Chapter 1 THE RED FOLDER
The rain in the city never just fell; it bled down the glass windows of the central bureau like running ink. Inside, the room was silent except for the rhythmic ticking of the wall clock and the soft scratch of my calligraphy pen. I liked order. I liked precision. That’s why I chose criminology—because human behavior was a puzzle, and I was determined to put the pieces together.
Then, a heavy manila folder slid across my dark mahogany desk.
"We need you on this,Nova ," the chief said, his voice tense. "He’s a ghost. No fingerprints, no mistakes. Just a trail of chaos."
I capped my pen, my eyes dropping to the cover. Written across the front in stark, cold letters was a single word: CRIMINAL.
I opened the file, and my heart instantly skipped a beat. Staring back at me from the photo was a pair of dark, piercing eyes. He had a sharp jawline, a shadow of a smirk playing on his lips, and an air of absolute danger that felt like a magnet.
He didn't look like a case file. He looked like an obsession.
I was supposed to analyze his mind to help the police catch him. But looking at those eyes, I realized the terrifying truth...
Before I had even spoken a single word to him, he had already captured mine.
