Chapter 2: The Man's Name is James

At first, Sophia thought she was mistaken. She rushed to her room, grabbed the photograph, and compared it—there was no doubt, it was the same man!

The actor had that unforgettable charm; he was the kind of handsome that stuck in one’s mind at first glance, but it was his natural elegance that was truly rare. Such qualities were particularly hard to find in modern times.

Sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, Sophia fixed her gaze on the screen, determined not to miss a single moment of his performance. He seemed to play a villain, enigmatic and complex, making it difficult to discern his true intentions. Yet, with just a glance, one could tell whether his actions were good or bad.

However, his appearances in the film were limited. As the credits rolled, Sophia rewound the film, wanting to soak in his face for just a bit longer. Sometimes she even hit pause, her eyes glued to the screen, unwilling to blink as if entranced.

Before she knew it, dawn broke.

Sophia, now sporting dark circles under her eyes, looked at the man on the TV and muttered, "This guy is incredible! How can someone be so good-looking?"

She never expected to spend an entire night staring at a man—especially one who was long gone! If he were alive today, he would likely be an old man by now, wouldn’t he?

As this thought crossed her mind, she paused. Why had she used "if" to describe him? Did she subconsciously believe he was already dead? Or was the body found in the car his?

Suddenly struck by an idea, she rushed to the end credits to see the cast list. As she scanned it, she spotted the words "Special Appearance" followed by a name: James Hayes.

The man’s name was James Hayes.

Her first reaction was to search for him online, but the results were astonishingly sparse. When she entered "James" into the search bar, she found nothing—no information whatsoever, just a jumble of irrelevant results.

Sophia, feeling disbelief, checked the film again, only to discover something even stranger: all of James’s scenes were completely missing from the footage, edited out entirely.

Am I imagining things? Sophia thought, touching her forehead to check for a fever. No, she wasn’t ill. She rushed downstairs and examined the back of the TV, only to find out she was watching a pirated copy.

"Sophia, what are you up to this early in the morning?"

Her father yawned as he passed by, and before he could finish his sentence, she approached him, holding the DVD in question. "Where did you get this DVD?" she demanded.

Her father hesitated, forcing a laugh as he replied, "Uh, a friend gave it to me ages ago. I just put it on to pass the time."

"Didn’t you turn off the TV when you were done watching?" Sophia looked at him skeptically.

"I thought I did," he frowned.

"Let’s put aside your forgetfulness for a moment. Dad, do you know anything about an actor named James from that movie? I searched for him, but found nothing. It's as if someone deliberately erased all information about him."

Her father remained unfazed and calmly replied, "Why are you asking about that?"

Sophia felt a headache coming on. "Dad, you’re the chief! You must know about the case my team is working on?"

"I know about it, but what does that have to do with the actor you’re asking about?" he replied, still not addressing her question directly.

Frustrated and eager to avoid further questions, she recounted what she discovered the previous night. After hearing her, her father simply said, "I don’t know."

Sophia was left speechless. She began to suspect that her father was intentionally trying to find out what she was investigating. This sly old man!

Given the strangeness of the situation, she hurriedly took a shower, skipped breakfast, and drove to the police station to enlist her colleagues' help in investigating.

Unfortunately, her bad luck continued. While waiting at a traffic light, another car rammed into the back of her vehicle!

The collision pushed her car a considerable distance.

Sophia gripped the steering wheel, fuming. Who was the reckless driver that dared to hit a detective’s car?

Just as she was about to unbuckle her seatbelt and exit the vehicle, she caught a glimpse in her rearview mirror that made her frown.

Two large men in black suits had stepped out of the car that hit her. As they got out, they instinctively reached for their waistbands.

Most people wouldn’t understand the implication, but Sophia knew all too well that such a movement suggested they were concealing weapons.

She narrowed her eyes but remained calm. With seven seconds left on the traffic light, she leaned back in her seat, trying to get a clearer look at their faces.

Unfortunately, they were wearing sunglasses, but she noted their characteristics.

As they approached, trying to open her door, Sophia seized the moment, slammed her foot on the gas, and sped away from the curb.

In her rearview mirror, she could see the two men momentarily stunned by her sudden departure before they rushed back to their car to chase after her.

Sophia wasn’t naïve enough to think they had accidentally collided with her car. Given the force of the impact, it was clear they were after her.

With one hand on the wheel, Sophia dialed her colleague responsible for monitoring road conditions, asking them to check the license plate of the car that hit her.

After hanging up, she glanced outside and noticed the car had caught up with her.

The window rolled down, and one of the men made a gesture as if he was about to shoot, signaling her to pull over.

Sophia’s brows furrowed. She was certain they wouldn’t dare shoot; they simply wanted to create trouble for her.

Ignoring their demands, she continued driving, but then they unexpectedly rammed into the side of her car!

With a loud crash, they clearly intended to topple her vehicle.

Sophia tightened her grip on the steering wheel and pressed the accelerator, deftly weaving past the cars in front of her. When it came to racing skills, Sophia was no slouch.

But fate had other plans. As she sped through an intersection, another vehicle came barreling out from the side!

The tremendous impact slammed into her car!

The tires screeched against the pavement, creating a deafening noise as they skidded—

"Damn it!" Sophia exclaimed as the car was jolted sideways.

The airbag deployed, but the force of the collision was so strong that her bag, left unzipped on the passenger seat, spilled its contents everywhere.

Among them was the old photograph, which drifted toward her as the wind caught it.

With a cut on her forehead from the glass, blood trickling down, Sophia struggled to open her eyes and instinctively reached for the photo.

But the moment she grasped it, the photograph turned to ashes in her hands!

Sophia froze in disbelief, but before she could process her shock, she was plunged into darkness...

Uncertain how much time passed, Sophia groggily opened her eyes.

Above her was a white ceiling. She thought she had ended up in the hospital and slowly closed her eyes again.

But familiar voices drifted into her ears, faint and as if they were coming from outside the room.

Furrowing her brows, she opened her eyes again, suddenly realizing something was off! Sophia sat up abruptly, her hands searching her body.

No injuries! No pain!

"How strange. Didn’t I just have a car accident?"

She quickly checked herself. She was still wearing the same outfit from when she left home, and her phone was still in her pocket. The only difference was that she hadn’t had a car accident and was now in a completely unfamiliar place.

Cautiously, Sophia got out of bed and peeked out the window. Outside, it was pitch black—was it already night?

Confused, Sophia wandered into the hallway.

Noticing there were people outside, she quickly ducked back!

Pressing her back against the wall, she held her breath, observing the situation outside.

Just then, she heard the familiar voice ask, "Is that you, Sophia?"

Sophia froze. That voice sounded so familiar.

Thinking hard, she suddenly recalled! It was the voice of the man named James she had spent all night watching!

Cautiously, Sophia peeked out and saw a man in a white shirt sitting on a sofa in a European-style living room, cradling a white cat.

Stunned, Sophia thought, Am I going crazy from thinking about this man? Is this all a dream?