( third person POV)

Raina stood by the floor-to-ceiling window of her penthouse apartment, staring down at Harrington’s glowing streets.

The city lights stretched endlessly beneath the cold November night. Cars moved through the roads below like streams of white and red.

Her phone rested against her ear as Frank spoke from the other end.

"He boarded already, boss," Frank said. "Flight took off twenty minutes ago."

Raina stayed silent for a second.

"And the people I assigned?"

"They’re following him exactly like you said."

Good.

Because Malcolm was dangerous when cornered.

And desperate men rarely stayed predictable for long.

"Don’t lose him," she said calmly.

"We won’t."

The line disconnected.

Raina lowered the phone slowly and walked toward the kitchen island, pouring herself a glass of wine.

So Malcolm was finally gone.

Out of Harrington.

Out of Ethan’s life.

At least physically.

But even now, one thing Malcolm said in that warehouse still lingered in her mind.

X-Reveals.

That damned rabbit mask.

Raina leaned back against the counter and closed her eyes briefly.

Then the memory came back.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

The warehouse had smelled like rust and cold concrete.

Malcolm sat inside the cage with one arm hanging lazily over the chair while Raina stood outside the bars watching him.

The overhead lights buzzed faintly above them.

"You made the right choice," she said coldly. "Leaving Harrington is the smartest thing you’ve done in years."

Malcolm laughed quietly.

"Funny. Coming from you, that almost sounds merciful."

Raina ignored that.

"Now," she continued, "before you disappear out of my life forever, you’re going to tell me everything you know about X-Reveals."

Malcolm’s smile faded slightly.

For the first time since she entered the warehouse, hesitation crossed his face.

"I don’t know much."

Raina stared at him.

"Be careful how you answer me."

"I’m serious."

"Malcolm." Her voice hardened. "You are in absolutely no position to lie to me right now."

His jaw tightened.

Raina stepped closer to the cage.

"You’ve spent years chasing me. Years accusing me. Years somehow staying one step ahead of every cleanup attempt I made." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "That didn’t happen by accident."

Malcolm looked away briefly before exhaling through his nose.

"He contacted me first."

"When?"

"Few months after Felix disappeared."

Raina stayed silent.

Malcolm leaned back slowly in the chair.

"At first I thought it was some troll online trying to mess with me," he admitted. "Then he started telling me things."

"What things?"

"Things nobody else should’ve known."

Raina folded her arms.

"He was the one who told me Felix was dead," Malcolm said quietly.

A long silence followed that sentence.

"And he told you I killed him."

Malcolm looked directly at her.

"He said you had a hand in it."

Raina’s expression barely changed, but inside she felt something twist slightly.

Because Malcolm wasn’t speaking like a man repeating random conspiracy theories.

He sounded convinced.

"How were you communicating?" she asked.

"Private email."

"What kind of email?"

"I don’t know." Malcolm shook his head. "Encrypted maybe. Temporary domains. Different addresses every few weeks."

"So you never met him."

"No."

"Not once?"

Malcolm laughed softly.

"You think whoever X-Reveals is would be stupid enough for that?"

Raina hated the fact that he had a point.

"How does he contact you?"

"He reaches out first. Always."

"And you just answer?"

"At first? No." Malcolm shrugged. "Then he started sending proof."

"What proof?"

"The motel pictures."

Raina’s eyes sharpened immediately.

Malcolm noticed.

"Yeah,that was one of many " he said quietly. "Those didn’t come from me."

Raina stared at him carefully.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"It’s the truth."

"How did you get them?"

"He mailed them to me."

"Where?"

"A public mailbox downtown."

"No return address?"

"No name. No fingerprints. Nothing."

Raina stayed quiet.

The warehouse suddenly felt colder.

"He’s careful," Malcolm continued. "Too careful."

That part bothered her the most.

Not the channel itself.

Not even the accusations.

It was the patience behind it all.

Years of moving in shadows.

Years of feeding Malcolm information piece by piece.

Years of staying invisible.

"Whoever X-Reveals is," Malcolm said, "he hates you more than I do."

Raina looked at him coldly.

"That’s impossible."

Malcolm smiled faintly.

"You sure about that?"

Then he leaned forward slightly.

"And honestly?" he admitted, "part of me was rooting for him."

Raina’s expression darkened immediately.

Malcolm laughed once under his breath.

"I mean think about it. One faceless lunatic trying to expose another faceless lunatic." He shook his head. "Poetic, really."

Raina stepped closer to the bars.

"You’re enjoying this too much."

