Chapter 1
I didn’t notice him the first time.
That’s the strange part.
For someone who would later change the rhythm of my breathing, he entered my life quietly. No thunder. No dramatic collision. Just a simple, almost forgettable introduction.
“My name’s Kai.”
He said it like it meant nothing.
It was raining that evening. Not heavy, not romantic — just annoying. The kind that makes the city look tired instead of beautiful. I had just started my job two months ago, and I was already calculating how many days I could survive if I lost it.
Rent. Electricity. Internet. Groceries.
Everything depended on me.
I was standing outside the café near my apartment, trying to decide whether coffee was a necessity or a luxury, when he spoke.
“You look like you’re negotiating with the universe.”
His voice was calm. Deep. Controlled.
I turned.
Black coat. Dark hair. Eyes so blue they didn’t look natural under the grey sky.
He didn’t smile fully. Just slightly. As if he already knew something I didn’t.
“I’m fine,” I said automatically.
“I didn’t say you weren’t.”
That was the first thing I noticed about him. He never rushed to fill silence. He let it sit between us like something deliberate.
He told me he was a photographer. Freelance. Flexible schedule. Liked quiet places.
Simple.
That’s what I thought he was.
Simple.
We met again two days later. Then a week later. Then suddenly it became normal to see him walking beside me, holding the door open, asking if I had eaten.
He never asked too many questions.
But somehow… he always knew when I had a bad day.
When my boss criticized my design presentation, he showed up that evening with takeout from the restaurant I once mentioned liking.
When my landlord complained about noise that wasn’t even mine, he stood beside me, calm, composed, handling the conversation like it was nothing.
He never tried to impress me.
He just… appeared.
And I liked that.
I liked how safe it felt.
I liked how his hand rested on my waist when we crossed the street. Firm. Protective. Not demanding.
I liked how he listened.
But there was something else.
Something small.
He was always busy at odd hours. He would disappear during important calls. Sometimes his expression changed when he thought I wasn’t looking — sharper. Colder. Calculating.
And once…
Just once…
I caught him watching me like I was something fragile and already his.
Not in a sweet way.
In a way that made my chest tighten.
I told myself I was imagining things.
Because Kai was simple.
He told me he was.
And I wanted him to be.
I wanted something uncomplicated. No power games. No hidden worlds. Just a man who would stay.
So, when I found the folder on his laptop that night…
I wasn’t prepared.
It was unlocked.
I wasn’t snooping.
I was looking for a photo he took of me last week.
The folder had my name on it.
Stella.
My fingers went cold.
Inside were photographs.
Not recent ones.
Photos from three years ago.
Me walking out of university. Me arguing on the phone outside my old apartment. Me crying once in the rain.
Photos I never posed for.
Photos I never knew were taken.
And at the bottom of the folder…
A document.
VINCE HOLDINGS — CONFIDENTIAL.
My heart stopped.
Kai.
Or whoever he really was.
He had known me long before I ever learned his name.
And suddenly…
Nothing about him felt simple anymore.
