Xavier didn’t speak immediately.

However, just when the two men thought he wouldn’t, he finally spoke,

"Adelyn ... Grace."

The secretary almost missed the name, but the guard beside him caught it clearly. He quickly repeated it and then nodded.

"Adelyn Grace. Yes, she stays here."

Pointing toward the building, he added,

"On the third floor."

The secretary looked toward him, and the guard quickly explained,

"Oh ... she is a new resident here and had only recently moved in. But she’s kind, and we’ve exchanged quite a few words, so I kind of know her."

The secretary nodded in understanding.

"Since you know her, why don’t you guide him to her?"

Before the guard could answer, Xavier spoke,

"There’s no need. I can go by myself."

With that, he pushed the door of the car open and got out.

Without saying another word, he walked away, heading straight toward the apartment.

Behind him, the secretary finally got a clear look at his face, and something struck him.

"He ..." His brows furrowed slightly. "Doesn’t he look like someone from the upper elite circle?"

The guard heard him and stared at him without showing any hint of surprise.

The secretary almost thought he recognized him, so he asked,

"Did you also find his face familiar?"

The guard simply shook his head.

"No, I don’t. But given his car ..." his gaze flicked back toward the Mercedes, "... he has to be someone from that circle."

The secretary didn’t blame him for not recognizing. After all, it was understandable. Given the guard’s age and status, how could he know of someone from influential circle.

But suddenly, he grew curious about something else.

"Who exactly is this Adelyn Grace?" he asked.

To be able to have friends and acquaintances of such high status, she might be someone from the top circle as well.

And if she was, why had she been staying in such a low-profile place?

The guard didn’t understand the context behind the secretary’s question. So, he simply replied,

"She has taken Mr. Miller’s place on lease and has moved here recently. Though we don’t know much about her, she seems to be associated with quite a few influential people."

"Influential people?" the secretary asked, and the guard nodded.

"Yes. Recently, cars of such high status have shown up here quite a lot of times. And they all were here for her."

The secretary heard him and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

It was just as he had thought.

Meanwhile, taking the stairs, Xavier climbed up to the third floor. However, only after reaching there did he realize that Adelyn wasn’t there at all.

His brows furrowed into a deep frown, and his fingers clenched tightly.

He had been there, waiting for her ... yet she was simply not there.

Why was she doing this?

Gritting his teeth, he turned around and stormed away.

When he came down, the secretary was no longer there —but the guard was still present.

Seeing him come down, the guard stood up and asked,

"Sir, did you meet Ms. Grace?"

"She isn’t home," Xavier briefly said, about to walk past him.

But just then, the guard frowned slightly in confusion.

"She isn’t here? Oh yes ... she went out earlier. Probably for dinner, but—"

Xavier paused, waiting to hear what the guard was about to say.

But when the guard didn’t continue immediately, Xavier turned back and asked,

"But? But what?"

The guard blinked, slightly caught off guard. However, he quickly gathered himself and answered,

"But she hasn’t returned until now. It’s been ..."

He checked the time on his watch.

"... more than three hours already. By now, she should have returned."

Xavier turned fully toward him. "It’s been three hours?"

The guard nodded. "Yes. I saw her when she was leaving earlier."

Xavier frowned deeply, but he didn’t say anything.

He simply walked over and leaned against the car.

The guard thought he would be leaving. But when he didn’t see him move, he politely asked, "Sir, would you be waiting for Ms. Grace?"

"..."

Xavier didn’t respond.

Seeing no reply, the guard added out of courtesy, "You can come and sit inside. Standing here would be exhausting."

Xavier didn’t move.

In the end, the guard didn’t press further. He simply stepped back and returned to his duty.

Xavier didn’t realize how much time had passed while waiting.

Time only struck him when he checked his watch again and saw the hands showing past midnight.

"She isn’t here yet," he muttered under his breath, before opening his phonebook.

However, just after, he realized something he had almost forgotten.

Adelyn’s current contact was no longer in his list.

And that realization only frustrated him further.

Finding Liam’s number, he dialled it without thinking much.

The call went through almost instantly, and soon enough, it was answered.

"Xavier," Liam’s voice came from the other end. "You’re calling this late. Is everything fine?"

