Audiobook-
City to City, Glass to Glamour
Listen free to “City to City, Glass to Glamour,” the opening scene from Silence Called Me — a noir-lit audiobook series from Forging Flames. A lonely man, rainy Kuala Lumpur, and the cost of wanting something real.
You can also read the full story here.
Book Name: Silence Called Me.
Sequence: Chapter 01
Chapter name: City to city, Glass to Glamour
Type: Audiobook and plain text
Present Time
Kuala Lumpur City Centre, Malaysia
Present Times, Kuala Lumpur
The first phone call came like a whisper through fog.
It was July. It was raining.
KLCC lit like a crime scene too clean for prosecution.
I was standing in the living space of my studio apartment, watching the glowing shape of the marvelous skyscrapers through the glass.
They say the Petronas Twin Towers were built for royalty.
But most of the buildings wrapped around them were bought with money that had no flag.
Stolen funds. Black loans siphoned out of a struggling country.
All wrapped up in a neat little ribbon called the Golden Leaf Scheme.
Smart thieves of today’s world don’t crawl through windows or rob armored trucks; they wear tailored suits, sign memorandums, attend embassy galas, and call it “capital flow.”
No — I didn’t steal anything.
Yet I live in one of those Berjaya Times Square studio units.
This is a place left behind by a man who probably stole more than he could count. Some of the units get leased to people like me. Some stay empty—locked, ventilated, full of unused furniture and dried-out potpourri.
And the man who watches over them all is named Masud—from a South Asian country. A man with skin like evening, soul wired for loyalty.
Corruption needs someone spotless to carry the keys.
Masud got me a deal. Said it felt good that a European could treat him like a brother—not like a pike in a blue-collar shirt. And though I’m not the kind of Euro hunk you envy in airports, I guess it patched something in him.
Fair trade.
I’ve been here for a year.
Officially, I’m the Head of Logistics at a Chinese vampire corporation.
Yeah, my title sounds clean. White-collar. Business card slick.
In reality, I help rich criminals move their dirty money into even dirtier deals. Foreign investments wrapped in loopholes.
Shadow companies no one questions. Licenses, permits, low-salary foreign workers. Some parts—even I can’t say them out loud.
Sure, I skim a little off the top. But never without value.
They pay, I deliver. No questions asked. That’s the real service.
All I wanted was stability. When I started, I thought a little extra cash would fix things. Now I have assets, aliases, and a body that doesn’t startle easily.
The next step, inevitably, was women.
And then came the bars.
Warm whiskey. Cold company.
At first, it was mechanical.
“Hi” in the evening. “Bye” the next morning.
Three months max, then out to a new destination.
But Kuala Lumpur slowed me down.
And the hi-bye cycle started to feel empty.
Every girl had a story.
“He was good, but he left.”
“My husband? Gone.”
“I’m just looking for something real.”
They talked. I mixed the drinks.
Later, offered the kind of efforts that gives comfort-through-chaos.
Mornings came. They left.
Booze shaken.
Body count risen.
No guilt. Just rhythm.
But the thrill faded with time.
I stopped feeling the jolt. Started wanting something real.
Not just a night, but someone to come home to.
And that’s when Jenny entered the frame.
Sexy, shaky, and surprisingly single. I was ready to mingle.
It began like the others. Coffee, late-night rides, then the bed.
But Jenny didn’t leave.
She made breakfast. Laid out my clothes.
Asked about dinner. Sent photos of things she liked.
I ordered them.
She got sick. I took her to the doctor.
I let her stay because I didn’t have a reason to say no.
She had a job. Didn’t make much. But she carried herself like she did.
She had pride. Always a red flag. But in small doses, it looked good on her.
She wanted her own place. Saved up and dreamed about it.
I fast-tracked it. Paid the price. And broke the cycle she wasn’t ready to finish.
She changed. Her pride turned into ego.
And mine turned into armor.
That old law again—Never help a moth break its shell. If you do, the wings will never hold.
Jenny became distant. Now she lives alone in her new apartment.
I needed a break. Didn’t want anyone new.
But even steel needs oil.
So I went back to the bars.
But something had changed.
They smiled, but nothing sparked. No glass shattered.
I didn’t want Jenny either.
Her ego. My stubbornness. Two knives pointed at each other.
Other people survive this. They build homes out of worse. So why not me?
Why do relationships die in my hands?
I was staring at the Twin Towers again. Rain crawling down the glass like a gentle scream.
And that’s when the phone rang.
This was a test audiobook to see how the new writing style flows. Keep an eye on my social channels if you’re curious about what’s coming next. And don’t forget to share your thoughts on this audiobook — I’d love to know how this audiobook resonates with you. More audiobook chapters will be coming your way for free, just like this one. Stay tuned!
You’ve just stepped into a chapter from Silence Called Me—a world where control is quiet, illusion is deliberate, and nothing reveals itself all at once.
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