The penthouse was dead silent this morning, so quiet I could hear my own breathing.
Ren finished dressing. He stood adjusting his tie before the mirror. His face was calm, but completely rigid with an unprecedented tension. The face of a man who knows he faces a grueling ordeal but has no other option.
Today was his court hearing for the embezzlement settlement. It would be the longest he had ever been away from the room.
"I'm leaving." Ren turned to me. I sat waiting at the foot of the bed.
"Okay. Good luck." I smiled. A perfectly rehearsed smile.
Ren approached. He didn't kiss me goodbye like usual. Instead, he reached into his suit jacket, retrieved an object, and placed it directly into my palm.
A sleek, gleaming silver compact handgun.
My hands shook violently. I nearly dropped it. "R-Ren? What is this?"
"Keep it." He spoke firmly, cutting me off.
"The situation outside is volatile. Our enemies are playing dirty. If anyone breaches the penthouse, or if Aunt Lin cannot handle it..."
He wrapped his large hands around mine, forcing my grip around the weapon and aiming it directly at the door.
"Shoot the bastard. I don't care who it is. Shoot to kill. You have my permission."
His order betrayed an agonizing level of possessiveness and absolute terror. He entrusted me with a lethal weapon, fully aware of the risk I might use it against him. It meant he either completely trusted me, or he was truly driven to desperation.
"U-Understood." I took the gun, sliding it beneath my pillow.
"I will be back as soon as I can." He pressed a hurried kiss to my forehead and strode out of the room.
The second the security locks engaged, Aunt Lin stepped into the room. Her face was grave.
"Mr. Yurin..." she whispered.
"I must go down to access the electrical grid. I need to sever specific alarm frequencies to ensure our escape tomorrow is seamless."
"You are leaving me alone?" I asked, a spike of anxiety hitting me.
"Only for two hours. I will lock you inside as usual so the perimeter guards suspect nothing. But if anything happens while I am gone... be ready."
Aunt Lin exited, locking the door and sealing my cage once more.
I was entirely alone in the expansive suite. The silence amplified the screaming thoughts in my head.
Twenty-four hours... by this time tomorrow... I will be gone.
Then, my eyes drifted. Landing on the large painting hanging on the wall opposite the bed.
The safe? The one I secured the code for from Ren's phone two nights ago.
I stood frozen. An overwhelming curiosity consumed me. Zen warned me Ren hid secrets inside. Secrets that would make me despise him until my dying breath.
I decided. I dragged myself off the bed and approached the painting. I unhooked it, revealing a sleek, flush digital steel safe.
My trembling fingers reached for the keypad. I inputted the code... my birthday. 0-5-1-1.
Beep... Clack!
The locking mechanism disengaged. The heavy steel door slowly swung open.
And the contents inside completely drained the strength from my legs. I collapsed onto the floor.
The top shelf was entirely crammed with a 'collection' that made my skin crawl. It wasn't gold. It wasn't classified corporate data.
It was my entire life for the past ten years.
Stacks of candid photos of me from my university days. Me eating alone in the cafeteria. Me walking back to the dorm at dusk. Me reading by the window. Me talking on the phone on the lawn. All taken from hidden angles. I never knew I was being watched.
Tuition receipts. The benefactor listed as 'Anonymous'. (The tuition I always believed was a scholarship).
Even a shredded, bloodstained handkerchief. (The exact one I used to clean his wounds in high school). Meticulously preserved inside a glass display case.
"He stalked me this entire time?" My hands shook uncontrollably as I picked up a photo.
Written on the back was the date and a short note in Ren's handwriting:
'Yurin's smile is so beautiful today. I want to lock this smile away so only I can see it.'
I flipped to the next photo.
'That man is too close to Yurin. He needs to be eliminated.'
I swallowed the thick, nauseating lump in my throat.
Ren wasn't just an old friend who re-entered my life. He was a deranged stalker pulling the strings of my existence from the shadows. He orchestrated the destruction of my life so I would have nowhere left to run but crawling back to him.
