The morning sun filtered through the kitchen windows of the restaurant, but for Sunny, the light felt intrusive.
She stood motionless, her gaze lost in the bustling street outside, her mind a thousand miles away at the bottom of a dark river.
"Hey, is everything alright?" Mariana's voice broke the trance.
She stepped into Sunny's line of sight, her brow furrowed.
"You've been staring out that window for some time now. You're making me worry."
Sunny blinked, forcing a brittle, nervous chuckle.
"Uh, I'm sorry. I just... I get easily distracted lately."
"You want to talk about it?" Mariana pressed gently.
Sunny exhaled a sharp, jagged breath. "I'm fine, really. Just personal stuff."
"Well, if she says she's fine, don't push it," Diego interrupted, sliding a heavy crate across the floor toward them.
He handed a weighted box to Sunny without waiting for a reply.
"Help me get this to the storage room?"
Mariana opened her mouth to object, but Sunny gave a small, weary nod.
She took the box, grateful for the excuse to be alone. Inside the dim, cool storage room, the silence was a weight.
She slumped into a chair, the gravity of their reality finally crushing her.
Melissa had always been their mother hawk—the youngest, yet the fierce protector who stood between them and the world's cruelty.
Now, the nest was empty. Ariana hadn't come home; Sofia was a ghost asking for her 'Papa Bear'; and Audrey was a hollow shell.
Hot tears traced burning paths down Sunny's cheeks.
"All that's left is to plan their funeral," she whispered to the shadows.
The door creaked open. Sunny jumped, frantically scrubbing at her face as Alejandra, the head chef, stepped into the light.
"Um, Chef! I didn't know you were there," Sunny stammered.
"How long... it doesn't matter. I'm heading back to the kitchen."
"What are you doing in here?" Alejandra asked, her sharp eyes narrowing.
"Just dropping this box."
"Why are your eyes swollen?"
"Swollen? Really? It's probably just the dust in here," Sunny lied, dashing past her.
Alejandra watched her go, a frown deepening.
"What is wrong with her? I know I heard her crying."
Across the city at the corporate headquarters, Ariana felt like she was walking through a fever dream.
The previous night was a blurred montage of whiskey and Roberto's home.
Waking up in her boss's house had been agonizingly awkward, and the tension between them was now a physical presence in the office.
"Ariana, where is the coffee I asked for?" Jessica, Roberto's fiancée, snapped. Her voice was like grinding glass.
"I'm so sorry, I honestly forgot. Right away," Ariana replied.
"Is Roberto in?"
"He's in a meeting."
"He's ignoring me on purpose," Jessica hissed.
Ariana's phone vibrated. She answered, but there was only heavy, hollow silence on the other end.
She hung up, her heart racing. Was that Sunny? Or someone else? She ran her fingers through her hair.
She needed to go home. She needed to face Audrey, even if the woman had brought the devil to their doorstep.
Suddenly, Jessica gasped, her eyes glued to her phone.
"No way. Roberto was with another woman last night!" She turned a predatory gaze on Ariana.
"Do you know anything about this?"
Ariana kept her face a mask of professional indifference.
"I don't interfere with Mr. Roberto's personal life. It's best you confront him."
Jessica didn't wait. She stormed into Roberto's office.
"Roberto!" she screamed.
"Jesus, Jessica, stop yelling. This is a company, not a club," Roberto's voice was a low, dangerous warning.
"Who is she? The bitch you took home last night?"
"Watch your mouth," Roberto growled.
"Oh, so it's true?"
"I won't have you talk about her that way," Roberto said, standing up.
"The earlier you read the signs, the better for you."
"After everything I've done for you!"
"What exactly have you done? The only bitch here is you—a gold-digging hoe who thinks I'd fall for your shit."
Jessica sneered, her confidence delusional.
"I'm stuck to you like glue, Roberto. You can't get rid of me."
"You seem to forget who I am," Roberto whispered.
He moved with terrifying speed, his hand lashing out to grip her throat.
He squeezed, his eyes cold.
"I could kill you right here. I could dump your body in a trash bin and make it look like an accident. Do not talk to me in such a way."
A loud crash echoed from the doorway.
Ariana stood there, the tray of coffee shattered at her feet.
Her eyes were wide with horror.
Roberto released Jessica instantly.
