Chapter 274: I am addicted to this feeling!!

Flashback

The evening sky over Paris carried a soft golden hue that slowly melted into shades of amber and rose, as if the city itself was exhaling after a long, beautiful day. The park was calm, touched by a gentle breeze that carried the scent of fresh grass and distant birds, while the faint sound of people walking, laughing, and living their lives blended into a peaceful rhythm.

On a quiet bench beneath a tall tree, Chloe and Ghost sat side by side.

The world around them felt distant.

As if it had stepped back just enough to give them space.

Chloe sat with her hands folded gently in her lap, her gaze drifting ahead, though her thoughts were clearly somewhere else. Ghost sat beside her, sipping his cold coffee through a straw, his posture relaxed but his presence deeply attentive.

There was a silence between them.

Not empty.

Not uncomfortable.

But filled with something waiting to be spoken.

“Kai,” Chloe said softly.

Ghost did not respond immediately, still sipping his drink, but his eyes shifted slightly toward her, listening.

Chloe took a small breath, her fingers tightening slightly together as if gathering courage that had taken days to build.

“I was thinking that it has been a month since we started meeting each other like this,” she began, her voice gentle but carrying a quiet tremble. “But what next?”

She turned her head slightly toward him, her eyes searching.

“Do we keep meeting like this? Sitting together, talking, exchanging gifts like this?”

Her voice grew softer, more vulnerable.

“This thought keeps coming to my mind lately. I could not even sleep thinking about it.”

Ghost slowly stopped sipping, though he did not interrupt.

Chloe looked down for a moment, then continued, her words flowing more honestly now.

“Are we really just good friends? That is what I keep telling my friends, but I do not even know if I believe it anymore.”

A faint, shy smile appeared on her lips, though her eyes carried emotion.

“My dad keeps asking me about the things you gave me. I told him it is nothing special, but…”

She paused, her cheeks warming slightly.

“I keep all of them in a box. Safely. I open it every day. I do not know why, but I love that feeling.”

Her fingers tightened again, her voice dropping slightly.

“And then I realized… we still know so little about each other. Where we live. Our families. Our lives.”

She hesitated, her voice almost a whisper now.

“It feels like we are close… but also far.”

Before she could continue, Ghost moved.

Without warning, he leaned gently, resting his head against her shoulder.

The sudden closeness caught Chloe off guard.

Her breath paused.

Her body stiffened for a second.

Then slowly, she relaxed, her eyes widening slightly as warmth spread through her chest.

Ghost spoke, his voice calm, soft, and closer than ever.

“You know what… I was thinking the same thing.”

Chloe’s eyes slowly shifted toward him, her expression changing, surprise blending with something deeper.

“Since the day I met you,” he continued, his voice steady yet carrying an unfamiliar softness, “I have not been able to sleep properly.”

Her lips parted slightly.

Her heart began to race.

“I keep thinking about you,” he said quietly. “Trying to catch a glimpse of you again, even if it is just for a moment.”

Chloe’s eyes softened, her gaze lowering for a second as her cheeks turned faintly pink.

“This feeling… it is something I have never felt in my entire life.”

Her breathing grew slower, deeper, as if every word was settling inside her.

“When I see you,” Ghost continued, “my heart starts beating faster.”

Chloe’s fingers trembled slightly in her lap.

“There is this… light sensation in my chest,” he said, almost searching for the right words, “like something alive, something new, and I keep getting addicted to it.”

Her eyes began to glisten.

Her lips curved into a soft, trembling smile.

“And that day… when they took you…”

Ghost’s voice changed slightly, deeper now, carrying weight.

Chloe’s expression shifted instantly, her brows drawing together as she looked at him.

“When they pointed guns at you…”

Her eyes filled.

“I felt like something very important was being taken away from me.”

Her hand slowly lifted, almost instinctively, hovering near him.

“And I could not let that happen.”

Her breathing grew uneven.

“I have never done anything in my life without planning,” he continued. “But that day… I did not think. I did not calculate. I just moved.”

A tear slipped from the corner of Chloe’s eye.

“At that moment, I realized… I could risk everything… just to bring you back.”

Her hand finally rested gently against his cheek, her touch soft, trembling.

Ghost continued, unaware of how deeply his words were affecting her.

“We have been meeting for a month now… and I tried to say this many times… but I could not.”

Chloe’s fingers tightened slightly against his skin.

“There is something inside me that keeps stopping me… from pulling you into my world.”

Her heart sank for a moment.

“But for this one time… I want to ignore that.”

Her eyes widened slightly.

“I want to listen to my heart… and not my mind.”

Her breath caught.

Ghost slowly lifted his head just enough to look at her.

Their faces were close.

Closer than ever.

“Chloe…”

Her name left his lips softly.

“I think…”

He paused for a second.

Then corrected himself, his voice gaining certainty.

“No… I do not think.”

Her eyes locked onto his.

“I am sure.”

Her heart pounded loudly now.

“Chloe… I have fallen in love with you.”

Time seemed to stop.

The sounds of the park faded.

The breeze stilled.

Chloe froze.

Her eyes widened.

Then slowly… tears filled them completely.

A small, fragile smile formed on her lips.

Her hands moved gently, cupping his face with a softness that carried everything she had been holding back.

