When Cooper saw that familiar side profile, had his wife not been beside him at the time—had he not been so desperate to keep her from realizing what was happening—he might have screamed out in panic right then and there.
Fear.
That gut-deep, all-consuming fear surged through him in an instant. But with his wife right next to him, he didn't even have the luxury of screaming. He had to grit his teeth and swallow the terror that threatened to crush him, forcing himself to act calm and composed. He scanned their surroundings with heightened vigilance while gently coaxing his wife to cut the walk short and head home early.
He desperately hoped he was mistaken. After all, the man had been inside a car, and he'd only caught a fleeting glimpse of his side profile—far from enough to make a definite judgment. But one thing was clear:
If that man really did find him, he'd be finished.
He could accept losing his own life—but he couldn't bear the thought of something happening to his wife and child.
So, using the excuse of "urgent work," Cooper left his wife in the U.K. and returned to the U.S. alone. Though he didn't bring her along, he also made sure she wouldn't remain alone in their rented house. If that was truly one of Faaris's top enforcers, and he had already located their home, then his wife staying there alone would be a disaster waiting to happen.
He arranged for her to move in with a trusted friend and sternly warned her not to go out alone under any circumstances. Even if she had to go out, it had to be with someone they both knew.
In her eyes, this was just her husband being overly protective—something he'd always been. At most, she thought he just seemed a little more intense this time. So, she didn't think much of it.
As for the worry etched faintly on his face, she chalked that up to stress over work. After all, things hadn't been going well for him in recent years. He'd even quit being a film critic to work as a consultant for some obscure company. That much she knew.
To give up a decades-long career as a critic just like that—of course, something must've gone wrong.
That said, she didn't watch much TV, nor was she active online. Other than knowing that years ago, her husband lost a bet to some girl, she wasn't aware of much else.
Cooper's reason for returning this time was clear—and even he found it unbelievable:
He wanted to work with Laila.
If he had any other choice—any harder, riskier, more humiliating path—he would've taken it over this one. But he had no choice. Among all the people he knew, only Laila had both the power and the motivation to go head-to-head with Faaris.
Back then, the only reason he'd cooperated with Faaris was because he believed it was the only way he could fight Laila.
Who would've thought that just a few years later, he'd completely reverse course—and now need Laila to fight Faaris for him?
Talk about the wheel of fate turning—so sharply it was terrifying.
After catching a ride on a friend's private jet returning to the U.S., Cooper managed to sneak back in. He didn't dare fly commercial—he had no idea if Faaris's people were watching the airports, and he wasn't about to gamble his life on it.
What he didn't expect… was that the moment he arrived at the airport parking lot, he saw Laila—surrounded by bodyguards, with her husband and child—getting into a car.
He watched their car disappear onto the road, and a surge of burning resentment flared in his chest, scorching his insides.
Why?
Why did she get to live such a perfect, happy life with her family…
while he had to be separated from his wife and send his child overseas in fear?
Why could Laila Moran fly in on a private jet, striding back into America like a queen, while he had to crawl in like a rat, scurrying through shadows, constantly afraid of being found?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
And the angrier he got, the more determined he became to follow through on his plan.
So, on Laila's first morning back at the company, Demi received a call.
She handled tons of calls every day—some from important people, others from nobodies—and she always responded politely and efficiently. But as Laila's status in Hollywood grew, the company's secretarial team had expanded, and Demi no longer had to personally handle every call related to her boss.
Yet when she saw the caller ID today…
She froze.
She never expected to receive a call from this person.
By all rights, she should be filtering calls like this—her job was to protect her boss's time. If Laila took every single call that came in, she'd never have time for anything else.
But this guy…
For the first time in years, Demi didn't know what to do.
After a brief internal struggle—and with the caller growing increasingly insistent on the other end—she finally did something she hadn't done in a long time:
She knocked on her boss's door for advice.
"Boss," she said, stepping inside.
Laila was flipping through the entertainment section of a newspaper.
Most of the headlines were about her film, and she was carefully keeping track of every subtle shift in public opinion.
"What is it?"
"Mr. Cooper Barnett called. He said he'd like to speak with you directly."
Laila looked at her in confusion. "Barnett? Who's that?"
"..."
Demi's mouth twitched slightly. She couldn't tell if her boss was messing with her or genuinely forgot.
After all, the two had been locked in battle for years.
How could she not remember who that was?
"I mean, Mr. Cooper," she clarified.
"Which Mr. Cooper?"
"That Mr. Cooper."
Now Laila was intrigued. "Alright, put him through. Let's see what he wants to say."
Once Demi notified her that the call was live on line one, Laila picked up the phone.
"Mr. Barnett?"
A deep, slightly gloomy voice came from the other end. "Miss Moran… bet you didn't expect it to be me, did you?"
Of course, Laila recognized the voice. The man had spent years doing TV and radio appearances—she knew it well.
Besides, everyone used to call him Cooper. She had long forgotten that his full name was Cooper Barnett.
"Can't say I expected it, no. So, Mr. Cooper—what can I do for you? Want to share your thoughts on my movie?"
"Heh." Cooper sneered. "That joke wasn't funny, Miss Moran. I haven't worked as a film critic in a long time."
Laila smiled faintly. "Really? I could've sworn you were still pretty active online."
Her words made Cooper's heart skip a beat.
Could she know about the stuff he posted online about her?
She shouldn't. No one else knew it was him. He'd gone out of his way to change up his writing style so that even his tone wouldn't give him away.
Right?