The Silent Hunt

> “She’s somewhere in Venice,” Rayaan said.

Zohaib didn’t flinch.

His eyes lingered on the satellite image, zooming into a shadowed corner of Cannaregio.

“Let her breathe,” he murmured. “Let her think she’s safe. I want her to feel it… before I take it away.”

...----------------...

The First Face-Off

> “You call this protection?” Amber hissed, her back against the cold stone wall of a Venetian alley.

Zohaib stepped closer, eyes dark, rain dripping from his coat.

“No,” he said softly, “I call it mercy. And it ends tonight.”

...----------------...

When Obsession Looks Like Love

> Her hands shook as she typed. One wrong click, and she’d vanish again.

But then she felt it—the warmth of a palm on her wrist.

“Run,” Zohaib whispered against her ear, “and I’ll find you blindfolded.”

His voice was ice.

His touch, fire.

**how's the story tell me this is my first experien**ce

***introduction***:

*Amber Ray

Age: 23

Role: Underground hacker, the hunted

Currently: Living under a fake name in Cannaregio, Venice

Personality: Fierce, guarded, intelligent, emotionally bruised

Backstory:

Amber has been running for months. After stealing a mysterious line of code from Khan Global Tech, she disappeared from Dubai and resurfaced in Italy. But she wasn’t just any hacker—she cracked something that never should’ve existed.

Now she hides behind firewalls and Venetian masks, pretending to be someone she’s not.

But secrets don’t drown in Venice. They float.

And hers has already been found.

...****...

*Zohaib Khan

Age: 29

Role: Ruthless CEO, silent protector, obsessive pursuer

Currently: Staying at Hotel Danieli, watching Venice like a chessboard

Personality: Cold, calculating, obsessive—but dangerously soft toward her

Backstory:

Owner of Khan Global Tech. He has no tolerance for betrayal. What Amber took wasn’t just code—it was his weapon, his secret, and his pride.

He should’ve erased her.

But instead, he protected her from the people who would’ve done worse.

Now he wants her close—not to forgive, not to forget… but to make her his.

...*****...

*Nico Varella

Age: 36

Role: Personal bodyguard, Zohaib’s shadow

Background: Ex-Italian military. Works silently and efficiently. Knows Zohaib’s darkest habits but stays loyal—for now.

Location: Always nearby, blending in

Arc: May begin to question Zohaib’s obsession and feel sympathy for Amber

...***...

*Rayaan Qureshi

Age: 25

Role: Lead tech analyst, Zohaib’s unofficial right hand

Background: Cold, introverted genius. Brilliant with code, silent with emotions.

Location: Splits time between Zohaib’s command center and a temporary Venice base

Arc: Has a hidden connection to Mira (Amber’s hacker friend). His loyalty is fragile—and expensive.

...***...

*Junaid Mirza

Age: 32

Role: Zohaib’s mafia business link in Dubai

Background: On the surface, a clean investor. Behind closed doors, a power-hungry manipulator.

Location: Introduced midway, possibly arriving in Venice to "help"

Arc: Wants Zohaib to eliminate Amber and focus on power—not emotion.

...***...

*Elena Rossi

Age: 62

Role: Landlady of Amber’s rented flat in Cannaregio

Background: Sweet, widowed, owns a bookshop. Doesn’t know Amber’s past.

Location: Venice local, represents the "normal" life Amber pretends to live

Arc: May become collateral damage in the game between Zohaib and Amber

...***...

*Mira (alias: XGhost)

Age: 24

Role: Amber’s online hacker friend

Background: Mysterious, sarcastic, unpredictable. May be connected to Rayaan.

Location: Remote, but always a few clicks away

Arc: Might betray Amber—or sacrifice everything to help her escape

...***...

*Aliyan Rehman (Flashback only)

Age: 24

Role: Amber’s ex-boyfriend

Background: She trusted him. He sold her code. He’s why she doesn’t trust anyone anymore.

Location: Only appears in memories

Arc: Sets the foundation for Amber’s emotional walls

She ducked into the stairwell of her small flat, fingers brushing the chipped stone railing as she climbed. The building smelled of old books and sea salt. The kind of scent that lingered in Venice long after the tourists left.

Upstairs, behind a rusted door, was the life she had stitched together—quiet, fake, temporary. A name that wasn’t hers. A passport Mira had hacked into the system. A burner phone, always off unless it rang once—just once—from a number that didn’t exist.

She bolted the door, triple locked it, then sank into the chair beside the window. From here, she could see the glimmer of the Grand Canal through the cracks between buildings.

Beautiful.

Deceptive.

Just like him.

Zohaib Khan wasn’t the kind of man people ran from. Not twice.

Amber pulled out her laptop. It wasn’t connected to anything. Just a mirror—watching the watchers. She ran the loop Mira had programmed. Clean. No trace. No bugs.

Still, her fingers hovered.

He was close. She could feel it.

And worse, part of her wasn’t sure she wanted him far.

A soft knock jolted her upright.

Three knocks. Pause. One knock. Elena.

Amber opened the door a crack. The old landlady smiled, holding out a plate of fresh lemon cookies.

“You didn’t come down today,” Elena said gently. “The rain’s bad, I know. But you shouldn’t hide all day.”

Amber nodded. “Grazie.”

“You remind me of someone,” the woman added, studying her face. “Someone who left too soon.”

Amber forced a smile. “I don’t plan on staying long either.”

Elena’s smile faltered, but she said nothing more.

As soon as the door closed, Amber exhaled.

Even kindness felt dangerous now.

......................

Across the city, from the top floor of the Hotel Danieli, Zohaib Khan stood with his hands in his pockets, staring across the water.

