The window rolled down.
Raina looked up at me from the back seat with the same composed expression she wore everywhere, like the world is her playground.
"Get in," she said.
I did not move immediately.
My brain was doing several things at once. Running back through the night, the club, the walk, the specific street I had turned onto maybe four minutes ago because it was quiet and I wanted the air.
A street with no reason to be on , unless you were going somewhere specific
How was she here.
"What are you doing here," I said. "How did you find me."
"I was driving home , i saw you walking."
"That's..." I looked at the car then back at her.
"It's not like I'm stalking you or anything." The corner of her mouth moved slightly.
"No, I didn't say that." I exhaled. "I was just surprised to see you. Two coincidences in two days is a little crazy."
She held my gaze without flinching. "Are you getting in or not."
I gave myself three seconds.
She was our biggest client. It was midnight and cold and I was standing on an empty pavement treating her like a suspect over two coincidences that probably meant nothing.
I got in.
The interior was warm and smelled faintly of something floral I could not name. Malik glanced at me once in the rearview mirror then pulled away from the curb without a word.
Raina and I did not speak at first. The city moved past the windows, streetlights sliding across the glass in slow amber intervals. I sat with my hands in my lap and watched the road and tried to arrange my thoughts into something that made sense.
Then she spoke.
"I'm having a small gathering at my house Wednesday evening," she said. "I just signed a brand ambassador deal with Soul Beauty. We are celebrating. Would you like to come."
I turned to look at her.
Soul Beauty.
That name sat differently than most names. The biggest cosmetics brand in Hemington, possibly in the world. I didn't know they signed streamers . Their current ambassadors were Muna Lee, the actress whose face had been on their billboards for three straight years. ViNEXSA, two time FUMA award winner. A professional Olympic ice skater whose name I could not remember now but I had seen her face on the billboard and on the side building graffitis.
Those were just a few names amongst the list of stars signed to them .
And now Lumi♡Live.
I had underestimated her. Not her talent, not her numbers, but the actual weight she carried in the industry. A million subscribers was one thing. Soul Beauty was an entirely different conversation.
"Congratulations," I said. "That's huge."
"Thank you." She looked out her window briefly. "So will you come."
"I'll check my schedule," I said. "Let you know."
"Don't think too much about it."
A few minutes later I recognized the streets near my building and leaned forward. "You can drop me here. I'm a few blocks up."
Malik pulled over smoothly. I stepped out into the cold night air and turned back.
"Goodnight Ethan," Raina said.
"Goodnight," I said and closed the door.
I watched the Mercedes disappear around the corner then stood there on the empty pavement for a moment before I started walking.
Two coincidences in two days.
I kept telling myself it was nothing the whole way home.
I was not tired when I got in.
I dropped my jacket on the chair, kicked off my shoes and sat on the couch with my laptop open. The apartment was quiet. Perhaps too quiet.
Marcus had mentioned a conspiracy channel at the club. I had let it pass at the time but it was sitting in me now and I could not ignore it any longer . I opened my browser and typed X Renews
The search corrected immediately.
Did you mean: X Reveals?
I clicked it.
The channel loaded. The profile picture was a man in a white bunny mask, the ears slightly bent at the tips, a bold black X painted across the front of it . No personal details. Just the mask and forty seven uploaded videos going back fourteen months, it had 1,000 followers . Each videos had about 50 likes and 10 comments..only one video had 115 likes .
His latest post was nineteen hours ago.
I clicked it.
The bunny mask filled the screen. He was sitting in a dark room, a single light source somewhere to his left casting half his mask in shadow. His voice was deliberately distorted, low and unhurried.
"Hello, hello, hello. Today we are talking about our common person of interest."
I turned the volume up slightly.
"About an hour ago a source of mine confirmed that she has signed an exclusive contract with Soul Beauty." He paused for effect. "If you don't know Soul Beauty, it is the biggest cosmetics brand in the world as of today. Main offices in Fushigwara, Japan. World class talent on their roster.
Them signing a streamer is a little out of character." Another pause. "But with the trajectory she is on I would not blame them. Now....There have been longstanding theories about Soul Beauty and their connection to a private organization called The Devil's Core." He tilted his head slowly.
"I know. Sounds ominous. Woooowooo." He waved his fingers at the camera. "Is it too much to suggest that Lumi♡Live is their newest addition? I mean she fits the profile. Rising fame. Serious money behind her. Influence that grows faster than it should." He leaned slightly forward. "Rich and ascending. Sound familiar? I don't know. What do you all think. Join me next time and we will dissect this properly."
