Victor Kane stood in his big, quiet office. He was a very powerful man, but right now, he was very, very angry. He looked out of the giant window at the city of New York. From the fifty-fifth floor, the lights of the city looked like millions of tiny stars scattered on the ground. Victor was breathing hard, his chest moving up and down. He was trying to calm himself down. He knew that if people saw him angry, they would think he was weak. In Victor's world, being weak was the worst thing a person could be. He had to be strong. He had to be the boss of everything and everyone.
He thought to himself, "I cannot let the world know that my son ran away from me. If the newspapers and the TV stations find out, they will laugh at the name Kane. They will say Victor Kane is not a leader because he cannot even control his own son. I must stop the truth from coming out. I must tell a lie to protect my name and my tower."
Victor closed his eyes for a long time. He felt his heart beating fast against his ribs. He told his heart, "Slow down. Be quiet. Be cold." When he finally opened his eyes, he was not an angry father anymore. He looked like a cold, serious businessman. His face was like a mask made of hard gray stone.
Clara, his helper, was standing nearby. She was very nervous. She was holding a tablet computer in her hands, and her fingers were shaking so much that the screen wobbled. She looked at Victor's back and waited for him to speak. She was afraid to make a sound.
"What are the people saying downstairs, Clara?" Victor asked. His voice was very low and very cold. It sounded like the wind blowing over ice.
Clara took a small, shaky breath. She looked down at her tablet. "Some people are saying that Romeo left the party early because he was bored," she said softly. "Other people are guessing that there was a big fight between you two. They think maybe the family has a giant secret. People are very curious, Mr. Kane. They want to know the truth, and they are starting to ask the guards questions."
Victor's eyes got very sharp. He looked at Clara. "We cannot have rumors," he said. "Rumors are like a fire in a dry forest. If you don't stop them right away, they burn everything down. Rumors make us look weak and messy. I am not weak, and I am not messy."
Clara nodded her head quickly. "I know, sir. I understand. That is why I have prepared a story for the news. I have written a message for all the reporters waiting at the front door."
Victor held out his hand. "Do not waste my time with long stories. Tell me the plan quickly."
Clara looked at her screen again. "We will tell the media that Romeo is unwell. We will tell them he had a sudden health problem. We will say it is not very serious, but it is enough to explain why he is not at his own party tonight. People don't get angry at sick people."
Victor thought about this for a moment. A small smile appeared on his face, but it was not a happy or kind smile. It was a cold, mean smile.
"I like that," he said. "People respect illness. If someone says they are sick, people do not ask too many nosey questions. They will feel sorry for us. They will think I am a sad, worried father instead of an angry one. It makes us look human, like we have hearts, but it also keeps our secret safe."
"Yes, sir," Clara said, feeling a little bit relieved. "The message will say that a top doctor told Romeo he must stay in bed and rest."
"Make sure the message sounds very caring," Victor added. He started walking around the room, his expensive shoes making a thump-thump sound. "Tell the reporters that I am a very concerned father. Tell them we are a very strong family that stays together. There is no weakness in the House of Victor. Do you understand?"
"Of course, sir," Clara replied. She turned around and hurried away as fast as she could to send the message to all the news stations and websites.
Victor went back to the large windows. New York was a huge place. It was full of loud noise, thousands of cars, and millions of people. Somewhere in that giant city, his son was walking. Romeo was free. Romeo was breathing air that Victor did not give him permission to breathe. Victor did not like that at all. He felt like he owned Romeo, just like he owned the building and the cars in the garage. He clenched his hand into a tight fist.
"You think you can run, Romeo," he whispered to the cold glass of the window. "You think you can hide from the name I gave you. But you are a Kane. You belong to me, and I always find what belongs to me."
Suddenly, Victor heard a small sound in his ear. He was wearing a tiny earpiece. It was Tyler, the head of the security guards.
"Sir," Tyler said through the earpiece. "Our teams are spreading out across the city now. We have many men on the streets. They are checking every corner. They are looking in all the music places and the small, dark bars. We are going to every place where Romeo might be hiding."
Victor turned around very fast. "Music places?" he asked. His voice was sharp like a needle.
"Yes, sir," Tyler said. "We know that when Romeo is upset or sad, he always goes where there is music. He likes to sit in the back and listen to people play guitars or pianos. He finds it peaceful."
Victor's lips became a thin, straight line. He looked very unhappy. "Then search those places first," he ordered. "Music is a distraction. Music is for weak people who have nothing better to do. It makes Romeo forget who he is. It makes him forget his duties to this family. Find the music, and you will find my son. Go now!"
The mansion became very busy. It was like a beehive full of angry bees. Phones were ringing on every desk. The heavy doors were opening and closing very fast. The staff members were walking quickly, almost running. They were all looking for one person: Romeo.
Victor stayed by the window, but he was not looking at the city anymore. He was thinking about the past. He remembered when Romeo was just a little boy. Romeo had very small, soft hands back then.
Victor remembered seeing those tiny hands touch the white and black keys of a grand piano. He remembered how Romeo's eyes would get very bright and happy when he heard a beautiful song.
Victor remembered that he had even smiled back then. He had thought, "If my son likes music, I can use that. I can control music. I can use it to make him famous and make our company even more powerful." He thought he could shape Romeo's love for music like a builder shapes a tall skyscraper out of steel.
But Victor had been wrong. Music was not something he could lock in a cage. For Romeo, music was not a tool for power or money. Music was a door to another world. And tonight, Romeo had finally walked through that door. He had left his father's world of rules and stone faces behind.
Victor looked at his reflection in the dark window. He straightened his expensive jacket. He fixed his silk tie. He made his face look calm and confident again. He knew that being angry was dangerous, but being in control was true strength.
"He will come back," Victor said quietly to the empty, cold room. He sounded very sure of himself. "Everyone comes back for the money eventually. He cannot survive without my credit cards. He will get hungry. He will get tired of the cold streets. And then he will come crawling home to the tower."
Outside the giant mansion, the city of New York continued its busy life. Most people had no idea about the drama happening inside the Victor family. They did not know that a big storm was coming. Police cameras on the street corners were searching for Romeo's face. Secret guards in black cars were patrolling the dark alleys.
And somewhere far away from the Victor Mansion, Romeo was finally at peace. He was not thinking about his father's millions of dollars. He was not thinking about power, or suits, or big, fake parties. He was not even thinking about his father's scary anger.
Instead, he was walking toward a sound. He was being drawn to the very girl whose life his father had destroyed earlier that day. He was thinking about a beautiful, honest sound—the sound of a real heart. For the first time in a very long time, Romeo felt quiet inside his soul. The loud, angry noise of his father's world was finally gone.
But that feeling of peace was very new to him. It was so quiet and so different that it actually scared him a little bit. It scared him more than his father's shouting ever could. He was finally free, but he did not know what to do with his freedom. He was like a bird that had been in a cage so long it forgot how to flap its wings.
Where has Romeo gone? Whose music is making him feel so calm and safe? Will Romeo be able to handle this new freedom, or will his love for music lead him straight back into his father's trap?
The city is full of secrets, and Romeo is about to find the biggest one of all. To know what happens ahead, keep listening to the next episode of THIS STORY! The night is only getting started!