Tao Yi stood tall and sharp, dressed in plain clothes that couldn't hide his military frame. Broad-shouldered, athletic, and composed, he carried himself with the quiet confidence of someone trained to lead and to kill—if necessary.
His chiseled features were all seriousness, but a polite smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "It was nothing. Just doing my job."
The police commissioner standing beside him gave a bitter chuckle.
"Nothing?" he repeated. "Major Tao, those two criminals evaded our task force for two whole years. You show up on a 'casual stopover' in C City and catch them in under ten minutes."
Tao Yi didn't respond to the jab. He simply nodded.
The commissioner rubbed his temples. "I swear, the morale of my entire department just took a direct hit."
"Don't take it personally," Tao Yi said evenly. "I just got lucky."
The commissioner didn't buy that for a second. "Well, lucky or not, we owe you big time. If you've got a few hours to spare, how about dinner? My treat, on behalf of the whole force."
Tao Yi's voice remained steady and polite. "Appreciate the gesture, sir. But I've got other matters to attend to."
"Next time, then."
Tao Yi offered a respectful nod and turned to his black SUV. As he slid into the driver's seat, he gave a quiet command: "Let's go."
"Sir, are we heading to the airport now?" his assistant asked from the passenger side.
Tao Yi checked his watch. Three hours left before his flight.
Plenty of time… to see her.
He didn't reply. Instead, he pulled out his phone and tapped a familiar contact—Hailey Tang.
Back in B City, he had given her his number after the incident with her grandfather. But duty had called again, and he'd been deployed on a classified mission just days later. There hadn't been time to call, to thank them properly, or to even grieve.
And yet… he hadn't forgotten.
Today, with a few hours to kill, he wanted to see her. Even just once.
The girl his grandfather had once hoped would be his wife.
As for Hailey's grandfather, Mr. Tang—Tao Yi decided he'd visit him formally next time, when he had more than three hours and a clean shirt.
But fate, it seemed, had other plans.
Her phone was off.
He tried again.
Still off.
After several unsuccessful attempts, Tao Yi finally gave up with a sigh. He wasn't the type to chase people down uninvited. Without any other option, he redirected the driver.
"To the airport."
Meanwhile, thousands of feet above the Pacific, Hailey Tang was bored out of her mind.
C City to New York—fourteen hours of enforced captivity in a metal tube.
She hated long-haul flights. They were stuffy, uncomfortable, and worst of all… boring.
She'd already flipped through every movie in the onboard catalog, twice. Tried to nap. Failed. Tried meditating. Gave up. The ambient white noise was like a lullaby with commitment issues.
Across the aisle, Ethan Yu was laser-focused on his tablet, typing with one hand while flipping through documents with the other. He looked like he hadn't blinked in an hour.
Hailey squinted at him.
Did this man ever sleep?
She'd dozed off a while ago—one of those airplane half-naps where your head rolls back and you wake up drooling—and when she opened her eyes again, there he was. Still working.
The entire first-class cabin was silent. Lights dimmed. Executives, assistants, bodyguards—all asleep or pretending to be. Only Ethan was fully awake.
Working like his life depended on it.
Hailey propped her chin on her hand and stared at his profile. She'd never admit it out loud, but… when he worked, he was kind of attractive. Sharp jawline, intense eyes, and that unbothered energy of someone in control of absolutely everything.
Ugh, she groaned internally. Why do overachievers always make me feel like a useless potato?
She sat up straighter and made a decision.
No more zoning out. No more mental spirals. If Ethan could work, so could she.
Hailey rummaged through her carry-on and pulled out a book she'd been meaning to read—an English classic with small font and intimidating vocabulary.
If I can finish at least one chapter, she told herself, I won't feel like a total slacker.
Just as she flipped to page one, Ethan turned to look at her.
His voice was low and amused. "You're reading? I thought you hated books."
Hailey didn't even look at him. "Mind your own business."
"I was just asking."
"Well don't."
There was a pause.
Then a slow smirk tugged at his lips. "Are you worried I'll distract you?"
"I'm worried you'll jinx me," she muttered, eyes still on the page.
She stared at a paragraph full of long, flowery prose, most of which made zero sense. With a frown, she jabbed a finger at a word and asked without looking up, "Hey, what does narcissistic mean?"
Ethan leaned slightly closer. "Narcissistic. Adjective. Excessively self-involved. Vain. Obsessed with oneself."
He paused. "Wait. Are you calling me narcissistic?"
Hailey raised her eyebrows, still not meeting his gaze. "Took you long enough to figure it out."
He didn't get mad. On the contrary, he seemed entertained.
"I'm impressed," he said after a beat. "Didn't think you'd recognize a word like that."
Hailey finally looked up, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "You really think I'm that dumb?"
"I think you used to be."
She scoffed. "You underestimate me. I speak three languages, thank you very much."
Ethan blinked. "Three?"
"Yep," she said proudly, straightening in her seat. "English, French, and Chinese."
"That's actually… impressive."
Hailey beamed. "It should be. I've been learning them since I could crawl."
It was true. Her grandfather had always believed that mastering multiple languages opened more than just doors—it opened worlds. He'd hired private tutors, language coaches, and even a Parisian nanny who made her recite poetry in French before every nap.
Of course, back then, she'd hated it.
But now?
Now she was kind of grateful.
"I'm still working on Italian," she added casually. "But conjugations are a nightmare."
Ethan leaned back in his seat, watching her with a thoughtful expression.
"Three languages, huh?" he said. "Maybe you're not as useless as I thought."
Hailey narrowed her eyes. "Are you trying to compliment me or insult me?"
"Bit of both," he replied, smiling.
She rolled her eyes and went back to her book, but this time, she was actually reading. Not just pretending.
Somewhere along the way, the silence between them had shifted. It wasn't awkward anymore. It was… easy. Comfortable.
Hailey didn't know what to make of that.
But for the first time in a while, she didn't feel the need to fill the space with chatter or sarcasm.
She just read, quietly, with Ethan working beside her.
And for some reason, that felt like progress.