The Faces I Created For You TXT Hueningkai fan fic

Chapter 3: The new neighbor

I lingered outside again, standing in the shadow of the streetlight, watching her from a distance as I always did before I picked her up. Some might call it strange, even obsessive, to keep an eye on her like this, especially now that she was my girlfriend. But they didn't understand. My Y/N was so scarred by her past that she struggled to speak up when something was wrong. She kept her pain hidden, afraid to burden me with her troubles. She couldn't see that her problems were mine, that I'd solve them all without hesitation.

My pretty little fool, why couldn't you see? I'd do anything to protect you.

I walked "with her" to work every day, trailing a few steps behind, keeping my distance, making sure she never knew I was there. I watched out for people like Jade, the coworker who always seemed a bit too careless, who might slip and cause some accidental harm. I stayed for an hour after she clocked in, standing in the shadows, scanning every person that passed by, every detail, making sure nothing would disturb her world. Only then did I leave for my own work.

My real job was running my father's business-a legacy I once loathed, yet had come to accept. It made too much money to let go, no matter how tainted it was. The dirty side of his empire, though, I sold off to an old "friend" of his. I thought that chapter was closed forever. Yet fate has a way of circling back, and soon enough, I found myself involved again, but this time, I was a customer.

To Y/N, I was a bartender and I was simply working on a new project-a security app that promised to make the world a safer place. It was doing well enough that if I had told her that's where all my wealth came from she would believe me. The app would let users scan profile pictures from social media to detect any criminal history, exposing predators hiding in plain sight. It also functioned as a neighborhood watch, allowing people to share photos of suspicious activity in their area for officials to review. It was a step toward something better, a sense of control and safety that I craved after all the chaos my father had dragged me through.

The irony wasn't lost on me. I had fought against his world of lies and darkness, yet here I was, wrapped up in it. My father's shadow had already seeped into every part of my life, whether I liked it or not.

Y/N had no idea how well off I truly was. I kept that part of my life hidden from her, locked away behind a façade I carefully constructed. It wasn't hard to figure out what she wanted, not after I had spent months watching her, learning her every habit and listening to her conversations long before we ever met. I knew exactly what kind of guy she liked, the kind of guy she thought she could fall for.

I used to scoff whenever I heard her talk about it with her friends-how much she hated rich men, always describing them as arrogant, entitled, and cruel. And the truth was, I couldn't disagree. I knew that world all too well, the way wealth twisted people into something ugly, made them think they could treat everyone like dirt because money made them untouchable. I used to be like that-a product of a world that revolved around status and greed, where your net worth dictated the worth of your soul.

But I didn't want to be that guy for her. She needed someone different, someone far removed from the life I actually lived. Her second "requirement" for an ideal partner was a man who didn't smoke. It took some time, but I crushed that habit under the weight of my obsession with her, letting the craving fade into nothing as I devoted my focus to watching over her.

I reshaped myself to fit the mold she had unconsciously crafted, changing everything from the way I spoke-never letting a curse slip out in her presence-to the things I enjoyed. If she liked a certain kind of movie, then it became my favorite genre. If she hated a particular dish, I wouldn't touch it. I matched my clothing to what I knew she found attractive, redefined my tastes to align perfectly with hers. Every little thing, down to the smallest details, I altered to make sure I was the man she wanted, the man she deserved.