The sun was far too high in the sky when Sofia's small, persistent hands shook Audrey awake.
"Baby, why are you doing this so early?" Audrey groaned, burying her face in the pillow.
"Aunty Orange, it's ten o'clock and I'm starving," Sofia announced with the gravity of a natural disaster.
"Where's Aunty Bear?" Audrey asked, refusing to surrender to the daylight.
"She left ages ago. She asked if I wanted her to go back to work and I said yes, so she got dressed and ran out. She said you'd make me breakfast."
Audrey sat up, a spark of irritation lighting her eyes. "Of course she did. Dumping the kitchen duties on me."
"I want waffles," Sofia added.
"Baby Bear, at this rate, you'll be lucky if you get whatever I find in the back of the fridge."
Audrey stretched, the ghosts of her conversation with Ariana from the night before still lingering in her mind.
"Can we go see Mama Bear?" Sofia asked hopefully.
"Of course. We just need to get you fed and dressed."
Breakfast was a silent affair of cereal and cold milk. As they prepared to leave, Sofia ran toward the stairs.
"I'm going to get Mr. Walter!"
"The tiger?" Audrey called out.
"No!" Sofia sounded genuinely offended. "Mr. Dolphin!"
"Oh... the dolphin," Audrey muttered awkwardly, remembering the stolen prize from the beach.
"I'm disappointed in you," Sofia sighed, disappearing into her room.
As Audrey waited, her phone vibrated. She didn't recognize the number, but she knew the prefix.
"Hello?"
"Boss," a woman's voice said.
"Zoey? How did you get this number?"
"I'm your personal assistant," Zoey replied coolly. "Tracking you is literally in my job description. Why are you hiding, Audrey?"
Audrey tightened her grip on the phone.
"I don't know if your memory needs refreshing, but I lost my fiancee. I'm mourning."
"Boss, I understand. But for how long? Derrick is gone. He wouldn't want you sulking like a lost puppy in another country; he'd want you running the empire."
"Zoey," Audrey's voice turned to ice, "I decide the length of my grief. I am your boss, not your best friend. Speak to me like that again and you'll find your paycheck cut in half."
"My apologies, Boss," Zoey retracted instantly.
"Better. Now—"
"Aunty Orange! I'm ready!" Sofia skidded into the room, clutching the giant stuffed dolphin.
"Are you talking to the Black Sniper?"
Audrey froze. "The who?"
"Princess of Pain?" Zoey's voice crackled joyfully over the speaker.
"Black Slipper!" Sofia shouted into the phone.
"How are you doing, Princess?" Zoey asked through the line.
"I miss you, Slipper! I miss your blackberry pie!"
"I'll make it the next time we meet, I promise," Zoey laughed.
"Okay, bye-bye Slipper!" Sofia turned to Audrey. "I forgot my iPad. One more second!"
As the child sprinted away again, Audrey hissed into the phone,
"Black Sniper? Princess of Pain? What kind of nonsense are you feeding her?"
"She saw a headline in a newspaper I was reading once," Zoey explained. "It stuck"
"And 'Princess of Pain' is her favorite anime. She thinks we're secret agents."
"Just keep me updated on the company," Audrey sighed, hanging up as Sofia returned with the iPad.
Across town, Ariana was sitting in a quiet cafe, staring into a cup of black coffee.
She had visited Sunny earlier that morning, intending to quit, but Sunny's quiet resilience had changed her mind.
If Sunny could face a cartel boss every day, Ariana could face Roberto.
She arrived at the office by noon, feeling like she was walking into a lion's den.
"Ariana! Thank God," Carl whispered as she passed his desk.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Why?"
"Mr. Roberto went berserk when you packed your things last night," Carl said, his eyes wide.
"He went into a total rage. He even had security drag Jessica out of the building.
He's been waiting for you since eight AM."
Ariana's heart did a nervous flip. "Really? Why?"
Carl just shrugged, looking terrified.
Ariana knocked gently on the heavy office door. When no one answered, she nudged it open.
Roberto was sitting at his desk, staring at nothing, lost in a dark trance.
"Good afternoon, sir," she said softly.
Roberto jumped as if he'd been struck by lightning. He stood up so abruptly his chair nearly toppled.
He rushed toward her, and Ariana instinctively retreated toward the door.
"You came back," he breathed, looking less like a CEO and more like a lost child who had found his way home.
"I thought you were gone for good after last night."
"It was wrong of me to leave like that..." Ariana began, her practiced speech faltering.
"No," Roberto interrupted,
"I'm the one who should apologize. I don't want you to be scared of me. I don't want you to feel insecure."
Ariana took a breath, trying to reclaim her professional armor.
"Let's just forget it. Let's pretend none of it happened."
"Really?" He looked hopeful, then saw the tension in her shoulders.
"Right. Of course. We'll forget it."
"Have you had lunch?" she asked, shifting back into her role.
"No," he said, his eyes never leaving her face.
The peace lasted until late afternoon.
The office door burst open, and Jessica stormed in, her face twisted with rage.
"Who is she?!" Jessica shrieked.
"Don't scream in here, Jessica. This isn't a club," Roberto said, his voice dropping into a deadly calm.
Jessica slammed a handful of glossy photographs onto the mahogany desk.
"Who is she? The girl you were with last night! I know she's the same one from the other day!"
Roberto picked up a photo. It was a long-lens shot of him on his knees before a woman.
He scanned the rest, his muscles relaxing only when he realized Ariana's face was obscured by shadow and hair.
"Who is she?" Jessica demanded again.
"My fiancee," Roberto said coldly. "I proposed yesterday. She said yes."
"No! No!" Jessica screamed. "You can't! We're supposed to be married in November!"
"Unfortunately for you, the plans have changed."
Jessica let out a sound of pure horror.
"I will find her. And when I do, I will wipe her existence off the face of the earth!"
"I'd love to see you try," Roberto smiled, a predatory victory in his eyes.
Jessica stormed out, nearly knocking Ariana over in the hallway. Ariana stepped into the office, trembling.
"Mr. Roberto, I heard screaming... I—"
She froze. The pictures were scattered across the desk. Images of her, of them, in the street.
"Ariana, relax," Roberto said, moving to block her view of the photos.
"How did she find these?" Ariana whispered. "She's going to kill me."
"We were followed by paparazzi," Roberto admitted.
"But look at them—your face isn't visible. She has no idea it's you."
"But if she finds out... she said she'd wipe me out."
Roberto stepped into her personal space, his voice dropping to a protective growl.
"I will protect you no matter what. I am the reason you're in this mess, and I will not let you get hurt. Anyone who tries to touch you will regret the day they were born. I promise you."
Ariana looked into his eyes, seeing a terrifying blend of obsession and sincerity.
"It's late," he offered softly. "Let me drop you off."
"No," Ariana said, finding her voice. "I can manage on my own."