"Do you want to accompany Desmond?" Lucy asked Zaria when she learnt about Desmond's business trip.

"It's alright. I can't always compromise work just to be with him. It's not like he isn't coming back." Zaria placed the files on Lucy's desk and retreated two steps.

Lucy crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. "Good. I wasn't planning to give you the time off anyway."

Zaria was rendered speechless by her reaction. If she was not planning to give her a day off, then why did she ask?

Lucy smiled at her expression. Not wanting to completely ruin her daughter's fun, she took the files and started looking through them. "When you are done, you can go to see him off at the airport. I don't want you to think that your mother is too heartless to let you see your boyfriend."

"But the meeting…" Zaria hesitated. It wasn't because she didn't want to go, but because she didn't want to look too excited about it.

"I can handle it. Everything has been prepared after all." Lucy smiled. "Just don't forget about me, okay? You must be sure to get back within two hours."

She had planned to go for an hour but since she had an extra hour, she was happier. "Thanks mom!"

"Of course, it comes at a cost." Lucy grinned, making Zaria freeze and look at her Questioningly. She chuckled. "Don't look at me like I'm bullying you. Bring me back lunch from Blacklight. If Norman still owns the place, you should get two servings."

Zaria was surprised that her mother knew about Blacklight too. Also, two servings?

She pretended not to find it odd. "Two servings of what?" She asked.

"His special well-made steak. Have him top it with strawberry essence." Lucy instructed.

"Uh… what?" Zaria was puzzled, but she gave no comment about it and finished up her work before going to see Desmond off.

"See you in a week, my love." She kissed his lips at the private airstrip.

"I will miss you. I wish I could go with you." He groaned at the unfairness of the situation.

"At least the trip isn't going to be that long." She consoled him.

He had to admit that one week would fly by before he knew it, but "One second without you feels like forever. My love, are you sure I will come back alive?"

"Of course. Go now." She pushed him towards the plane. If he didn't go now, she might be tempted to cling onto him and hop onto the plane to accompany him.

"How heartless." He complained.

"I'm not heartless. Where is Zeus anyway?" She had not seen him and she hoped he was not going to cause mischief by backing out at the last minute.

"He insisted on going on his own. We will meet in Russia." He patted her head. "That's okay with me. I would rather have my girlfriend beside me on the plane anyway."

"That's enough. You will be late." She urged him towards the plane. It was not a walk in the park to finally get him to leave, one would think he was going for a year.

____

Blacklight.

"There you are! I thought you had forgotten all about me." Norman lamented when he saw her.

"How could I ever forget you?" She cheerfully greeted the middle-aged man who was on the verge of exploding in excitement.

"What would you like to eat? I'll give you blueberry muffins as a bonus." Norman smiled happily.

"Thank you!" His enthusiasm caught her off guard. "I would like two servings of well-done steak with strawberry essence topping."

Norman looked shocked for an instant.

"She is back!" He exclaimed.

"Who?" Zaria was confused.

Norman hurriedly prepared the order and returned with a cheerful smile as he gave the take away bag to her. "Theodore's love. I knew she was your mom."

"Huh?" She was even more confused. She had merely ordered some food. How was it suddenly related to her father's love?

"I've met very few people who like eating this combination and one of them looks a lot like you. I always suspected that you are related, especially since just like her, Theodore brings you here often." Norman knew that she didn't understand, so he leaned over to whisper to her. "Soon after I opened this diner, a scandal broke out between one of my waitresses and a patron. I can't explain too much but it is through that scandal that your parents first met. They often came here for meals after that." Norman looked more cheerful than the involved parties would be.

Although she was curious, Norman had to go back to work so she couldn't ask too much. She could only rush back to the company.

The sight that greeted her eyes was groups of employees gathered along the hallways, gossiping.

"What's going on?" She asked three young women who were holding a newspaper.

"It seems like the heiress of the Qin family went missing." One of the young women responded, much to her shock.

"Laia Qin?" She asked.

"Yes. How unfortunate." The young woman lamented. "Bad things always happen to good people. But who is to blame? Her mother, Shera Qin, is said to have more enemies than the strands of her hair. It is unfortunate that they targeted an innocent child."

Zaria had an odd feeling about the news.

Her phone rang. It was Natalie, who asked her whether she had plans for the evening and if they could go out.

Meanwhile, in Lucy's office.

"Your intuition was right, mother." Zeus said over the phone.

She crushed the newspaper on her desk and dumped it in the paper bin. "Just do what you should."

The door opened, forcing her to hang up.

"I knocked and…" Zaria awkwardly tried to explain that Lucy didn't hear her knock.

"It's alright." Lucy sat back down. "Have you seen your boyfriend off?"

Zaria nodded and handed over the take away bag. "Your phone call…" She couldn't help being curious.

"It was Natalie Sparks. She is ready to meet us." Lucy smiled and checked the content of the bag.

Zaria's eyebrows raised slightly. She was certain that the person Lucy was speaking to couldn't be Natalie. She was speaking to Natalie on the phone just a second ago, and hung up when she was at the door. It was barely enough time for Natalie to dial another call, much less inform Lucy about their meeting.

It was uncertain why Lucy was lying but it didn't matter. It was not necessarily part of her business so she let it drop.

"When are we meeting her?"

"Tomorrow in the morning." Lucy secretly sighed in relief when she didn't get exposed. She was not doing anything wrong but she wasn't ready to explain her plan to her daughter either. At least not yet.

Zaria smiled. "Okay. I will get the proposal ready."

"This is for you." Lucy gave her one disposable food box.

"Thank you." She accepted the dish and turned to leave.

"Zaria," Lucy called her. When she turned, she warned, "Be careful, okay?"

"Is this related to the disappearance of Laia Qin?" Zaria pondered, since Lucy was warning her so solemnly just a few minutes after she heard the gossip. When Lucy nodded in agreement, she was puzzled. "But what's it got to do with me?"

"Nothing except the fact that she disappeared on the day of Amanda's wedding banquet." Lucy revealed to Zaria's surprise. It turned out that the Qins had kept it a secret and planned to find their daughter on their own. No matter why they suddenly let the news spread, Zaria had to be careful. "The Qins are still suspicious of you. They might have their eyes on you. Just don't do anything that might be suspicious in the slightest bit. I'm talking about investigating them or something of the sort. It might draw their attention to you even though you have nothing to do with it."

Zaria frowned. She was certain that she didn't know anything about the child's disappearance until a moment ago, but Lucy had a point. She nodded. "I will be careful."

Although she promised to be careful, perhaps it was too late. The first thing she saw when she arrived at her office was the silhouette of a woman, who turned to face her when she pushed the door open.

"Dr. Williams?" She frowned when she saw Kara Williams who was wearing a bodysuit and had a gun at the side of her waist.

Kara leapt over to her and shut the door before grabbing her collar. "We don't have to cause a scene, Zaria Willaims." Kara taunted. "Give Laia back and you will live."

"What?" Zaria was shocked.

_______

AN

Make a guess: Who was the waitress who broke into a fight with a patron, and who was the patron?

….

I feel dizzy after getting my first shot of the vaccine T_T updates might be unstable.

Stay safe everyone, and vaccinate when you can.