My CEO Boss Is A Masked Internet Sensation
Chapter 87: The Red Bird

Chapter 87: The Red Bird

(Arata)

Karsten never brought up that kiss he had given me in his office. No lingering looks or subtle glances when we were alone, just his old aloof self.

Deciphering him was even more difficult than figuring out string theory.

But putting his thoughts on the back burner, I went shopping. The next day, I had to leave for Angel City where I was finally going to meet my family and friends.

Caysir remained my shadow as usual and also became my self-acclaimed porter. Although I insisted on carrying my own shopping bags, he wouldn’t let me.

While coming out of an antique jewellery shop, a man in a black hoodie with a cap pulled low on his face deliberately bumped into me.

He didn’t hurt me, as it was a slight brush, but Caysir quickly reprimanded him, rushing forward to ensure I wasn’t hurt.

"Watch where you are going?"

The man quickly mumbled an apology and rushed off in the opposite direction.

"Are you fine, Miss Arata? Did he hurt you?" He instantly asked with deep concern, his hands laden with my shopping bags.

"It was just a brush, all good. Let’s go home."

We left the shopping mall and Caysir took me home.

We arrived outside my apartment. When I placed my hand in my handbag, something wet touched my fingers, and I wondered what I had placed in my bag.

Did my bottle of lotion spill out? But it seemed like something with feathers. I pulled it out and instantly dropped it on the floor with a loud scream tumbling out of my mouth. My feet took steps back in horror.

Caysir was right behind me and he rushed forward to see what had me shouting like a crazed woman.

It was most likely a dead rose finch; her eyes had been removed, and crimson blood coated its head, beak and feathers.

"Where did this come from?" He asked, placing my bags down and picking the dead bird carefully into his hands.

"From my bag," I whispered, staring at the bird with wide eyes and something caught my attention.

There was something carved on the poor bird. Caysir tried to shield it with his hands, but I caught a glimpse.

"YOU ARE NEXT."

What? This seemed like another threat and my mind reeled back to the man who had bumped into me at the mall.

Did he slip that poor bird into my bag?

Since the security had been tightened around the office, it seemed like he could no longer sneak past and chose this method.

"Miss Arata, I need to get you inside your apartment and then report this."

All traces of the warm smiles Caysir always carried disappeared as he took the keys from my bag and unlocked the door, ushering me inside.

Fear had grappled at me like liquid ice, numbing my senses and mind.

Who would want me dead?

Was it just a threat or was there someone out there considering it?

Like a robot, I walked up to the wash basin and rubbed my hands clean under the hot water using liquid soap.

My hands shook violently as I removed blood from them.

Quietly I settled down on the lounger and pushed my legs closer to my chest. Caysir thoroughly checked my bag, ensuring there wasn’t any note or something else while he kept asking me if I was doing okay.

I could only nod, too shocked to speak.

A red bird had been chosen because of my red hair?

Was the bird supposed to represent me?

Did this person know my real identity?

Could it be someone I knew?

Could it be Andy?

My brain was bombarded with a million questions as I placed my hands on my mouth and tried not to break down.

Caysir was making calls in the background. I knew it must be Karsten since I had requested no police.

He then brought me a glass of water.

"Please! Drink, it will be fine. We will catch whoever this person is."

Thanking him, I took a few sips and tried not to cry. I felt desperately alone and wasn’t used to such situations. My family was always around when I needed them but this was a very dangerous, very difficult situation for me.

I sat still, pondering over and over who would be trying to hurt me, but nothing came to mind.

’Could it be Azul?’ The voice came from the deep crevices of my mind. ’He is the only one who calls you by a bird’s name.’

An imaginary bird.

A rational person would instantly believe that a masked man could be the one to stalk me and send death threats.

But my heart refused to believe it was him. Plus the man who bumped me in the mall was leaner and shorter in height than Azul.

’He could have hired someone.’ Another thought sprang in my brain and I held my head in my hands and shook it.

No, he was my safe space. He wouldn’t hurt me. If he wanted, he had plenty of opportunities to do that.

’Maybe he likes to play with his victims.’ My disturbed thoughts kept going back to him but my sixth sense refused to consider him the culprit.

They hadn’t found any fingerprints on the note which had been left on my car and I was sure they wouldn’t find any on this bird as well.

Reeling from the turmoil spinning in my head, I closed my eyes to get a moment’s peace when Karsten’s deeply concerned voice reached me.

"Arata!"

Was he here? Or was my mind hallucinating because I felt safe with him.

My head swivelled in the direction of the voice and he was standing just behind me. His rugged face now lined deep with meticulous concern gravelly ingrained into his features.

Without thinking I sprang from my seat and ran to him. His arms opened to receive me, and I launched right into them and hugged him as if he were my lifeline.

Pressing my face into his solid chest, I began to bawl my eyes out, and he just held me there, slowly rubbing my back, trying to console me but never asking me to stop crying.

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