"Uncle," Alina greeted softly
Mr. Hayes forced a small smile. "Alina… I wasn't expecting you here." His voice sounded calm, yet his fingers were gripping the armrest of his chair so tightly that his knuckles had turned pale.
Then his gaze shifted toward the two men standing behind her. "And who are these two?" he asked.
Alina gestured toward them.
"They are my friends."
Mr. Hayes studied them carefully. His gaze lingered on Kai for a moment. Kai was wearing a long hoodie with the hood pulled low, a cap underneath it, and a black mask covering most of his face. The disguise made him look mysterious and slightly suspicious.
Two guards stood near the study door, watching every movement inside the room. Ryan noticed them immediately.
"Where is Maya?" Ryan asked directly.
The room fell silent. Mr. Hayes looked at Alina, then at Ryan, and finally at Kai. For a brief moment, his eyes flickered toward the guards standing behind them. That tiny glance told them everything. He couldn't speak freely.
Alina stepped forward carefully. "We've been trying to reach her for days. Her phone is switched off. No one seems to know where she is."
Another silence followed. Mr. Hayes leaned back slowly in his chair as if thinking. "As I told you earlier," he said calmly, "she is probably on another one of her adventures."
Ryan scoffed quietly. "She never leaves without telling us."
Mr. Hayes' expression hardened slightly. "She has always been adventurous." His tone sounded firm now, almost rehearsed. But his eyes were pleading.
Kai's attention suddenly shifted to the chessboard placed on the desk. Several pieces were arranged across the board. But one piece was missing. The queen. Kai's gaze slowly lifted toward Mr. Hayes. Without looking up, the older man moved one of the chess pieces. He picked up the king and placed it in the center of the board. Then he moved a rook beside it. Finally, he pushed the rook forward two squares.
"In chess," he said casually, "the king is the most important piece."
Ryan frowned slightly, unsure where the conversation was going. Mr. Hayes paused briefly. "But sometimes," he continued quietly, "the king becomes powerless if he is surrounded by the wrong pieces."
His eyes flickered toward the guards again. Then he leaned slightly forward and looked directly at Kai. "Sometimes the only way to save the queen…" he said softly.
His finger tapped the empty square where the queen should have been. "…is to realize that she is already inside the enemy's territory."
A cold realization passed between them. Maya wasn't on an adventure. She was trapped. Mr. Hayes suddenly stood up. "I'm afraid I have another meeting," he said firmly.
But before they turned to leave, he added one final sentence in a quieter tone. "Be careful where you walk."
His eyes briefly moved toward the floor. "The ground is not as safe as it looks."
Kai followed his gaze instinctively. The polished marble floor reflected the ceiling lights perfectly. But near the corner of the room, one tile looked slightly uneven—as if it had been lifted before.
Kai understood immediately. He gave Mr. Hayes a respectful nod. "Thank you for your time."
The older man didn't respond. But as they turned and walked out of the study, his shoulders sagged slightly, like a man silently praying that they had understood his warning.
They remained inside the study even after Mr. Hayes had left. The door had closed behind him with a quiet click, leaving the three of them alone in a room that suddenly felt heavier than before. The silence was no longer just silence—it carried meaning now. Every word he hadn't said echoed louder than the ones he had.
Alina exhaled slowly and turned toward Kai, confusion written all over her face. "Why did we even come here?" she asked, her voice low but edged with frustration. "I thought… I thought uncle would at least tell us something about Maya."
Ryan didn't interrupt. He leaned slightly against the wall, arms crossed, his sharp eyes scanning the room once more as if he were memorizing every detail.
Kai, however, didn't look surprised at all. He stood near the desk, his gaze briefly dropping to the chessboard before shifting back to Alina. There was a calmness in his expression, but it wasn't indifference—it was certainty.
"I knew he wouldn't say anything," Kai said quietly both Alina and Ryan turned toward him at the same time.
Alina frowned. "Then why—
Kai didn't let her finish. He stepped a little closer, his voice steady, almost analytical. "Do you remember the call at the airport?"
Alina nodded slowly, still trying to follow his thought. Kai continued, "Think about the time we called him. It was late night in New York."
Ryan's eyes narrowed slightly as he began to understand where Kai was going.
"Most people don't pick up calls at that hour unless they're awake," Kai went on. "And people are usually awake that late for only two reasons—either they can't sleep… or something is not letting them sleep."
The words settled in the room. Alina's expression shifted. "You mean…"
Kai nodded faintly. "He wasn't sleeping because he was worried"
Ryan added quietly, "Worried about Maya"
Kai looked at him briefly in agreement before continuing. "Exactly. A father who is genuinely calm about his daughter wouldn't be awake at that hour answering random calls. And he definitely wouldn't sound like that."
Alina's eyes softened slightly as realization began to sink in. "So, when he said she was fine…"
"He was lying," Kai finished calmly. "Not because he wanted to… but because he had to."
Ryan straightened from the wall, his tone more serious now. "Which means whatever is happening here didn't start today. It's been going on for a while"
Kai nodded. "And it's serious enough to keep him under pressure inside his own house"
Alina glanced toward the closed door of the study, her mind replaying the fear she had seen in Mr. Hayes' eyes. "He looked… scared," she murmured.
Kai didn't deny it. "Because he is."
For a moment, none of them spoke, the quiet ticking of a clock somewhere in the room became noticeable, each second stretching longer than the last. Then Alina looked back at Kai, a small, reluctant smile forming despite the tension. "You're very intelligent," she said.
Kai raised an eyebrow slightly, the faintest hint of sarcasm appearing in his expression. "That's why I took the lead," he replied.
Ryan let out a quiet breath that almost sounded like a suppressed laugh. Alina rolled her eyes lightly. "Oh please, don't start."
But even in that brief exchange, something had shifted. The confusion was gone. In its place, there was clarity. They hadn't come here to hear answers. They had come here to read between the lines. And now they had. Maya wasn't missing by choice. She was being held. And her own father was trapped in the same game—forced to stay silent while leaving behind clues only they could understand.