryan would be the shield.
Ryan sank into the driver's seat, his chest tight with equal parts frustration and awe.
"…You used me." His voice cracked on the edges.
Kai finally set his phone down, turning fully to face him. His eyes glinted, calm but cutting, the way blades looked under dim light.
"I didn't use you," Kai said quietly ''You agreed. You wore them, didn't you?"
Ryan's throat closed. He wanted to shout, to demand answers. But under that gaze, words tangled in his chest. Outside, reporters still pounded questions against the car windows, blinded by the trick.
Inside, Kai sat untouched, untouchable, radiating that calm, suffocating aura of someone who was always three steps ahead.
And Ryan understood. This was never about escaping the reporters. It was about proving a point. Kai Arden never went anywhere he didn't want to. And Ryan… had been a pawn from the start.
Ryan swallowed, his throat dry. He wanted to argue, wanted to call him out, wanted to demand answers. But all he could do was grip the steering wheel harder, pulse still racing from the chaos outside. And Kai...Kai just leaned back into the seat, mask still on, unbothered, as if disappearing in plain sight was the most natural thing in the world.
Silence stretched, thick and suffocating, until Kai leaned forward just slightly, just enough for Ryan to feel the weight of his presence.
"Do you know," Kai murmured, voice low, almost conversational, "why I let you walk out first this morning?"
Ryan swallowed hard, throat dry. "Because… because you wanted them to mistake me..."
Kai's smile deepened, razor-sharp, cutting through Ryan's words. "I put you in the fire just to see how you'd handle it. Unlike you, I don't run from attention .... I control it.
Ryan froze, breath hitching. Kai leaned back again, lazy, unbothered, like the chaos outside didn't exist. He adjusted his sunglasses, his tone smooth and cruel in its calmness.
"Now you understand, Ryan. I don't run from the world." His gaze flicked to the reporters swarming the car windows, then back to Ryan. "I make them chase shadows."
''I didn't get it? What does that even mean? ''
Kai took a deep breath and then poured the words out. ''It means I control the spotlight so well that I can make the world chase nothing .. an echo, a shadow... while I stay hidden in plain sight''
The words dropped like a blade. Ryan's chest caved under the weight of it. He realized then it wasn't just an escape. It was a lesson. A reminder. A warning.
And the worst part? Kai Arden looked like he enjoyed every second of watching him squirm.
The office was buzzing outside, phones ringing, assistants darting between cubicles. But inside Kai Arden's cabin, it was eerily silent. The thick blinds cut out the daylight, leaving only the glow of the sleek desk lamp spreading across polished mahogany.
Ryan sat opposite him, still catching his breath from the chaos of reporters earlier, while Kai leaned back in his chair like he owned not just the room but the very air in it. One hand rested lazily on the armrest, the other slowly tapping a pen against the table in a rhythm that sounded too deliberate to be careless.
"Ryan," Kai said finally, voice calm but carrying that edge of authority that always felt like a command hidden in plain words. "Find me a place."
Ryan blinked. "A place? for … another office?"
Kai's gaze flicked up, sharp. "To live. Until I finalize something permanent."
Ryan leaned forward, trying to keep up. "Why not a hotel? We've got half the city's five stars under contract. Easy to arrange, private entrances, suites with...."
"No." The word cut him clean, flat and absolute. Kai didn't raise his tone, but the finality in it shut down Ryan's list instantly.
Ryan frowned. "No hotel? Then what are you looking for?"
Kai turned the pen slowly in his fingers, his eyes unreadable. "A place where no one would ever believe Kai Arden lives. Not press, not paparazzi, not even the people who think they know me best. A place too ordinary, too forgotten, too… beneath suspicion."
Ryan tilted his head, studying him. "So… not fancy. Not noticeable."
Kai's lips curved, but it wasn't a smile; it was a shadow of one. "Exactly. I don't want glass towers, velvet carpets, or twenty-four-hour valets. I want walls that don't talk. Doors that don't get knocked on. A place invisible."
Ryan slouched back, scratching the side of his jaw. Invisible, huh? He tried to picture Kai Arden, the man who turned every room into a stage, hiding in some plain flat. The image didn't fit.
