Chapter 130
Those few simple words crashed like a thunderbolt in Charlotte's ears, making her body freeze instantly.
After delivering that line, the man didn't linger. His figure flickered slightly before vanishing into the night.
By the time Charlotte snapped out of it and rushed onto the balcony, there was nothing—no trace of him at all!
If not for the file still clutched in her hand, she might have thought the whole thing was a hallucination.
Just then, the bedroom door swung open and Alexander poked his head in.
He wore an adorably cute apron, his face dusted with a bit of flour—a somewhat comical sight.
"How do you want your steak? Or would you rather try my appetizer soup first to tide you over?"
When he noticed Charlotte's unusually grave expression, his instincts told him something was off.
"What's wrong?"
He stepped inside without thinking, his voice filled with concern.
"Why do you look so pale? Are you okay?"
Charlotte looked at Alexander's worry-filled face, the masked man's ghost-like figure flashing through her mind. Her eyes flickered.
"I... I'm fine."
Alexander caught the oddness in her tone. His brow furrowed as he glanced at the wide-open window.
"What happened? Why is the window open so wide? What if you catch a cold?"
He moved to close it, leaning out for a quick look outside.
Watching him, Charlotte pressed her lips together and decided not to tell him about this.
That masked man's background was clearly unfathomable. Someone even Alexander couldn't track down, yet he could investigate with ease.
If she told Alexander now, he'd likely do something reckless trying to protect her.
Besides, the two men had met before. Remembering Alexander's fury that day...
She shook her head, forcing herself to relax. Hiding the envelope behind her back, she met Alexander's eyes.
"It's nothing. I just got a little breeze, maybe feeling slightly off. Don't worry."
Hearing her explanation, Alexander stared at her intently for a long moment, clearly unconvinced.
But he knew Charlotte's temperament. Whatever she didn't want to say, no amount of pressure would extract.
So he swallowed his doubts and played along.
"I see. Take a hot shower later then."
"If something's bothering you, tell me. You don't have to tough it out around me."
Charlotte understood his underlying message, but she pretended not to. Moving closer, she gently wiped the flour from his face.
"Look at you—cooking like you're going into battle, making a mess everywhere."
Alexander knew perfectly well she was changing the subject, but he cooperated without calling her out, smiling helplessly.
"All to make it up to you."
"Come on, let's go down. Dinner's almost ready."
Charlotte nodded in agreement. As she pushed him toward the door, she slipped the envelope into the cabinet by the entrance.
Probably because of her preoccupation, dinner felt oppressively quiet.
Even though Alexander kept sharing amusing office stories and Charlotte responded with occasional laughter, both were distracted. The meal tasted like sawdust.
After eating, Charlotte excused herself to rest and went upstairs, locking her bedroom door behind her.
Only after confirming the room was secure did she draw the curtains and retrieve the file.
By lamplight, she pulled out the contents again.
Earlier, in her rush, she'd only glanced at the photos without examining anything else.
Now, looking more carefully, she discovered not just Nora's detailed movements over the past two weeks, but several high-resolution surveillance photos.
One showed a private café in Imperial City's suburbs—Charlotte had been there once for a business meeting.
The place's greatest advantage was its seclusion and extreme respect for client privacy.
In the photo, Nora wore a low-key black trench coat, sunglasses, and a baseball cap.
Across from her sat a tall man. From his profile, he appeared to be between forty and fifty, his entire bearing radiating an authority figure's composure and menace.
"Who is this?" Charlotte's brow furrowed.
Alexander had been sending people to find Nora all this time.
Logically, she should be hiding, afraid to show her face. Yet here she was, meeting someone in secret.
Charlotte guessed this man's influence must rival Alexander's—otherwise, how could he enable Nora to appear here undetected?
The file's last page recorded Nora's most recent location: an abandoned factory in the western suburbs.
Charlotte stared at the address. Somehow, her unease grew stronger.
She couldn't shake the feeling that the masked man had given her this file with ulterior motives.
Maybe he was guiding her toward some discovery. Or perhaps he was using Nora as bait, luring her into a trap.
Charlotte took a deep breath.
Either way, she had to check it out!
With that resolve, Charlotte carefully put the file away, then opened her closet and changed into sleek black athletic wear, concealing a knife in the side of her boot.
It was 11:30 PM now. The thick darkness outside would help her slip past Alexander and the bodyguards unnoticed.
Just as she prepared to leave, her phone on the desk buzzed.
Charlotte reached for it. The moment she saw the name on the screen, her heart skipped a beat.
"Jason, what's going on at this hour?"
The instant her words ended, deafening engine roars and heavy metal music blasted through the phone, mixed with crowd cheers and screams—absolute chaos.
"Boss! Help me out here!" Jason's voice sounded both frantic and slightly panicked beneath the noise. "Can you come to the western suburbs racetrack right now? If you don't, I'm gonna lose my shirt tonight—literally everything!"
Charlotte's attention immediately locked onto 'western suburbs.'
If she remembered correctly, that racetrack was less than two miles from the abandoned factory where Nora had appeared!
Her eyes flickered with realization.
But then something else occurred to her, and her tone turned cold.
"You're street racing again?"
"Ugh, it's complicated—they set me up!" Jason sighed, sounding frustrated.