Chapter 3 - So Close!!

Celine's heartbeat was pounding in her chest as he came towards her. The eyes that locked onto hers screamed intensity, making her froze. She had heard those rumors, felt the presence he radiated from across the room, but no one prepared her for looking at it, for its raw force. Every ounce of instinct inside her screams to run and hide and get as far away as possible. She knew what she had to do – she couldn't let him find her.

She ducked down into the crowd with a quick look around and began to breathe shallowly; the thudding of her heart was too loud in her ears. She could feel the tension building in the air as Adrien drew closer, scanning the crowd for a glimpse of her. She wished he didn't see her.

Just as he took another step in her direction, the crowd surged forward, pushing and shoving as fans desperately reached out to touch him. It was her moment. She pushed herself deeper into the crowd, hoping to stay hidden.

But then, from out of nowhere, someone yanked her hand, pulling her quickly through the crowd. Celine's eyes flew open as she looked up to see her friend Lila pulling her through the crowd.

"Come on, we have to go!" Lila whispered urgently, her grip tight as she pulled Celine through the crowd.

They wove through the sea of people, moving as fast as they could. Celine's breath came in ragged gasps, and she barely registered the security guard who spotted them, his eyes narrowing as he reached for his radio to call for backup.

"Stop them!" he barked, but they were already past him.

Lila gave him a passing glance before pulling Celine in with even more urgency. She slipped through the doors just before the guard could react, and they were running out into the night, the sound of their footsteps echoing in the vacant corridors.

Once outside, they rushed to a cab nearby. The driver barely had time to ask where they were headed before Lila slammed the door shut, and they sped away into the night.

Celine slumped back in her seat, her chest heaving as she tried to calm her racing heart. Lila was equally breathless, her eyes wide with adrenaline.

"That was too close," Lila muttered, shaking her head. "We can't do that again."

Celine nodded, her hands still quivering from the encounter. "I didn't expect him to get so close," she whispered, her mind still reeling from the moment. "I didn't think he'd find me so quickly."

Lila looked at her, concern flickering in her eyes. "Are you sure about this? What if he's still looking for you?"

Celine didn't say a word. She leaned her head back against the seat, her thoughts muddled by the intensity of what had just happened. She had no idea what to expect next, but one thing was certain: Adrien wasn't going to let her disappear so easily.

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Adrien moved swiftly through the sea of adoring fans, the deafening roar of their cheers barely registering in his mind. His eyes never left the spot where he had last seen her—the woman who had inexplicably appeared at his concert, her presence an enigma that consumed him. She had vanished too quickly, slipping into the chaos like a ghost, and now every part of him was on edge.

Suddenly fans threw themselves at him; willing to die, they could barely let their hands just graze his body even for that briefest moment. Determined to bulldoze ruthlessly through the sea of screaming and pleading hands Adrien pushed through it.

His pulse quickened now, with every tick on the clock tension creeps in his chest

Finally, he arrives at a spot where she would stand a few minutes back his eyes scan around crazily. She's not around.

His breath hitched. She was gone.

"Where is she?" Adrien's voice was a low, guttural growl, laced with an unmistakable fury. He turned on his heel, his eyes blazing with anger as he barked into his earpiece. "Find her. Now."

His security team and staff scrambled, startled by the intensity in his voice. They had never seen him like this—not with this raw, desperate edge.

"What? Who? Boss, who are we—?" one of his security guards stuttered, clearly taken aback by the outburst.

Adrien's patience snapped. "Don't play dumb!" he shouted, his tone venomous, sending the team into disarray. "I saw her, damn it! She was right here, and now she's gone. Where is she?"

The chaos around him all just seemed to blur. His eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched, and he resembled a man possessed—someone who could tear through the whole arena if it could just get him to where she was. He couldn't care less about the concert anymore. He had long since lost interest in the fans, the performance, or anything else in between.

"Find her, or I'll make sure none of you ever work another day in this industry," he snarled, his voice cold and threatening.

The stunned silence only fueled his anger. His team scrambled to respond, murmuring to one another, trying to piece together what had just happened. But Adrien couldn't wait. His eyes flicked from one corner of the arena to the next, willing the crowd to part, searching for the one person who had managed to slip into his life and wreck everything.

He couldn't explain it—why she mattered so much, why seeing her again had triggered something inside him—but he wasn't going to stop until he found her. Whatever it took.

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It was Celine's third day at school, and although her chest felt heavy with being surrounded by wealth and privilege that she could never have imagined, she was surprisingly content. She hadn't tried to make friends; she wasn't anti-social or anything, but she didn't feel like she fit in with the other kids who spoke in hushed tones about their vacations to Paris and exclusive events. This life was nothing she had ever had. She did not belong here, but that did not affect her as much as it would have. All the attention she had focused upon was a boy named Adrian with gray eyes.

She had been observing him for the last couple of days, keeping a lid on her curiosity so it wouldn't get too much the better of her. She knew his name only a short while ago and had no reason to like him or dislike him; yet there was something to his presence that sent butterflies in her stomach. He was unlike everyone else-around him was unapproachable, mysterious, and strange and strangely magnetic.

As she sat there, alone in her thoughts, her gaze drifted back to him. Adrian was laughing with his friends, his sharp features so relaxed that he almost appeared easy-going, a state he rarely reached. However, then, without even a hint of warning, his gaze changed. He looked straight at her. She gasped for air, and for a fleeting moment, she froze not knowing what to do.

And then he started walking toward her, his pace deliberate, and her heart began to pound with a combination of fear and something else—something risky.

"Isn't this interesting?" His voice was calm, but it held an edge. She couldn't look away, couldn't make herself move, as if his eyes had pinned her in place. He was coming closer.

He stopped before her, a smile on his face that made her heart skip a beat. But that smile wasn't warm, not like she had imagined it would be. It was sharp, almost predatory. A chill ran down her spine.

Before she could react, his hand shot out, grabbing a fistful of her hair. Celine's breath caught in her throat as he yanked her head back, forcing her to look up at him. Her vision blurred with panic. His touch, though not rough, was firm, and it sent a wave of dread crashing over her.