The rain didn't fall—it dominated.
The city was stripped of color, leaving behind nothing but reflections of dim streetlights trembling on wet asphalt.
At the edge of an empty road, a black car came to a silent stop.
The door opened.
A man stepped out.
His shoes met the ground without hesitation. His suit—perfect, untouched—like the storm itself had decided not to challenge him.
His gaze?
Cold.
Not emotional. Not distant.
Just… unreadable.
His name was Adrian Vale.
To the public, he was known as two things:
The president's son.
And something far more dangerous than that.
—
Inside an old building that looked abandoned from the outside, the atmosphere told a different story.
Men stood in silence.
No one spoke.
No one dared.
Adrian walked in.
Slow. Measured.
"Who leaked it?"
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
A man stepped forward, his hands slightly trembling.
"We're still investigating, sir—"
"Still?" Adrian cut in.
Silence dropped like a blade.
Adrian stopped right in front of him. His eyes locked in place.
"If I have to wait… then you're useless."
Simple words.
But everyone in the room understood the weight behind them.
The man's face went pale instantly.
—
Across the city, in a world that felt like it belonged to someone else entirely—
Warm lights.
Soft music.
Quiet laughter.
A young woman sat alone in the corner of a café, focused on her laptop. Her hair was tied carelessly, glasses slipping slightly down her nose.
Her name was Elena Hart.
A normal university student.
Or… at least, that's what people believed.
Her fingers moved quickly across the keyboard, her brows slightly furrowed.
"This doesn't make sense…" she murmured.
She had stumbled into something she shouldn't have touched.
A network.
A flow of money.
A system that didn't exist on paper.
And one name kept appearing.
Over and over again.
A.V.
Elena paused.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Who are you…"
—
The night grew deeper.
Adrian stood on a high balcony, overlooking the city like it belonged to him.
Someone approached from behind.
"We found the source of the leak."
Adrian didn't turn.
"Who?"
"A university student."
That made him pause.
"A student?"
"Yes. A woman."
Silence.
For the first time… something shifted.
Not anger.
Not concern.
Interest.
"Bring me everything on her."
—
Elsewhere, Elena closed her laptop.
She had no idea…
That from this moment on, her life was no longer hers.
And the man whose name she had just uncovered…
Was the last person she should have been looking for.
—
To be continued...