The phone was answered on the third ring. The voice on the other end didn't greet me with a friendly "Hello," but with a low murmur that sounded like ice shifting at the North Pole. Cold, sharp, and enough to make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Still, since I had nothing left to lose except my already-ragged dignity, I steeled myself and went to the address he'd given me.
Vane Tower.
The building stood arrogantly in the elite district, clawing at the sky with dark-glass architecture that seemed to absorb the city lights. I stood in front of the lobby with a box of wilted cacti in my arms, feeling like a cockroach trying to crash a royal ball. The security guard at the front desk didn't even ask any questions when I gave him the name "Caspian Vane." He merely looked at me with pity, as if I were walking toward the gallows, then opened the private elevator to the top floor.
The vibe was seriously bad. The cold in this elevator wasn't just from the AC. There was something else... something oppressive.
When the elevator doors chimed open on the eightieth floor, I was greeted by a penthouse spacious enough to play a game of soccer in. Minimalist and elegant, dominated by black and gray. But what caught my attention wasn't the crystal chandelier. It was the man standing with his back to me in front of the enormous window.
"You're three minutes late," he said without turning around.
His voice was deeper than it had been on the phone. I cleared my throat, trying to get my suddenly awkward heartbeat under control. "Traffic was terrible. And your elevator moves like it's crawling."
The man turned around. And in that instant, I forgot how to breathe.
If there were an award for the "Visual Devil," this man would win it. He had slightly messy jet-black hair, a jaw so sharp it could probably cut glass, and a pair of gray eyes that regarded me as if I were a coffee stain on his expensive carpet. He wore a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing the veins in his arms that were... okay, focus, Avery. Don't get thirsty over a handsome man when you're about to become homeless.
"Avery Thorne?" he asked as he walked closer.
Every step he took made the temperature in the room plummet. I could have sworn I saw a thin mist escape my mouth. "Yeah. I'm the one who called earlier about the listing."
Caspian stopped right in front of me. He was incredibly tall, forcing me to crane my neck until it hurt. He looked me up and down, lingering for quite a while on the box of my belongings and my hair, which had probably turned into a bird's nest in the night wind.
"No," he said curtly.
I blinked. "Huh? No what?"
"You. You can't stay here." He turned away again, as if the conversation were already over. "Get out."
I gaped at him. "Wait! The brochure says $200. I have the money. I don't mind an irritable landlord or loud noises. I need this place. I got fired, dumped, and kicked out all in one day. You can't just say 'no' without giving me a reason!"
Caspian stopped, then turned his head slightly. His gaze was so cold I felt my blood freeze. "The reason is that I don't like having other humans in my space. Especially noisy, messy humans like you. The listing was posted by mistake. Now leave before I call security."
"Messy? You don't even know me!" I yelled, not caring about manners anymore. "I can clean. I can cook. Okay, I can only make instant noodles, but that's beside the point! I need a roof over my head, Your Honorable Mr. Vane!"
"Get out," he hissed. There was a threatening note in his voice that suddenly made the air around us feel heavy, as if the atmospheric pressure had increased tenfold.
I stomped my foot and turned away, my devastation finally reaching its peak. "What an arrogant jerk. Looks like a god, acts like a devil. I can't believe I ever got my hopes up over this insane listing."
I hugged my box tightly, ready to head back to the elevator with tears welling in my eyes. I was at the end of my rope. There was no Plan B. I had nowhere else to go.
CRASH!
A deafening explosion startled me. I spun around on instinct and saw a one-meter-tall antique flower vase beside Caspian shatter into pieces. Caspian hadn't touched it at all. He was standing six feet away from the vase.
Porcelain fragments scattered across the floor. Caspian looked shocked—not because the vase had broken, but because of his own reaction. He stared at his slightly trembling hands, then looked at me warily, as if waiting for me to scream hysterically or run away in fear.
I just stood there in silence. I looked at the remains of the expensive vase, then at Caspian, who looked... shaken beneath his icy mask.
"Wow," I said flatly, without moving an inch. "That was an expensive vase, huh? What a shame. But if you want to know, my day is way more broken than that vase, so even if you blew up this entire room, I wouldn't be surprised."
Caspian froze. He stared at me with furrowed brows, as if I were an alien he'd never seen before. "You're... not afraid?"
"Afraid of what? Broken pottery?" I snorted sarcastically, rubbing my nose, which was starting to itch because I was trying not to cry. "I'm more afraid of sleeping at a bus stop while getting beaten up by thugs than I am of a vase breaking on its own. Besides, this apartment has been weird from the start. Your AC is broken. It's as cold as a freezer in here."
Caspian fell completely silent. He stared at me for a long time, as if weighing something complicated in his head. The heavy pressure in the air slowly faded, replaced by an odd silence.
He let out a long sigh, then pinched the bridge of his nose. "What was your name again?"
"Avery. Avery Thorne."
Caspian glanced at my box once more, then at the shattered vase. "Take the room at the end of the hall on the left. Don't enter my study, don't touch my belongings, and most importantly... don't make me regret this."
I gaped at him. "You mean... I can stay?"
"Before I change my mind in three seconds," he said coldly, then walked away toward his room without looking back. "The floor cleaner is in the cabinet under the kitchen counter. Clean up that vase before you go to sleep."
I stood frozen in the middle of the luxurious room. "Okay, Avery. You're officially living with a man who can destroy things without touching them," I whispered to myself. "But hey, at least there's a heater here. I think."