"What?" Caleb’s voice was low but sharp, his brows drawing into a tight knot. The silence that followed felt heavier than it should.
"Yeah..." Naya exhaled shakily, leaning back against the edge of the table as if her legs no longer trusted her weight. "I called my secretary—just like he did. Nathan used the power of the card on him."
Caleb’s jaw clenched.
"It was exactly as you warned ," she continued. "He didn’t believe I wasn’t trying to trick him. He suspected sothing, so he called my secretary—asked if I was the one who paid for the investnt."
Her voice dropped lower, almost like she was ashad of it.
"The man told him the money didn’t co from . I guess that’s what set everything off. That’s why he showed up at the hotel yesterday—probably after digging deeper into your finances to figure out where the money ca from."
She paused, her hands clenching as she rembered Caleb’s words—his warning about Nathan’s caution and why she shouldn’t take on the paynt herself. She had doubted him. Even after Nathan cornered her, sothing in her still believed Caleb was overreacting.
But now?
’Nathan was exactly as Caleb described—paranoid, calculating,’ she thought, a cold shiver running down her spine. She was thankful now that she hadn’t insisted on being the one to make the investnt. Not that she would have had the ans to do it anyway, but still...
"He also ntioned the news report from this morning," she said, her eyes narrowing in thought. "The incident from yesterday—it was reported. But there was no ntion of Nathan. Not a word. It’s like he never ca to the hotel at all!"
Her nails tapped the table anxiously as her mind raced.
Caleb could feel the edge in her voice now—panic, creeping in slowly.
"Chill out," he said, raising a hand in a calming gesture. "We’ll figure it out. Are you sure it wasn’t Group X?"
"Group X...?" Naya repeated, her brows furrowing. "I doubt it. This doesn’t feel like them. Group X doesn’t remove bodies. If anything, they leave their ss behind and let the authorities label it as an unsolvable anomaly."
Caleb pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling a long breath.
It didn’t add up.
Nathan had been dead. He was sure of it. The body they’d left behind wasn’t breathing. His wounds had been fatal, and even if the card granted regenerative healing, it couldn’t bring back the dead. It wasn’t resurrection—it was recovery.
Nathan wouldn’t have seen his death coming either. He was arrogant, yes, but he was also thodical. That was the thing—he believed he had everyone wrapped around his fingers. Especially Naya. She had been the last thing he’d expected to fight back.
’Nathan had experience—training. He was a cardholder and a killer. Naya was just a cardholder... inexperienced in real-life combat. If I hadn’t interfered, she’d be dead right now. No doubt.’
Caleb shook his head. It was all too much.
’Focus on the mission first,’ he told himself. ’The system clock is ticking. I need that $1.5 million before the week ends. I’ll deal with walking corpses later.’
He looked at Naya, who was still pacing lightly, lost in thought. She looked tense but no longer terrified. She looked... grounded.
"Naya," he said gently, "let’s not dwell on this for now. We’ve got other things on our plate. Just keep your eyes open. If anything strange pops up—let know."
She glanced at him, hesitant at first, but then she gave a small nod. Her gaze lingered on him for a mont longer.
She was afraid—but not like before. Sothing had shifted in her. Maybe it was trust. Maybe it was the quiet comfort that ca from knowing soone had your back.
’If Caleb beat Nathan once... he can do it again,’ she told herself.
"Alright," she said, straightening. "I’ll be heading to Arran for the magazine cover shoot."
Caleb smiled. "Good. And be careful, alright?"
With a nod, Naya turned and left the room, her footsteps fading down the hallway. The door clicked shut, and Caleb was finally alone.
"I’ve really gotten myself deep in this ss," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "At least the system’s got my back financially..."
Just then, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
He pulled it out and blinked at the caller ID: Martin’s Manager.
Caleb answered. "Morning."
"Good morning, sir!" the voice chirped on the other end, warm and full of excitent. "I wanted to inform you that the construction work is almost complete. The ga Hall should be ready by tomorrow, latest."
Caleb’s eyes lit up. "That’s excellent news. Send the location—I’ll head over to the site now."
"Of course, sir." The line clicked off.
Caleb stood from the sofa, stretching lightly before glancing at his reflection in the mirror. He straightened his collar and sighed.
’One step closer to finishing the mission. Let’s just hope things don’t spiral further out of control...’
He walked out of the room, the door shutting gently behind him.
The room fell into silence once more.
But then—sothing stirred.
The mirror on the far wall rippled, like water touched by wind. The surface shimred, and then... a face appeared.
A familiar face.
Naya would’ve scread.
The reflection shifted and bled into the windowpane, like a shadow slithering across glass. It darted from mirror to mirror, glass to glass, as if skipping realities with each transparent surface it touched.
Finally, it stopped.
In the tall mirror by the door, the surface rippled one last ti—and from it stepped a man.
Tall. Broad. Dressed in a jet-black suit that clung to him like second skin. A cigarette hung lazily from his lips, burning without a single puff.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sleek, black phone.
It rang once before a crackled voice answered.
"Have you found the card?"
The man smiled thinly. "Yes. The previous holder is dead. But... soone else has taken possession."
There was a pause on the line. Then, "Another cardholder?"
"Yes, sir."
"Unfortunate. We’ll need to correct that. Kill them both. Retrieve the two cards. I don’t like resistance."
"Already on it, sir," the man said, sliding the phone back into his pocket.
Nathan’s lips curled into a smirk as he took a long drag of his unlit cigarette.
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