Guàn Jǐngchén lasted exactly thirty-six hours.
Thirty-six hours of silence, of staring at the empty side of the bed, of picking up Lin Yuè's forgotten sweater only to throw it across the room again. Thirty-six hours of rage, heartbreak, and a gnawing emptiness that no amount of whiskey or work could fill.
On the morning of the second day, he broke.
He sat in his office at the tower, the same office where he had taken Lin Yuè against the desk only days ago, and stared at the security feed from the day of the reveal. The footage showed Lin Yuè walking out of the building — shoulders trembling, head slightly bowed, but back straight.
Guàn Jǐngchén watched it three times.
Then he picked up his phone and made a call.
"Find him," he said, voice low and cold. " discreetly. I want to know where he is, but do not approach. Report only."
He ended the call and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his face with both hands.
He didn't know what he would do when he found him.
Yell?
Demand answers?
Drag him back to the penthouse and lock the doors until every lie was exposed?
Or pull him into his arms and kiss him until the pain stopped?
The last thought made him furious with himself.
He was the hunter. He had finally caught Eclipse.
So why did it feel like he was the one who had lost everything?
---
Across the city, Lin Yuè had not moved far.
He had switched motels twice, paying in cash, using every trick he knew to stay off the grid. The room was small, dingy, and smelled of stale smoke, but it was anonymous. That was all that mattered.
He sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the cheap phone he had bought with his last bit of emergency money. It was off. He hadn't turned it on since the reveal.
He hadn't eaten properly in two days.
His eyes were red-rimmed from crying, but the tears had dried up. Now there was only a hollow ache in his chest that refused to leave.
He missed Guàn Jǐngchén with a pain that was almost physical.
He missed the way the CEO would pull him into his lap without warning.
The way he would whisper "mine" against his skin while moving inside him.
The way he looked at him in the mornings like he was the only thing that mattered in the world.
Lin Yuè curled up on the bed, hugging his knees to his chest.
He had known the truth would destroy them.
He had stayed anyway.
Because for one beautiful, terrifying moment, he had believed love might be stronger than the lie.
Now he wasn't sure if Guàn Jǐngchén hated him… or if he was simply waiting to destroy him in return.
A soft knock on the motel door made him freeze.
He didn't move.
The knock came again — three measured taps.
Lin Yuè's heart pounded.
It wasn't room service. He hadn't ordered anything.
He stayed perfectly still, barely breathing.
After a long minute, the person outside left without another sound.
Lin Yuè didn't relax.
He knew.
Guàn Jǐngchén had found him.
The hunter had come.
And now the real confrontation — the one that would decide whether there was anything left to save — was only a matter of time.
Back in the penthouse that night, Guàn Jǐngchén stood on the balcony, staring out at the city lights.
He knew where Lin Yuè was.
He knew the motel.
He knew the younger man hadn't tried to run far.
And yet he hadn't gone to him.
Not yet.
He gripped the railing tightly, knuckles white.
He wanted answers.
He wanted the truth — every single lie, every hidden motive, every moment Lin Yuè had looked at him with those innocent eyes while knowing exactly who he was.
But more than that…
He wanted Lin Yuè back.
The soft boy who blushed at his touches.
The dangerous genius who had once slipped through his defenses like smoke.
Both of them.
All of him.
Guàn Jǐngchén closed his eyes, the wind cool against his face.
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow he would go to him.
Tomorrow the hunter would face the ghost.
And whatever happened after that… would decide if there was any love left to salvage from the ruins.
End of Chapter 45