"No," Malcolm said quietly this time. "I’m just tired."

For the first time since Felix’s name came back into her life, Malcolm actually looked exhausted.

Not angry.

Not smug.

Just tired.

Then he spoke again.

"You underestimated him."

Raina said nothing.

"And that was your mistake."

Back in the present, Raina opened her eyes slowly.

_______________________________________________________________________________&&&

Yeah.

That part still bothered her.

Because Malcolm was right.

She had underestimated X-Reveals from the start.

At first she thought he was just another conspiracy obsessed VTuber hiding behind edgy videos and a rabbit mask.

So she let Victor and her media team handle it casually.

A mistake.

Because now she knew better.

This wasn’t random obsession.

Someone out there had been watching her carefully for years.

Someone patient.

Someone smart enough to avoid every trail.

And somehow—

Someone who knew too much.

Raina picked up her phone and dialed another number.

The call connected after a few rings.

Traditional Japanese instruments played faintly in the background. Voices murmured somewhere behind the line.

Then—

"What."

Tengu.

Blunt as always.

"I need you to help me find someone," Raina said.

A pause.

Then a small amused scoff.

"it’s always one thing or the other with you.. seriously...."

Raina rolled her eyes immediately.

"Tengu."

"Does your grandfather know about this?"

"No."

"Ah." She could practically hear the smirk in his voice now. "So this is one of your secret disasters."

"I’m serious."

"So am I."

Raina walked slowly toward the window again.

"I don’t have much," she admitted. "Just an email trail."

"An email?" Tengu repeated mockingly. "Amazing. Truly impossible work."

"I’ve already had my people searching for him."

"And they failed."

"Yes."

Tengu chuckled quietly.

"That must hurt your pride."

Raina ignored him.

"At first I thought he was just some nobody online spreading conspiracy theories," she said. "But this person has reach. Information. Connections."

Her tone lowered slightly.

"And he’s been operating around me for years without exposing himself once."

That finally made Tengu go quiet.

Interesting.

"You think he’s dangerous?" he asked.

"I think I underestimated him."

"Hm."

The soft sounds of Japan still echoed faintly behind him.

A sliding door somewhere.

Footsteps.

Low conversation.

Then Tengu spoke again.

"I’ll look into it."

Raina frowned slightly.

"That easily?"

"Don’t sound so surprised," he replied dryly. "Your grandfather would kill me if anything happens to you before he got the chance to scold you himself."

She rolled her eyes again.

"If anyone can find him," she said, "it’s you , I’m counting on you "

"yeah, yeah ."

"Tengu."

"But don’t expect miracles, princess." His voice sharpened slightly. "Someone who stays hidden this long usually knows exactly what they’re doing."

That sentence settled heavily in her chest.

Because that was exactly what scared her.

Who are you?

The thought lingered in her mind long after the call ended.

Later that evening, Raina sat across from Ethan at La Louvre.

The restaurant was busier than usual tonight. Soft jazz from a live band drifted through the room while conversations blended beneath the warm lighting.

Ethan loosened his grip slightly around his wine glass before looking at her.

"You seem tired," Raina said.

"So do you."

"That’s because I am."

He smiled faintly at that.

But something about him still felt distracted tonight.

Not distant.

Just... thoughtful.

"You okay?" she asked. "Work stress?"

Ethan leaned back slightly in his chair.

"Not stress exactly. Just busy."

"With?"

"We got a pretty major client at HQ today."

Raina raised a brow.

"Oh?"

"Galactic Entertainment."

"Well damn." She blinked lightly. "That’s one of the big three."

"Exactly." Ethan laughed softly. "Which means everybody at HQ suddenly started acting like the building would explode if this project failed."

That sounded more believable.

More like Ethan.

He rubbed the back of his neck.

"I’ll probably be spending more time at work these next few weeks."

Raina studied him quietly.

"I don’t mind."

"I know." He smiled. "I just don’t want you thinking I’m ignoring you."

"You’re allowed to focus on your career, Ethan."

"I know, but..." He shrugged lightly. "This project matters. And the company’s trusting me with a lot right now."

There was genuine excitement in his voice beneath the exhaustion.

Raina noticed it immediately.

And despite everything currently happening around her...

That part made her smile.

"Well," she said softly, lifting her wine glass slightly toward him, "good luck with the job."

Ethan smiled back.

"Thanks."

And for a brief moment, sitting there across from him while the music played softly in the background...

Raina almost forgot there was someone out there hiding behind a rabbit mask and watching her life unravel piece by piece.