The woman slumped to the floor, gasping for air.
"I... I'm sorry," Ariana breathed.
"I knocked, but... I'll go." She scrambled to pick up the shards and fled.
Roberto sat back down.
"Get out," he barked at Jessica.
Under his breath, he cursed. Why do I care what she saw?
Why was I so pissed when Jessica called her a bitch? I need to get my emotions in check.
Ariana managed to avoid Roberto for the rest of the day.
She realized that no amount of alcohol would bring Melissa back. She had to face the wreckage.
When she opened the front door, she found Sunny curled in a chair, her face tear-stained.
Sunny scrambled up and threw her arms around Ariana.
"I was so worried! You didn't come home!"
"I'm sorry. I got drunk... I ended up at my boss's house. I'm safe, Sunny." Ariana looked toward the stairs.
"Where's Audrey?"
"In Melissa's room. She hasn't come out. She's... she's going through a lot, Ariana. Melissa and her husband just died."
Ariana climbed the stairs and knocked softly. "Audrey? It's me. I'm coming in."
She found Audrey perched precariously on the edge of the open window.
"Audrey, come down. It's dangerous," Ariana said.
"You're right, you know," Audrey whispered.
"I only hurt the people I love. I'm cursed with bad luck. I should end my life on the spot."
"If you jump," Ariana said, stepping closer,
"what do you think Sofia will do? She's in the next room. Do you want her to find your body on the floor?"
Audrey's shoulders shook. "I'm trapped. They'll come for me, and I don't want to put you all in danger."
"We'll figure something out," Ariana promised. "We always do."
Audrey looked at her, her eyes hollow.
"Ariana, I'm so sorry. I should never have taken Sofia... I knew she was safer with you..."
"We'll figure something out," Ariana said, her voice anchoring the room. "We always do."
Audrey's grip on the window frame loosened, but her gaze remained distant.
"Ariana, I'm so sorry. I should never have taken Sofia from you guys. When my sister had her... I knew in my heart it was best she stayed with you. But then my family found out. They realized she was still alive."
She let out a jagged breath.
"I thought the only logical thing was to take her, to keep her in my sight to keep her safe. But it turns out she's always been safer with you than she ever was with me."
Ariana leaned against the doorframe, a flicker of the old fire returning to her eyes.
"You could have just told us, Audrey. We would have willingly given her to you if it meant she was protected. You didn't have to sneak into the house like a thief to take her."
Audrey looked down at her hands. "At least I left a note."
"Yeah," Ariana said, a faint, weary smile touching her lips. "A note that said I'll be back soon. Very descriptive."
The tension in the air thinned, just enough for Ariana to bridge the distance.
"Now, get your dumb ass off that window ledge."
Audrey hesitated, then slowly climbed down, her feet hitting the floor with a dull thud.
The frantic energy seemed to leak out of her, replaced by a crushing exhaustion.
She sank onto the edge of Melissa's bed, her shoulders slumped.
"Sofia told me something this morning," Audrey whispered, staring at the empty space in the room.
"She said she saw Papa Bear. She said he was standing outside, waving to her. I suppose she's just... she's still using her imagination. Finding comfort in ghosts."
Ariana went still. The mention of the name felt like a physical blow to her chest.
"I really want to believe her," Audrey continued, her voice cracking.
"I want to believe they're still out there somewhere, breathing the same air we are. I don't want to believe they're truly gone. I know I'm in denial, I know it... but Ariana, how do you explain the concept of 'forever' to a five-year-old? How do you tell her they're both gone?"
Ariana sat beside her, the weight of the bed shifting under them.
She reached out, resting a hand on Audrey's trembling shoulder.
"It isn't going to be easy," she admitted, her own voice thick with the grief she had been trying to outrun all day.
"But we'll get through it. We have to."
Audrey leaned into her, burying her face in Ariana's shoulder as she finally let the tears come.
They sat there in the quiet of the room—a room that still smelled faintly of Melissa's perfume—holding onto each other as the only survivors of a storm that wasn't over yet.
"Come on," Ariana said eventually, pulling back and wiping a stray tear from her own cheek.
"Let's go find Sunny. She's downstairs worrying herself sick about you."
She stood up and held out a hand, waiting for Audrey to take it.
The house was quiet, the shadows were long, but for the first time since the news broke, they weren't facing the dark alone.