THE HIDDEN HAND

Chapter 2

Richard Nelson watched as Emily stood there, startled and faintly embarrassed, not yet having found the chance to leave.

Then he smiled.

It was a smile meant for his younger sister — charming, warm, flawlessly practiced.

Mina Nelson felt a chill run down her spine the moment she saw it.

Emily Lewis, however, knew nothing of the truth. She simply assumed that, since Mina had introduced him as her older brother, he must be family — nothing more.

“Miss Lewis,”

Mina said, quickly recovering from her surprise.

“This is my older brother. Richard, this is Miss Lewis, my piano teacher.”

“Miss Lewis.”

Richard’s voice was low and smooth.

“I’m Mina’s brother, Richard Nelson.”

He extended his hand with perfect ease, as if he had merely been waiting for Mina to introduce him before taking control of the situation.

Mina stood beside him, staring.

Since when did her brother behave like this?

Emily politely took his hand.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Nelson. I’m Emily Lewis.”

She hesitated for a moment, studying his face.

“But… you look a lot like the singer Richard.”

Emily did not usually pay much attention to entertainment news. Still, it was difficult not to recognize him. Recently, almost every headline and social media feed seemed to feature the same young idol — Richard, the rising star, the heartthrob worshiped by countless fans.

Their handshake was brief and proper.

Yet Richard felt it.

The warmth of her palm.

Soft. Real. Alive.

Something in his eyes darkened almost imperceptibly.

She knew him.

Was she one of his fans?

Mina quickly chimed in.

“Miss Lewis, you guessed right. My brother is the Richard — the idol everyone’s obsessed with right now. He has a huge fanbase, you know. He just rarely comes home.”

Richard turned to Mina, his smile still gentle.

“I’ll come home more often to visit you and Mom, all right?”

Because Emily was there, he wanted to leave a good impression. Every word, every expression, even the warmth in his gaze had been carefully arranged.

Mina, however, nearly fainted on the spot.

Was he… smiling?

And had he just patted her head?

Was this still the same brother who could make her run back to her room crying with a single cold sentence?

Emily glanced at the time and picked up her handbag.

“It’s getting late. I should go now.”

She gave them both a polite smile.

“Goodbye, Mr. Nelson. Goodbye, Mina.”

Then she left.

Richard watched her retreating figure, his gaze lingering on her with an intensity that was far too quiet to be harmless.

Gentle.

Pure.

Untouched by the filth of his world.

Beside him, Mina kept muttering in confusion, still unable to accept what she had just witnessed.

Richard’s expression cooled the moment Emily disappeared from sight.

“Go downstairs for dinner.”

His voice returned to its usual coldness.

Then he turned and walked down the stairs, leaving Mina standing there in complete bewilderment.

This was the brother she was familiar with — cold, impatient, emotionally unreachable.

Not the warm, considerate man who had smiled so tenderly a moment ago.

That version of him had been nothing but a mask.

And Richard had worn it for Emily Lewis.

Emily Lewis.

Mina’s piano teacher.

Her image lingered in Richard’s mind like a melody that refused to fade.

There had been nothing extravagant about her. No expensive jewelry. No calculated glamour. No desperate attempt to be noticed.

And yet, that simplicity had drawn his gaze more powerfully than any dazzling woman he had ever met.

She was soft, but not weak.

Quiet, but not dull.

Gentle, yet alive with a warmth that made something dark and restless inside him stir.

He wanted to get closer.

He wanted to know her.

He wanted to touch that gentleness and see if it was as real as it appeared.

But beneath that curiosity, something far more dangerous had already begun to take shape.

A voice whispered from the darkest part of him.

“Emily will belong to me.”

That night, Richard stood before the floor-to-ceiling window of his private study, the city lights glittering beneath him like fallen stars.

His face was calm, almost indifferent, when he made the call.

“Find someone for me.”

The person on the other end immediately became alert.

Richard’s gaze remained fixed on the night beyond the glass.

“Emily Lewis. Mina’s piano teacher.”

His tone was quiet.

Too quiet.

“Everything. I want to know everything about her.”

He ended the call without waiting for a response.

Although they had only just met, Richard could already feel something strange forming between them — or perhaps it was something he had created in his own mind, something twisted and beautiful that only he could see.

It did not matter.

He had noticed her.

And once Richard Nelson noticed something, he did not let it go.

No one would stand in his way.

No person. No circumstance. No inconvenient truth.

Emily Lewis had no idea that her peaceful life was about to be overturned.

She did not know that the man who had smiled at her so politely was not an angel at all.

He was a storm dressed in light.

A beautiful ruin waiting to happen.

And from the moment he heard her play, he had already decided she was his.