Chapter 70: Where Morning Found Them
It was dawn when Micah finally left his hotel room. The hallways were dimly lit and unnaturally quiet. His sneakers made barely a sound as he paused at the corner, peeking carefully down both sides of the corridor before stepping into the elevator.
After confirming Leo was just asleep and there were no lingering threats, Micah decided it was finally safe to leave. His body felt as if it were made of stone, every step dragging heavier than the last, exhaustion pulling at him.
The hotel lobby was nearly deserted except for a few red-eyed staff members. Outside the main doors, the paparazzi were scattered like fallen soldiers, half slumped against their equipment, snoring softly or rubbing sleep from their eyes.
Micah tugged his cap lower over his silver hair, shadowing his freckled nose, and slipped through a side exit the hotel discreetly opened for the guests. The security guard at the door gave him a barely look, not even bothering to check him twice.
The scandal that had erupted like a wildfire the night before had lost some of its heat. With the three people involved, Leo’s manager being dragged to the police station and the actress and her manager sent to the hospital for a check-up, the crowd had thinned. Still, a few stubborn paparazzi lingered, gossiping in hushed tones, ready to pounce at the slight hint of movement.
Even though they knew the movie production team had left the hotel, and the scene was closed off by police for further investigation, a few paparazzi remained, hoping to catch sight of Leo. Of course, the public was still buzzing with speculations about where Leo was.
But to them, Micah was just another irrelevant young man. No cameras flashed. No questions were asked.
Micah lowered his cap and slid into the backseat of a waiting taxi.
As the cab pulled away from the chaos, Micah let his head fall back against the seat. His eyes flickered for a second. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had felt this tired.
"Where to, Sir?" the driver asked, glancing at him through the mirror.
Micah mumbled his hotel’s name and closed his eyes completely.