My eyes dropped to the bottom shelf.
A thick, leather-bound journal rested there. The faded title on the cover read: "PROJECT: CAGE"
I flipped through the pages. My blood turned to ice. It was a meticulous, step-by-step blueprint designed solely to imprison me.
Step 1: Sever him from all friends and society.
Step 2: Manufacture crippling financial debt.
Step 3: Induce profound guilt.
Ultimate Goal: Cripple him physically so he can never leave for the rest of his life.
"Monster..." My voice cracked. Tears of sheer, unadulterated terror flooded my eyes.
When he said he loved me... when he treated me with such tender care two nights ago... it was all part of the blueprint!
He didn't love me. He just wanted to own and annihilate me until I was nothing but his lifeless doll.
If I didn't escape this time... my future was to be deliberately crippled?
"No. No." I shook my head frantically. I couldn't stay here. Not for another second!
I snatched the silver handgun Ren gave me and clutched it to my chest. It was the only thing that could protect me now.
Beep... Beep... The keypad on the front door chimed!
Who is it? Aunt Lin? Or is Ren back?! I frantically shoved everything back into the safe and slammed it shut. I dove onto the bed, feigning sleep, my hand gripping the gun beneath the pillow.
Creak...
The door opened. Soft, quiet footsteps approached.
"Are you asleep, my good boy?"
The familiar whisper sounded like the voice of an angel. The only true lifeline I had left.
Mr. Zen!
My eyes snapped open. I shot up and lunged at him, burying my face in his chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Mr. Zen, take me away! Take me away right now! He is insane! Ren is insane, he's going to lock me up for the rest of my life!"
Zen stroked my hair gently, visibly surprised by my sudden, frantic breakdown.
"Calm down. I am here to get you. The plan changed slightly. We are leaving right now."
"Yes! Let's go! Let's go right now! Just give me a second to grab my things."
"Alright. Hurry."
There was absolutely no hesitation left in me. The shred of pity I felt for Ren two days ago had completely incinerated the moment I saw the contents of that vault.
I haphazardly shoved a few pieces of clothing and essentials into a bag. Moving as fast as humanly possible to escape this hell.
"I'm ready, Mr. Zen."
"Let's go." Zen grabbed my hand.
"We have to change the extraction route to a vehicle. A helicopter is too risky right now. Ren would easily track it. The car is waiting downstairs. Aunt Lin cleared the path."
I snatched a coat. One hand gripped Zen's tightly, like grasping the final rope pulling me out of the abyss. My other hand remained buried in my pocket, tightly gripping the silver gun.
Goodbye, Ren. I can no longer endure your twisted, psychotic love.
We walked out of the bedroom, crossing the dead-silent living room, heading straight for the front door.
But then...
Beep... Beep... Clack!
The security locks disengaged from the outside simultaneously! The doorknob began to turn...
Zen and I stopped dead in our tracks.
We stood paralyzed in the center of the grand foyer. My breathing completely stopped.
BANG! The door flew open.
Ren's towering figure blocked the entrance.
He looked frantic. His tie was loose, and sweat beaded on his forehead. As if an ominous premonition had driven him to race back early. And his premonitions were always flawless.
Ren froze. His eyes widened as he processed the scene before him. Me, gripping Zen's hand, holding a small travel bag.
Silence swallowed the room. The atmosphere plunged to a terrifying, glacial sub-zero, far deadlier than the storm raging outside.
Ren's eyes slowly tracked from our intertwined hands, up to my face.
The gaze that once held only love and possessiveness completely shattered. Morphing into a volatile, agonizing wrath capable of burning the entire world to ash.
"Where are you going?" he asked low. His voice shook so violently it barely formed words.
"I SAID... WHERE. ARE. YOU. GOING?!" he roared.
He drew a black handgun from his waistline, aiming it directly at Zen's head!
"ZEN! LET GO OF WHAT IS MINE RIGHT NOW!"