Wilders City

Chapter 1

They say some cities have a soul.

I never believed that.

Not until I arrived in Wilders City.

The city welcomed me with thousands of lights, the endless sound of traffic, and people who looked like they were always rushing somewhere. No one stopped. No one waited. Everyone had a story, a destination, and secrets they carried silently.

Maybe that was exactly why I chose this place.

Because I needed a city that wouldn't ask questions.

I needed a new beginning.

My apartment was on the twenty-second floor of one of the tallest buildings in the center of the city. It wasn't a massive penthouse, and it wasn't the kind of luxurious place you see in magazines.

But it was mine.

For the first time in a long time, I had a place that belonged only to me.

I left the last box in the middle of the living room and looked around.

White walls.

Huge windows.

The scent of fresh wood and a new beginning.

And most importantly...

the balcony.

I stepped outside, and the city opened itself in front of me.

Below, Wilders City looked like a sea of lights. Cars moved like tiny stars across the streets, distant music drifted through the air, and the skyscrapers reached toward the sky as if they were trying to touch the stars.

I smiled softly.

"Welcome to your new life," I whispered.

Even though I wasn't sure I truly believed those words.

The past didn't disappear just because you changed your address.

Sometimes...

it followed you.

I walked back inside and picked up my phone. There were several missed calls waiting for me.

I ignored them.

I hadn't come here to explain myself.

I had come here to be free.

⸻

My first week in Wilders City passed faster than I expected.

I started my new job, found my favorite coffee shop two blocks away from my building, and learned which streets to avoid during rush hour.

Slowly, I began getting used to the noise.

The people.

The feeling of being just one small person among millions.

But there was something strange.

Or rather...

someone.

Every night when I stepped onto my balcony, I sometimes noticed a light coming from the building across from mine.

Someone was there.

I never saw his face clearly.

Only his silhouette.

A tall man, usually dressed in dark clothes, standing alone while looking over the city as if he knew it better than anyone else.

I didn't know why I noticed him.

Maybe because he looked just as lonely as I felt.

One evening, the wind caught my hair, and I let out a quiet laugh.

For the first time in a long time, I didn't feel like my past was watching me.

I felt like something new was.

I didn't know yet that the man on the balcony across from mine would change my life.

I didn't know his name.

I didn't know what secrets he was hiding.

I didn't know that behind his calm eyes lived a storm.

I only knew one thing.

In Wilders City, nothing happened by accident.

And sometimes the most dangerous people enter your life not to destroy it...

but to reveal the parts of yourself you tried hardest to hide.