The old house stood silent under the fading evening light. Tall grass swayed slowly in the wind around the empty yard. The wooden fence creaked softly as if whispering to itself. No neighbors lived close enough to notice anything unusual. That was exactly why Kai had chosen this place. It had once been his home. Long before his career. Long before the hospital. Long before the man called Hunter was born inside him. Now it had become something else. A hiding place.
Inside the house, the air smelled faintly of medicine and old wood. Kai walked slowly down the narrow hallway, a glass of water in his hand. His footsteps were quiet, careful, almost gentle. He stopped in front of a half-open door. For a moment, he simply stood there. Listening. A faint sound came from inside, breathing, slow...weak...but still there.
Kai pushed the door open. The room was dim, lit only by a small lamp placed beside the bed. Rhea lay on the mattress beneath several blankets. Thick white bandages wrapped around her head and arms. A faint red stain had begun spreading through one side of the cloth where blood had seeped through earlier. Her skin looked unnaturally pale, almost gray, her lips were dry, her breathing shallow, every breath looked like it required effort. Kai stepped closer and placed the glass of water on the table. For a long moment he just stared at her. His expression was difficult to read. Part of him observed her like a doctor.
Blood loss… severe trauma… dehydration.
She should have died hours ago. Yet somehow she was still alive, barely...
Kai slowly sat down on the chair beside the bed. His fingers rested loosely together. His eyes never left her face.
"Still breathing," he murmured softly.
His voice sounded almost disappointed. A long silence filled the room. Then he leaned forward slightly.
"You are stubborn, Rhea."
No answer came. Only the weak sound of her breathing. Kai leaned back again. His mind returned to the phone call earlier. Evan...Hypnosis...Trying to remember Hunter's face... Kai's lips slowly curved into a faint smile. For a moment during that call...he had almost wished Evan would recognize him. Just to see the shock in his eyes. Just to watch everything collapse in a single moment. The thought made his pulse quicken. Then the smile faded.
"No," he whispered.
"Not yet."
His eyes moved back to Rhea. She was the real problem now. If she died, there would be no witness. But there would also be no proof of Evan's guilt. The entire plan depended on Evan being seen as the killer. Without Rhea's body… Without evidence… The story would remain incomplete. Kai leaned forward again. His voice dropped into a quiet whisper.
"You see, Rhea… you have become very important."
His eyes darkened slightly.
"You need to die." He paused. "But not today."
His fingers lightly tapped the wooden arm of the chair as he thought. Then suddenly—
Rhea's fingers twitched.
It was small, barely noticeable. But Kai saw it. His head tilted slowly. The movement happened again. A faint tremble of her hand. Kai leaned closer. Rhea's eyelids trembled weakly. For a moment they opened slightly. Her vision was blurry. The ceiling looked unfamiliar. The air smelled strange. Her head hurt so much she could barely think. Then she saw him. Kai... Standing beside the bed. Her lips moved slightly. No sound came out. Kai watched her quietly. Their eyes met for a brief second. Recognition flashed in hers. Then her eyelids slowly fell closed again. Her body went still. Kai remained motionless for several seconds. Then a slow smile appeared on his face.
"Well…"
he whispered.
"That complicates things."
Across the city, night had already fallen. Noah and Evan walked quietly along the sidewalk outside the clinic. Streetlights cast long shadows across the pavement. Evan looked exhausted. The hypnosis session had drained him completely. Noah noticed.
"You okay?" he asked gently.
Evan nodded faintly. "Just tired."
They walked in silence for a few steps. Then Evan spoke. "I really couldn't see his face."
Noah looked at him. "That's okay."
"But I was so close," Evan said quietly. "I could feel it."
Noah placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"That's why we'll try again."
Evan nodded slowly. But his mind was still trapped inside the memory. The cat... The stranger... The blindfold... Something about that moment still felt unfinished. Like a missing piece waiting to be found.
Suddenly Noah's phone buzzed again. A message. He checked the screen. It was from the technician working on Rhea's laptop. The message was short. "Drive recovered." Noah's eyes widened slightly. He immediately opened the next message. "Data restored. Though partially." Noah stopped walking.
Evan noticed. "What happened?"
Noah slowly looked up from the phone. His voice was quiet. "They recovered some files from Rhea's laptop."
Evan's heartbeat quickened. "Did she find something?"
Noah looked down at the phone again, the light from the screen reflecting faintly in his tired eyes. He let out a slow breath. "I'll know once I see it."
He slipped the phone back into his pocket and turned to Evan, his expression softening. "Don't worry about it right now."
Evan studied his face for a moment but didn't ask anything more.
They began walking again. But the air around them had changed. The quiet street, the dim streetlights, the slow hum of distant traffic, everything suddenly felt heavier, like something unseen was waiting just ahead. Because somewhere inside the fragments of that broken laptop, Rhea might have left behind the one thing everyone had been searching for. The truth.