"So you basically want…" Ryan hesitated, muttering the last part under his breath, "...a forest."
Kai's eyes sharpened instantly, catching even what Ryan hadn't meant him to hear. Ryan straightened. "Uh—nothing. Just thinking out loud."
But Kai didn't let go. He leaned forward slightly, elbows on the desk, eyes gleaming in the dim light. "Not a forest. But you're close."
Ryan blinked. "Close?"
"A place just as wild in its anonymity," Kai said slowly, like he was savoring each word. "Think forgotten corners of the city. Apartments no one looks at twice. Neighborhoods where gossip dies before it starts. Somewhere people don't search, because they don't expect anything worth finding."
Ryan was quiet for a moment, chewing over the request. So not luxury… not visibility… he wants obscurity.
Still, part of him couldn't resist. "You know, Kai, you're describing the opposite of yourself. You're the guy people chase just to get a five-second glimpse of. And now you want a place so plain you'll vanish inside it?"
Kai tilted his head, studying Ryan the way a predator studies prey, not threatening, but unnervingly calm. "That's the point."
Ryan shifted in his seat, a dry laugh escaping before he could stop it. "Alright. Fine. I'll find you something… unremarkable."
"Do that." Kai leaned back again, pen now still in his fingers, as though the decision had already been written. "Remember, unseen isn't the same as unsafe. It has to be both."
Ryan nodded, though a part of him still thought back to the earlier slip of words. A forest, he mused silently, might actually suit him better than a city. Because Kai Arden isn't just hiding, he's hunting too.
Ryan sat across the sleek black desk, his tablet glowing in his hands. He swiped, listing off options one by one, but the silence in the room felt heavier than the air-conditioned chill. Kai sat back in his chair, hands steepled, his eyes fixed not on the screen but on Ryan, like he was testing his patience more than reviewing houses.
Ryan cleared his throat. "First option—Penthouse, central district. It's got high-end security, underground parking, and rooftop access. Privacy guaranteed."
Kai's jaw flexed. He didn't even lean forward. "Strike it."
Ryan blinked. "But—"
"Too obvious. Too… expected. Everyone thinks Kai Arden belongs in a penthouse. I don't live where I'm expected."
Ryan swallowed and swiped again. "Okay… second. A luxury villa in the outskirts. No neighbors within two kilometers, private drive, even a lake view."
Kai's lips twitched almost into a smile, but colder. "Do I look like someone who admires lake views, Ryan?"
Ryan hesitated, muttering under his breath, "You don't even look like someone who sleeps."
Kai tilted his head, and Ryan immediately sat straighter, shutting his mouth. ''Swipe''
"Third. A fully serviced apartment inside our contracted hotel chain. Discreet entrances, private elevators—"
"No." Kai's voice cut sharply. "Hotels leave trails. Cameras. Staff. Too many eyes."
Ryan exhaled slowly. Of course, he would say that. He rubbed his temple and swiped again, his tone less confident now.
"Fourth option… um… an old townhouse. Narrow street, quiet area. Needs renovation, but—"
Kai leaned back, one brow raised. For the first time, he looked mildly interested. "Go on."
Ryan perked up. "It's not flashy. Just… ordinary. Two bedrooms, small garden, nobody would expect you there."
A silence stretched. Kai drummed his fingers once against the armrest, his gaze sharp as if he were dissecting the idea. Then, coldly: "Too ordinary. Too exposed."
Ryan slumped in his chair, dragging a hand down his face. "Then what do you want, Kai? A treehouse in the middle of a forest?"
The corner of Kai's lips curved not into amusement, but into something sharper. "Closer."
Ryan froze, tablet halfway to the next swipe. "You're… not serious."
Kai leaned forward, finally, his eyes like knives under the cabin lights.
"I want a place no one can imagine me stepping into. Not fancy. Not ordinary. Something in between. Forgotten. Hidden in plain sight."
Ryan stared, tablet slipping lower in his hand. He felt a chill crawl up his spine. What kind of man searches for shadows when the world is begging to put him under a spotlight?