Rayaan appeared beside him, tablet in hand.

“She changed her routine,” Rayaan said. “She’s getting smarter.”

“She’s always been smart,” Zohaib murmured. “That’s what makes her dangerous.”

He watched the fog drift over the rooftops.

“She thinks she’s safe,” he added. “Let her believe it.”

Rayaan hesitated. “And when you’re ready?”

Zohaib’s lips twitched. Not a smile. A calculation.

“When I’m ready... she’ll open the door, and I’ll already be inside.”

......................

She stood at the window long after Elena left, the lemon cookie untouched in her hand.

Somewhere below, a violin played—soft, aching notes echoing off the damp stone. The sound drifted through the alley like a memory. Venice had a way of making everything feel ghostly, like you were walking through the past wearing someone else's name.

Amber knew better than to feel safe. Safety was always the first illusion.

She powered on the second device—an old black phone, modified, encrypted. No SIM card. One signal only. If it rang once, it meant Mira had something urgent.

It didn’t ring.

But the silence was louder than any warning.

She opened her drawer and stared at the flash drive. Small. Plain. The reason everything fell apart. It had been copied—of course. She was careful. But this... this was the original.

Whatever was on it, Zohaib wanted it back.

He didn’t want police. Didn’t send threats. He didn’t try to silence her.

He just started watching. Quietly. Unshakeable.

He was the kind of man who played chess while the world panicked. And somewhere in the shadows of Venice, his next move was already in play.

Amber tucked the flash drive back under the floorboard.

Tonight, she’d sleep with one eye open again.

---

Somewhere in the heart of the city, under the pale glow of a crumbling lantern, Nico Varella leaned against a column, cigarette burning low in his hand. His eyes were on the third floor window across the canal—just briefly lit before going dark.

“She’s still up,” he said into the comm. “Alone. Quiet.”

Zohaib’s voice came through the earpiece, calm and cold. “She won’t be alone for long.”

Nico raised a brow. “So we’re done waiting?”

“Not yet,” Zohaib said. “She hasn’t broken.”

There was silence on the line. Then, “But she will.”

---

Back in her flat, Amber laid on her bed without sleeping. Her eyes traced the cracks on the ceiling.

She hated the feeling creeping into her chest—not fear.

Familiarity.

It wasn’t just that he was getting closer. It was that... she remembered what it felt like when he looked at her—not with rage, but with something worse.

Possession.

And something even worse than that.

Care.

The kind of care that felt like drowning.

And she wasn’t sure she had the strength to float this time.

The floor-to-ceiling windows of the Hotel Danieli suite offered an uninterrupted view of the Grand Canal, but Zohaib Khan wasn’t interested in the scenery.

He stood at the far end of the room, dressed in sharp black, hands clasped behind his back. The storm outside was thinning now, moonlight starting to seep through the clouds like silver smoke.

Behind him, Rayaan sat on the couch, his fingers moving across a touchscreen tablet. Code scrolled in green across black.

“Three lines,” Rayaan said. “That’s all she took. But it was enough.”

Zohaib turned his head slightly. “What did she see?”

“Not everything,” Rayaan replied. “But enough to understand what it was.”

Zohaib’s jaw tightened.

He wasn’t worried about law enforcement. The code was off-grid—so far off, not even international cybercrime units could trace it. But Amber hadn’t just seen it. She had understood it. Decrypted a line that even his own systems couldn’t auto-read. That changed things.

“She’s not just hiding,” Zohaib said softly. “She’s calculating. Preparing.”

Rayaan paused. “Should we force her hand?”

Zohaib gave him a long look. “No. She still doesn’t know the full value of what she stole. The moment she does... they’ll come for her too.”

Rayaan nodded once, understanding. “And you?”

Zohaib’s voice was steady. “I’ll get to her first.”

In Cannaregio, Amber’s morning began with fog.

Venice was always quiet early, but this kind of silence felt different—like the city itself was holding its breath. She sipped bitter black coffee at the corner café, a worn scarf wrapped around her head, her face half hidden behind dark glasses.

She didn’t notice the man watching her from the gondola dock.

But Nico did.

He sat across the canal on a bench, pretending to feed pigeons, eyes hidden behind mirrored sunglasses. He didn’t need to follow her today—her routine was mapped down to the second. He was only here for one reason: to report if she broke it.

She didn’t.

Amber paid in cash, left the café, and disappeared back into the maze of alleys. She never used the same route twice. Never stayed in one square for more than ten minutes. Smart. Trained. Paranoid. Everything Zohaib liked in a person—and everything that made her dangerous.

Back in her apartment, Amber connected to a hidden signal Mira had rerouted through three countries. The message she received was short:

> XGhost: They’re close. You’ve got 72 hours max.

Burn everything or come out swinging.

Amber’s fingers hovered over the keyboard.

She wasn’t ready to run again.

And deep down, a part of her was tired of it.

Instead, she reached under the floorboard and pulled out the flash drive again. This time, she plugged it in.

The screen flickered.

One encrypted file. No name. No extension.

She cracked the first layer of code—then stopped cold.

It wasn’t just tech. It was personal.

Names. Coordinates. Transactions.

And a project title she recognized from years ago—buried in whispers and warnings.

> Project Nyx.

Her stomach twisted.

She hadn’t just stolen from Zohaib.

She’d stolen something the world was never meant to see.

And suddenly... running didn’t feel like survival anymore.

It felt like surrender.

Far across the city, Zohaib’s phone buzzed once.

Nico’s voice came through, calm but edged.

“She accessed the drive.”

Zohaib’s expression didn’t change. “Then the game has started.”