"Liam," Xavier responded, "send me Adelyn’s current number."

There was a pause.

Neither spoke for a long second, and then—

Liam’s voice came again, "Why do you need her number right now?"

Xavier closed his eyes, irritation creasing his brows.

"Because I need to call her and check where the hell she is."

Another pause.

"You’re outside her place?" Though Liam’s voice remained calm, one could still imagine him frowning.

"Yes, I am. Can you send it now?"

Liam didn’t respond immediately.

However, after a moment, he said, "Fine. I’ll ask someone and send it over. Give me a moment."

With that, the call was disconnected.

Xavier didn’t explain anything, even though he could tell that Liam had questions for him.

Ten minutes later, his phone beeped with a notification.

Since Xavier had been waiting for it, he quickly opened it to check. And just as he had expected, it was a text from Liam with an attached contact.

He didn’t wait and dialled the number.

There was a small beep before it started ringing.

The call wasn’t answered.

He dialled it again, and once again, it started ringing.

And just when Xavier thought it might go unanswered again—

He saw it getting connected.

Relief flashed across his face, and he quickly pressed it against his ear to speak, "Linnie, where have you been? It’s already so late —shouldn’t you be back by now?"

There was clear concern laced in his voice —one that he didn’t try to hide at all.

He was worried for her, and he wanted her to know it.

However—

Nothing came from the other end.

No response.

No acknowledgement.

Nothing at all.

The furrow between Xavier’s brows deepened.

He pulled the phone away to check —just to confirm if the call was still connected. Seeing that it was, he pressed it back against his ear and spoke again,

"Linnie, are you there?"

"..."

"Why aren’t you speaking? I—"

Before he could continue—

A voice answered from the other end.

Calm.

Deep.

Cold.

And enough to intimidate anyone.

"She’s asleep."

Xavier froze the moment he heard that voice.

For a second, he thought he had dialled the wrong number.

However, the man on the other end hadn’t said anything about a wrong number.

Instead—

He spoke as if he knew exactly who Xavier was asking for.

And that realization hit him hard, making something burn within him.

His fingers clenched tightly around the phone as an image flashed in his mind—

Adelyn ... in another man’s arms.

Someone that was not him.

"She’s with you?" he asked, his voice low, heavy with threat.

"Who are you? And what is she doing with you?"

However—

The man on the other end seemed completely unaffected.

He didn’t respond to any of his questions.

Nor did he try to explain anything.

He simply remained silent—

Before finally dismissing everything with a single sentence.

"Don’t disturb her sleep."

And with that—

He hung up.

"You—!"

Xavier tried to speak, but before he could, the sharp beep of disconnection rang in his ear—leaving him seething.

He didn’t think twice.

He slammed the phone onto the ground with force —shattering it into pieces.

Since it was past midnight and the area had gone silent, even the slightest sound echoed loudly.

And this deliberate one was no different.

It made the guard flinch awake from his light sleep. He immediately looked around.

When he noticed Xavier, he hurried toward him.

"Mister, what’s wrong?"

His eyes dropped to the ground, noticing the scattered pieces of the phone.

"This ..."

He looked back at Xavier —but before he could ask further—

Xavier turned away, opened his car door, and got inside.

Starting the engine, he didn’t wait any longer.

He drove away immediately.

It left the guard confused, with no way to understand what had just happened.

Looking once more at the broken phone, he sighed.

"Rich people have weird ways to vent. Even such expensive phones are disposable for them. Tsk ..."

Xavier, on the other hand, couldn’t control his emotions.

The more he thought about it, the wilder his emotions became.

His jaw clenched tightly, and his foot pressed harder against the accelerator, making the car surge forward through the empty streets.

So fast.

So reckless—

That it almost felt like it was racing toward destruction.

And just when it seemed it would crash—

Xavier slammed on the brakes.

His body lurched forward, his head nearly hitting the steering wheel.

"Adelyn ... just how much have you changed in all these years?"

His words came through gritted teeth.

"You’re not just refusing us —but now you’re with someone else ... so late at night."

His hand slammed against the steering wheel, making the horn blare sharply.

"Just what are you up to?"

"What are you trying to do?"