The video ended.
I sat back and stared at the screen.
He knew about the Soul Beauty deal nineteen hours ago. The official announcement had not gone public yet. I only knew because Raina had told me herself an hour ago. I had checked Soul Beauty's V-Gram page before bed two days ago for unrelated research and there was nothing there. No hints, no teasers, nothing.
I immediately checked soul beauty's v-gram page and there was no news about signing a new brand ambassador.
The secret society angle was ridiculous. That part I had no time for.
But he knew.
Before the press release. Before the official post on all social media platform.l
How.
I scrolled down to his older videos. Seventeen of them were all centered on the same subject, each one going a little deeper than the last. I clicked the oldest one and let it play.
I was still watching when I fell asleep with the laptop open on my chest and the bunny mask frozen mid-sentence on the screen.
Monday came grey and cold.
I was at the studio by eight. The office was open plan, glass partitioned sections running along the back wall where the senior designers worked. Mine was the third from the left. Two monitors, a drawing tablet, a shelf above the window ledge holding reference books and a small plant Jade had given me as a joke eighteen months ago that was somehow still alive.
I sat down, opened my project files and noticed it about ten minutes in.
On my desk, slightly left of my keyboard, sat a bouquet of flowers.
White lilies.
Long stemmed, fresh, standing in a slim vase I did not own that someone had brought with them. A small card was tucked between the stems. I pulled it out.
Waiting for your answer. Don't keep me waiting too long.
No name.
But I got an idea of who sent it .
I read it twice.
White lilies. I had not mentioned them to anyone. Not to Raina, not to anyone at the studio . My mother had kept them in the house when I was growing up and the preference had stayed quietly in me the way childhood things do. Nobody sent you your favorite flower by accident.
Did they.
Maybe it was a coincidence. People bought lilies. They were a common choice. There was no reason to make it into something it was not.
I put the card in my desk drawer and left it there.
Brian knocked on the glass partition and leaned in. "Cute flowers. Who sent those?"
"I don't know " I said. "When were they delivered?"
"About an hour before you came in." He smiled in a way that said he absolutely did not believe anything I'm saying . Then his expression shifted.
"Did you see the news this morning? Soul Beauty just announced Lumi♡Live as their new global brand ambassador. It's everywhere." He shook his head with genuine satisfaction. "We struck gold with that client Ethan. I hope you know that."
"Yeah," I said. "We did."
He pointed at me. "Keep doing what you're doing. Let's talk about that promotion when this project wraps."
I looked up at him.
Three years. I had applied three times and been passed over each time for reasons I do not know . Digital Engagement Director. The role I had been building toward since I joined this company and had watched go to other people . If I could land this promotion, we are talking about better pay , a better office and a heavy bonus....including a sponsored trip to other countries for work .
"Thank you boss," I said.
He nodded and walked back toward his office.
I sat with that for a moment. The promotion within reach for the first time. Because of this project. Because of her. I picked up my phone and texted Raina.
Wednesday works. I'll be there.
Her reply came in under two minutes.
I'm glad. See you then.
At 4:45 Kuro appeared in the studio doorway with his bag over one shoulder.
"How did it go," I asked.
He dropped into the chair across from my desk. "Better. Way better." He pulled out his tablet and turned it toward me. The facial landmark mapping was clean, sixty eight reference points tracked across the full face geometry, expression zones documented and color coded. "She was focused the whole session. Gave me everything I needed."
"Good," I said.
He left twenty minutes later and I sat looking at the card in my open desk drawer.
I closed it.
Tuesday after work , I went to the shopping center and found something decent. Dark trousers, a fitted slate grey shirt, clean white sneakers I had been keeping for the right occasion. I laid them out on the chair by my bed that night and stood looking at them for a moment before I turned the light off.
Wednesday evening I got dressed. The shirt sat well. The trousers were right. I looked like someone who had made an effort without advertising it, which was exactly what I was going for.
From the bedroom I heard it.
A loud horn outside. Once. Deliberate.
I went to the window.
The black Mercedes sat at the curb below. Malik was standing outside it in a dark jacket, one hand resting on the roof of the car, looking directly up at my window.
He raised his hand once when he saw me.
I grabbed my jacket from the hook by the door.
Then went out ...