Secret & Lies (the forsaken #1) [WangXian FF]

1

"And cut! It's a wrap!"
The director shouted from behind the camera, and everyone was suddenly buzzing like bees.
"That was perfect, Lan-laoshi." The director gave Lan Wangji praise for successfully completing his last scene in one smooth take.

"You are too kind, Gu-laoshi, it's all because of your hard work, and all the crews for this production." Lan Wangji took the bottle of warm water that his assistant gave him and drank from it before giving it back to his assistant, who in turn gave him a towel to wipe his sweat.
"Well, anyway, I will be waiting for our next collaboration." Director Gu patted Lan Wangji's back and left to check the finished shoots.

He was checking his phone for messages and any important calls, and he was in the middle of replying to a very important message when he heard the sound of someone approaching him.

"Wangji, we've finished for today, do you want to go out with the crew members to celebrate?" Qin Su, the lead actress from the movie, Lan Wangji's character's love interest, came over and tried to coax him to go with her. After all, she liked him in real life. 

Who wouldn't?

Handsome, rich, best actor of the year, and the most eligible bachelor in town. Unfortunately, he never fraternized with his co-star. Or anyone. He's a model workaholic who lived only for his works.

"I'm sorry, Qin-laoshi, I have another meeting to take after this, but you go ahead with everyone, tell them bill's on me." Lan Wangji smoothly slid Qin Su's hand off his and signaled his assistant to call his car.

Lan Jingyi, Lan Wangji's assistant and nephew since the first time he entered showbiz, understood and took Lan Wangji's stuff and walked behind his uncle.
What Lan Wangji did not see was the dark look on Qin Su's face after he smoothly rejected her advances.

"She won't give up, you know." Lan Jingyi told Lan Wangji after they were buckled up inside the car and it moved forward.

"Let her. I don't have any energy left to deal with… stuff."
Lan Wangji was bone tired from all the schedule he had, but he loved it. He was never one to be idle for one minute, jumping from one project to another without any time to breathe, sometimes Lan Jingyi wondered if his uncle was an android instead of a human being
The drive to his apartment took more than an hour and Lan Wangji was half asleep in the car when they arrived.
"We're here, uncle."
Lan Wangji forcefully opened his eyes and groaned out loud before getting out of his car.
"Thanks, Jingyi, please don't disturb me tomorrow unless you have something urgent."
"Aye aye boss, please take a rest, you earned it."

Lan Wangji waved Jingyi off and got inside the private elevator to his penthouse apartment, trying hard to fend off sleep before he got inside his safe place. He put in the door code and got inside his apartment, and took off his dirty clothes and decided to take a hot shower before going to bed.

He went out of the shower with his long black hair wet and only wearing a towel on his lower body when he collapsed on his king size bed and he fell asleep in three seconds.

He woke up sometimes after midnight with all his senses in high alert.

There was someone in his apartment.

He walked out of his bedroom stealthily, stopping by the kitchen to take the parry knife out of his expensive knife sets, and moved to the living room. There, he stood still, trying to sense something, anything, when a dark shadow pounced him onto the plush sofa and disarmed him from his knife. But he would not give up that easily, and his instinct took over when he kicked the unidentified attacker in the stomach.

He heard a soft grunt and as soon as the fight started, it ended as quickly with his arms behind his back and he felt the pressure of a knee on his waist.
He tried to headbutt the opponent but he was slammed down and he felt the pressure of the strong arm behind his neck.
"Stop struggling or I'll break your neck."
The voice was cold, it chilled his bone.

He stopped struggling.

"What do you want?" Lan Wangji's voice was muffled by the pillow, but the attacker seemed to hear him.
"Nothing. Be a good boy and forget that anyone has been here, or I'll kill you."
That's strange.
"Fine."
"I will let go in three, don't look back until you count to twenty."
"Fine."
"You can press your panic button after I leave."
"Fine."
Lan Wangji felt the pressure lessened and he counted to five before he looked back to catch the last glimpse of the mysterious figure disappearing from his balcony.

Down? Too far. Up.

He tried to get up but realized that his right hand was restrained by handcuffs to the heavy table. He cursed out loud and tried to move the table without much success. 
Then he remembered that he left the tie pin he wore from the shoot on the table along with the keys and phone. He took the phone and noticed it was dead and threw it against the wall. Finally he found the tie pin and picked the handcuffs just like when he learnt from his role as a master thief a few years back. 

It took him a few tries before he loosened the handcuffs and ran out of his apartment toward the fire escape and skipped the stairs two at a time toward the rooftop.  
He banged open the rooftop access door just in time as the stranger flew away in his hang glider toward the bustling city.

And he had the audacity to give Lan Wangji a mocking salute.

Lan Wangji went back to his apartment with a very dark mood. But most of it, curiosity.

How did the stranger enter his high security penthouse?
What did he want?

He looked for his phone and found it near the wall where he threw it previously. He took it, and suddenly his eyes fell on a strange tiny black object behind the high cupboard. It was hidden so well he would not even notice it if he didn't look for his phone.

Carefully he took the object and looked at it.

It was a listening device.

A very sensitive one.

And it was actually a part of a bigger, high powered listening device that could listen to a pin drop across the wall.

Across the wall.

Did the man actually spy on his neighbour?