?Chapter 1488:


    In a sh, the two vehicles sped past one another — one heading south toward an unknown conflict, the other driving north toward the vi and the faint hope of finding the man who had vanished from her life.


    Maia pulled her gaze back and watched the convoy shrink to a speck in her rearview mirror. The strange, sharp pang in her chest gradually dulled into a cold numbness. Had it all just been her imagination?


    Inside the bulletproof vehicle, the atmosphere was thick and silent.


    From the front passenger seat, Grayson had caught Chris’s fleeting nce in the rearview mirror — a look he had never seen before, aplex fracture in hismander’s usual imprable resolve. Something had shifted in Chris, especially where Maia was concerned.


    But Grayson knew better than to voice it.


    He remained silent and picked up the encrypted satellite phone instead, his voice dropping to a low murmur. “Maia has entered the vi perimeter. Secure the area and ensure her safety. Maintain full surveince.” He paused, his tone hardening slightly. “Remember — do not reveal your presence.”


    Ten minutester, Maia’s SUV came to a stop in front of the secluded vi.


    She killed the engine and stepped out into the silence. The only sound was the wind whispering through the leaves. The vi’s door was shut tight, the surroundingwn impably manicured, showing no signs of neglect.


    Maia retrieved the key Zoey had given her. With a soft click, the lock turned. She pushed the heavy door open.


    Inside, the space was orderly — the furniture clean and free of dust. Yet the air itself held a peculiar charge, a subtle and lingering sense of a hurried departure, as if the upants had vanished only moments before.


    ??????d ?????? ??????e??t ??????n???? о?? g??????????????s.????m


    She tossed her car keys onto the entryway console and shrugged off her jacket. A profound weariness, born from sustained tension and the long drive, settled over her. She pinched the bridge of her nose and gathered her resolve.


    Carrying a bag of groceries she had picked up on the way, she walked into the open-concept kitchen. She would eat first, then rest. She needed her strength for the search that stilly ahead.


    Setting the bag down on the marble ind, she turned to switch on the gas stove to boil some water. But the moment her fingers brushed the sleek ck ss control panel, her whole body went still.


    The warmth Maia felt beneath her fingertips wasn’t the cold of ss — it was lingering heat, subtle but undeniable.


    Her pupils constricted instinctively. She recoiled as if burned, then pressed her hand back to confirm the sensation. The stove was still warm, radiating significant heat. Someone had been here very recently — perhaps just before she stepped through the door.


    Her attention snapped to the built-in oven. Its indicator light was off, yet the casing was also warm. A faint aroma of coffee lingered in the air.


    Someone had been here, and they had left only moments before her arrival.


    Maia’s mind immediately raced back to the ck convoy on the forest road — the darkened windows, the fleeting encounter that had unsettled her.


    “Chris…” she whispered, her nails digging into her palms as she spun toward the floor-to-ceiling window.


    Her gaze swept the empty road outside. There was no doubt now. The person in that car had been Chris. He had been here, and the moment she arrived, he had vanished.


    Why was he avoiding her?


    Her eyes swept the surrounding woods, reflecting hurt — but above all, fierce determination. If he was deliberately keeping his distance, it only steeled her resolve to track him down.


    .


    .


    .