A week days passed in a quiet, fragile stillness.
Bill Curt remained completely oblivious to the changes around him. From his damp, isolated workshop on the outskirts of the district, he assumed Detective Quive was either dead or slipping silently into brain death, leaving him free to plot his next moves. He had no idea that Rose and Scarlet had already arrived in Ohio, nor did he suspect that Quive's critical condition had been quietly recovering behind closed doors, his successful corneal transplant already complete.
Meanwhile, at the Huntington Center, the morning sun lit up the top-floor penthouse. Holly stood near the marble kitchen island, twirling a sleek, heavy black credit card between her fingers with a triumphant grin. She had managed to "borrow" Damon's MACE black card off his suite vanity while he was busy in a morning conference, and she had no intention of letting it sit idle.
"Come on, Ryan! You're off duty today, and my closet is practically empty," Holly announced, grabbing her coat and snagging Ryan by the arm before he could slip back down to the lobby in his bellhop uniform.
Deciding against taking the heavy logistics truck this time, the pair walked down to the main entrance of the Huntington Center, stepping out onto the curb under the clear Ohio sky. Holly casually raised her hand, waving down an approaching dark car, assuming it was one of the local city taxis.
The sleek, midnight-black Cadillac pulled up smoothly to the curb. Inside, Mahito sat behind the wheel, his eyebrows pulling up in sheer surprise. He looked from Holly's enthusiastic waving hand to the pristine, luxury emblem on his hood.
"A cab?" he thought, thoroughly amused that someone could look at his custom Cadillac and mistake it for a public taxi.
Instead of explaining her mistake, Mahito simply clicked the door locks open with a quiet smirk.
When Ryan slid into the passenger side and caught Mahito's eye in the rearview mirror, Mahito let out a quiet, dry chuckle. It was the exact same kid he had driven just a week ago, somehow finding his way back into his passenger seat through pure, bizarre coincidence.
"Sue Lux Shopping Complex," Holly chirped from the back, completely oblivious to the driver's identity as she checked her hair in her compact mirror.
Neither she nor Ryan bothered to look closely at the driver or double-check the vehicle's registration. They had lowered their guard entirely, caught up in the relief of a quiet morning while on the other hand Mahito didn't say a word.
He shifted into drive, navigating the city traffic and smoothly dropping them off at the grand glass entrance of the Sue Lux complex a short distance away.
When Holly handed him a crisp fifty-dollar bill for the ride, Mahito took the fare with a subtle nod, watching the two walk inside before pulling away into the street.
"Completely clueless, I'm not so scary after all" he thought, shaking his head with a faint smile.
Inside the high-end department store, the air was scented with expensive perfume and lined with racks of designer apparel.
"Holly, you've been staring at the exact same blue dress for fifteen minutes," Ryan grumbled, leaning wholeheartedly against a polished brass display column while balancing four overflowing shopping bags on his arms.
"Blue or navy blue—they look identical!" He added.
"They are not identical, Ryan! Navy is for evening events, and sky blue is for casual afternoons," Holly shot back, holding two nearly identical hangers against her chest as she turned around in front of the full-length mirror.
"And don't even get me started on the heels. Do these straps match the hemline or drag it down?"
"I don't know, and my arms are falling off," Ryan groaned, rolling his eyes as he looked around for anywhere to sit down.
Luckily for Ryan, one of the store's senior stylists, an immaculately dressed woman carrying a tape measure, noticed his visible misery and stepped in with a polite smile.
"Allow me to assist the lady, sir. We can pull the matching footwear options directly from the back collection while you rest in the lounge area."
"Thank you, you are a lifesaver," Ryan exhaled, gladly handing off a stack of hangers and collapsing onto a plush leather bench near the fitting rooms.
While Holly happily followed the stylist toward the private fitting section, the glass automatic entrance doors of Sue Lux chimed.
Stepping into the boutique were Rose and Scarlet. Dressed in comfortable civilian attire, the duo moved casually past the perfume counters, browsing the high-tier racks to replace their own travel wardrobes while keeping a quiet eye on the city movements.
The fitting lounge was comfortably spacious, lined with soft velvet armchairs and full-length three-way mirrors, with the assistance of the senior stylist, moved Holly deftly around , adjusting the hemline of a tailored summer dress with expert ease while keeping up a light, effortless conversation.
"So, tell me, young lady" the stylist asked warmly, smoothing out the back collar. "Are we dressing for quiet afternoon coffee runs, evening galas, or perhaps something a bit more active? Your friend out there looked like he was bracing for an endurance marathon."
Holly laughed, checking her reflection from the side. "Definitely not galas. Honestly, a bit of everything—something easy to move in, but not so plain that I look like I'm wearing an outfit meant for training. I like pieces that look stylish without making it obvious I put ten hours of thought into them."
"A Lady of practical taste," the stylist approved with a nod, turning toward the back rack to pull a matching lightweight cardigan. "I have just the thing from our autumn preview."
Ryan pushed himself off the plush leather bench, carrying two of the lighter shoe boxes closer to the dressing area just as Holly stepped out from behind the curtain to check a new pair of low heels.
As he set the boxes down, his gaze casually drifted toward the main retail floor—and froze in an instant.
Walking down the adjoining aisle, browsing through a display of silk scarves just a few meters away, were Rose and Scarlet.
Ryan's pulse spiked, though his face remained entirely motionless, a sharp, trained stillness taking over his body. He recognized Scarlet instantly. The memories of his childhood flared up in a silent flash—he knew her face, knew her so called reputation, and vividly remembered Mace operational briefing four years ago following Klaus's capture. She was one of the premier field operatives tasked with hunting down, cataloging, and neutralizing unregistered superhumans who operated outside the agency's official registry.
His eyes then flicked briefly to Rose. The rumors surrounding her were legendary within the subterranean circles: she was an operative who had survived a catastrophic demolition during an overseas mission, undergoing complete physical reconstruction—a rebirth that left her sharper, colder, and far more dangerous.
"What are the odds?" Ryan thought, his mind racing through tactical probabilities. "Is this a coordinated sweep? Did the Huntington Center grid get flagged, or is this just an impossible coincidence?"
He kept his posture relaxed, leaning against the wooden trim of the mirror frame as if he were simply a tired boyfriend waiting on a shopping trip. But beneath the calm surface, every nerve in his body was on high alert.