Her voice trembled as she spoke.

“I have… longed to hear this.”

Her words were barely above a whisper, yet they carried a warmth that wrapped around his heart instantly.

And then, without hesitation, she moved forward.

Closing the distance.

Falling into his arms.

Her head rested against his chest as if it had always belonged there.

Ghost held her.

Carefully.

As if she was something precious.

Something irreplaceable.

The evening sky dimmed further, the first stars beginning to appear.

And in that quiet corner of the park, beneath the fading light of Paris, two hearts that had been circling each other finally found their place.

….

The next day unfolded under a pale Parisian sky, where the light filtered softly through the narrow streets and settled across the quiet corners of the city. Inside the safehouse, the atmosphere was anything but calm. Screens flickered, data streams moved like restless currents, and in the center of it all, Ghost stood with his eyes locked onto a wall of surveillance feeds.

The footage looped again and again.

Different angles.

Different times.

Different routes.

Yet the pattern remained unchanged.

Too clean.

Too silent.

Ghost leaned slightly forward, his fingers resting against the edge of the console as he observed every detail with precision that came from years of instinct and discipline.

The line connected.

Base was on.

“Have you found anything suspicious this week?”

Ghost did not look away from the screen.

“It has been too quiet,” he said slowly. “Too clean. No movement, no visible threats, no attempts to approach him. It is as if they have abandoned the operation.”

There was a brief silence on the other end.

“Or they have changed their strategy.”

Ghost’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“You called to tell me something.”

“Yes,” Base replied. “We have an update.”

Ghost straightened a little.

“You found something?”

“Yesterday, Gabriel received ten million dollars in his account.”

For the first time, Ghost turned fully toward the screen, his expression sharpening instantly.

“What?”

His voice carried disbelief.

“From whom?”

“We tracked the money trail,” Base continued, “and it leads into a layered financial network. It is masked well, but the origin points back to one entity.”

A brief pause.

“You were right. Nawwar is involved.”

Ghost’s gaze darkened.

“You are telling me that Nawwar sent him money.”

The weight of that realization settled heavily.

“The person I am protecting from them… is actually with them?”

“It is one possibility,” Base replied carefully. “But there is more. We have identified internal movements within the plant. There are discussions of leadership changes.”

Ghost’s mind moved quickly.

“It means if Gabriel is exposed for taking a bribe, he will be removed and replaced.”

“Exactly.”

“And that opens a window for infiltration at a higher level.”

“That is correct,” Base confirmed. “We are trying to locate Nawwar’s current position.”

A faint smirk appeared on Ghost’s face.

“You will not need to.”

There was a pause.

“I already have a location.”

“Where?”

“A safehouse in Paris.”

The silence that followed carried recognition.

“It seems you have been doing more than what was assigned.”

Ghost did not respond to that.

“I am sending you the address.”

“Alright. We will prepare an operation plan around Nawwar.”

Ghost turned back to the screen.

“You focus on Gabriel,” Base added.

“Copy that.”

The line dissolved into static.

Transmission ended.

Ghost lowered his hand slowly, then immediately dialed another number.

The call connected.

“Marcel.”

“Lead,” Marcel’s voice came quickly. “What is it?”

Ghost did not waste time.

“There is a problem. Gabriel received ten million from Nawwar.”

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end.

“What? That changes everything.”

“It does,” Ghost replied. “We are no longer just protecting a target. We are dealing with someone who may already be compromised.”

“What do we do now?”

Ghost’s eyes shifted slightly as he looked at the frozen frame of Gabriel’s movement patterns.

“We infiltrate.”

Marcel hesitated.

“But we already checked every possible entry point around his residence. There is no visible secondary access.”

Ghost’s lips curved slightly.

“Then we make him show it to us.”

Marcel paused.

“How?”

Ghost’s voice lowered, calm and calculated.

“You call him.”

“And say what?”

“You tell him… you are inside his house.”

A brief silence.

Then Marcel let out a quiet breath.

“You are a genius, Lead.”

Ghost did not react.

“Call him this afternoon,” he said. “I will join you.”

“Understood.”

The call ended.

…

That same afternoon, the air near the nuclear plant carried a quiet tension that only a trained eye could recognize.

Ghost and Marcel sat inside a new vehicle parked at a distance, blending into the surroundings without drawing attention.

The plant stood ahead, its structure guarded, controlled, and seemingly impenetrable.

Ghost’s gaze remained fixed on the entrance.

“Call him.”

Marcel nodded, pulling out his phone.

He dialed the number.

The line rang.

Once.

Twice.

Then it connected.

“Hello, who is this?”

Marcel leaned back slightly, his tone casual but deliberate.

“Well, well… is this Gabriel Moreau? I did not know your house was so large. Are you some kind of prince?”

There was immediate tension in Gabriel’s voice.

“Who are you?”

Marcel smiled faintly.

“Do you live alone, Gabriel? Should I make myself comfortable?”

The line cut.

Silence.

Ghost’s eyes remained steady.

They waited.

Seconds stretched.

Then minutes.

And then it happened.

From within the facility, a bike shot out of the secured gate, accelerating with urgency.

Ghost’s smirk returned.

“There he is.”

His voice was calm, certain.

“Follow him.”

The engine started.

The hunt had begun.

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