Adrian stared at the message.

For a moment, everything around him seemed to disappear.

The charity event continued behind him. However, their voices drifted through the corridor, the waiters moving between guests, and the faint sound of music filtering through the ballroom doors but none of it reached him properly.

His eyes remained fixed on his phone.

Christain: We caught a signal.

Adrian’s thumb moved immediately.

Adrian: Where?

The reply came almost instantly. A location appeared on his screen. Adrian opened it, and his expression hardened.

The signal was coming from somewhere inside the building.

Not outside, and not across the street, but inside.

His eyes lifted.

He slowly looked down the corridor.

Guests were still moving around. Some were speaking in small groups. Others were returning to the ballroom after stepping outside for air.

Nobody appeared suspicious. But Adrian knew better than to trust appearances.

His phone vibrated again.

Christain: Moving location. Sending the live signal now.

A second notification appeared.

Adrian tapped it.

The tracking application opened with a small marker pulsed on the map. He stared at it.

The signal was moving, and his jaw tightened.

Dante.

After all these years, he was here. At the charity.At an event Adrian had agreed to attend for the first time in years.

Of all the places.

Adrian slipped his phone into his pocket.

His expression remained calm.

To anyone watching, he was still the composed businessman who had just stepped away from the podium after delivering a speech.

But underneath the calm, every instinct he possessed had already sharpened.

He turned toward the corridor. A young woman who had been speaking to one of the event organizers smiled at him.

"Mr. Belmont."

Adrian stopped. "Yes?"

"That was a beautiful speech."

He gave her a polite nod.

"I’ve heard a lot about you."

His expression didn’t change. "Hopefully nothing terrible."

She laughed. "Quite the opposite."

Adrian offered another faint smile.

He stepped around her, and his phone vibrated again. He didn’t need to look. The signal had moved.

Adrian pulled it out anyway.

The marker had shifted farther down the hallway. His eyes followed the direction to a bathroom.

He looked at the sign, then back at his phone.

He moved calmly. Not quickly enough to draw attention, and not slowly enough to waste time.

He walked with the same measured confidence he used when entering boardrooms.

His suit was still immaculate, and his face revealed nothing. His hand remained inside his pocket, with his fingers wrapped tightly around his phone.

The signal continued moving, then it stopped.

Adrian reached the bathroom entrance.

He glanced behind him. There was nobody.

He pushed the door open. The bathroom was empty. His eyes immediately swept across the room.

There was nothing. So he stepped farther inside. His shoes made almost no sound against the polished floor.

He looked at his phone.

The tracking marker was still there. Stationary. His eyes narrowed, and he checked the signal again.

Still stationary.

He walked toward the center of the bathroom.

And then, he saw a phone. It lay on the floor near the wall. Beside it was a folded piece of paper.

Adrian stopped.

He didn’t touch either immediately.

His eyes narrowed. He looked around the bathroom again. There was no movement, and no sound.

The silence felt deliberate.

He crouched slowly.

His hand reached for the phone. He picked it up. The screen was still illuminated. The tracking application was open, and the signal was coming from the phone itself.

Adrian stared at it.

His expression hardened. This was a decoy.

His gaze shifted toward the piece of paper.

He picked it up. The paper had been folded once. There was a few words written across the middle.

He unfolded it. His eyes moved across the message.

It read, "You look good, boy. Once bitten, twice shy."

Adrian’s expression went completely still.

For several seconds, he didn’t move. His fingers tightened around the paper.

"Dante."

The name came out almost inaudibly.

His eyes lifted. The bathroom suddenly felt too quiet.

Dante knew.

He knew Adrian would come. He had wanted him to find this. The phone, the note, and the signal. Everything had been arranged.

Adrian turned slowly, scanning the room again. His gaze moved toward the stalls.

He walked toward them.

One by one, he checked them. They were empty. He opened the final stall, and tthere was still nothing.

He stepped back.

His eyes moved toward the ceiling, and then the ventilation system. There was nothing.

He walked toward the sinks, and looked beneath them. There was nothing. The bastard was already gone.

Adrian pulled his own phone from his pocket and called Christain.

The call connected almost immediately.

"Tell me you found him."

Adrian’s voice was low. There was a pause. "Found what?"

"The signal." Christain’s tone changed. "You’re there?"

"I’m standing over the phone."

Silence.

Then Christain cursed under his breath. "What?"

"Dante left it." Adrian stared at the phone in his hand. "The signal was attached to the phone."

Christain was silent for a second. "That’s not possible."

"It is."

"Adrian—"

"Dante moved." His voice hardened. "Flood the streets."

Christain understood immediately. "How far?"

"He couldn’t have gone far."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Adrian walked toward the bathroom door. "He knew I would follow the signal. He wanted me inside."

"Then we’re dealing with a decoy."

"I know."

"Give me the exact location."

Adrian glanced at his phone. "The charity building. East corridor. Bathroom near the service entrance."

Christain was already typing. "I’ll send everyone."

"Not everyone." Adrian stopped. "Keep two people at the event."

"Why?"

"Because if Dante wanted me away from the ballroom, there’s a reason."

Christain went quiet.

Adrian’s eyes narrowed. "And I don’t want anyone touching the guests."

"Understood."

"Check every exit."

"Already doing it."

"Parking lot."

"Covered."

"Service road."

"Covered."

"Back alley."

"I’ll send someone."

Adrian looked at the note again.

His eyes lingered on the words. There was something almost playful about it. Dante wasn’t running blindly.

He was playing.

Adrian hated games.

Especially when he didn’t know the rules.

"Christain."

"I’m here."

"We can find him. It won’t take long."

The call ended.

Adrian slipped the phone into his pocket.

He folded the note once, and then again. He placed it inside his jacket. The abandoned phone remained in his hand.

He took one last look around the bathroom.

He opened the door.

The moment he stepped into the corridor, the sounds of the charity event returned. It felt almost absurdly normal.

Adrian walked away from the bathroom.

He had barely taken five steps when he heard a voice coming out from the dark.

"How’s Rowan?"

Adrian stopped.

His entire body went still. The voice was familiar. Too familiar.

His fingers curled slowly at his sides.

He didn’t turn immediately.

For one second, he simply stood there. Then his eyes narrowed, and his jaw tightened.

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