"Mija, listen to me," Elizabeth, Ella's mom, pleaded. "Ever since we left, we told you to please go with Fransisco. After the attack, we almost moved back there if it weren't because of your aunt Ortega's ulcer; that woman can just snap her fingers and a disease will appear." Elizabeth began ranting as Ella entered the lobby of the law office. "Honey, please. Your dad is over here calling me crazy, but I feel weird. I just.. just please, move in with Fransisco while this trial is over." (My daughter)

"Mamá, I know you are worried; I would be too, but nothing happened. That man is behind bars right now-"

"What about the guy in charge? Is he in jail? No. He's not. Listen, Ellie, I know-"

Ella walked forward, heading straight for Jihye's office and knocking briefly before entering with narrowed eyes.

Muting her mom temporarily, Ella got Kim's attention. "You told my mom about the trail?"

Kim winced, giving Ella a sheepish smile. That only made Ella narrow her eyes more.

"- permanent, just while things settle. What do you think?" Elizabeth was still talking on the opposite line, and Ella walked further into Jihye's office, setting her purse down while taking a seat.

"Mamá, can I call you later? Let me see to a couple of things, and then I'll answer everything you want me to." Ella chewed on her bottom lip, messing with her hair on one hand.

Elizabeth gave out an exasperated sigh. She wanted to talk about this now because otherwise, Elizabeth would just feel even more uncomfortable. She just felt it in her motherly instincts that something was off. To top it off, neither one of her kids were listening to her.

"Fine, but you're calling me tonight. No ifs or buts."

"Si, mamá. I love you." (Yes)

"I love you more." Elizabeth candidly stressed before they hung up.

"She didn't agree?" Timotheo, Ella's dad, appeared from behind Elizabeth, a mug of coffee in both hands.

"No," Elizabeth ran a hand through her messy auburn hair while accepted the steaming mug from her husband.

"Relax, my love." Timotheo kissed her head, bringing her closer to him. "You've been very worried these past days-"

"How can I not when our daughter was attacked, Timotheo?!" Elizabeth snapped. Instantly, her face fell.

She didn't mean to snap at him. She wasn't even frustrated with him, rather the circumstances. She and her husband absolutely adored their motherland, but their children had already established a life in the states. The Cortesa parents were not about to become selfish and ask them to move back. It was killing Elizabeth to be so far from her kids when she knew they needed her, even if they said they didn't. She especially knew that her baby Ella needed her the most.

Out of all her kids, she could proudly and truthfully say that she didn't love one more than the other, but she also couldn't deny that she had a soft spot for Ellie. Ella was just... more delicate, which made her momma bear instincts come out more often. Finding out Ella had been attacked... Elizabeth couldn't remember the last time she had cried so much.

"Lo siento, Theo. I didn't mean to be so aggressive," Elizabeth blinked back the tears as Timotheo shook his head compassionately. (I'm sorry)

"I know your pain, Eliza. They're my kids too, love." He wrapped his arms around her cuddling figure. "I was just going to say, what if we leave to Georgia?"

Timotheo had seen the toll that this situation was taking on his wife. She was no longer properly sleeping through the nights due to her constant nightmares, nor was she eating right just worrying about how Ella's case was going. Even when Timotheo was persistently on the phone with Mr. Kim, Elizabeth still felt like she needed to be there.

"Really? We can really leave?" Elizabeth's eyes watered again, hopeful.

Timotheo instantly caved even more upon seeing his wife's hazel eyes sparkle with adoration and happiness.

"My sister is fine. Cancer isn't going to kill her any day today; her case is very mild right now." Timotheo assured, and Elizabeth threw her arms around her husband tighter, instantly agreeing and rushing to go book some tickets. She was glad he had finally surrendered to leaving for now, otherwise, Elizabeth was going to end up leaving by herself.

Back in Atlanta, Ella was already being informed of the court date, which would happen in the upcoming week. That left Ella about five days to prepare herself for the grueling questions and also to prepare any documentation that was going to be mandatory.

"Nervous?" Mr. Kim was walking Ella out after having discussed some of the details about the trial and what was to be expected.

"Kind of hard not to be." Ella clasped her hands together, feeling one of the effects of her nervousness: icy hands.

"Don't be. Oliver and I have been working on this for a while now, and we're pretty positive about what type of outcome we're going to have." He patted her back gently, passing by the other offices that were currently vacant due to it being lunch time. "I won't let you lose, Ella." Kim promised, and Ella wished she could believe him.

She trusted him, though, and she trusted God. She had faith she would make it out alive, at least.

"Damien?" Kim frowned, noticing the tall figure coming out of his office. "What are you still doing here? It's lunch time." Kim frowned, checking his watch.

"I just needed to catch up on a couple of things." Damien was a bit surprised to see Ella there. She hadn't mentioned that she was stopping by.

"Oh. I'm just walking Ella out. Maybe we could catch lunch tog-" the phone in Kim's office began ringing, causing him to pause to roll his eyes before motioning us to wait as he rushed back. Ella waited until they were in the clear to greet Damien with her usual warmth.

"I didn't know you were stopping by." Damien mentioned as he walked to the printer, Ella following.

"I wanted to surprise you, but that obviously didn't work out." Ella blushed, watching as Damien smiled, shaking his head while he maneuvered the printer.

"You seemed pretty nervous when you were coming out. Is everything okay?" Damien recalled, his dark brows furrowing a bit as he reached to grab her hand. "You're freezing." Damien remarked, tugging her closer, still hearing Kim's loud voice on the phone across the office.

"I'm just nervous." Ella sighed, moving to hug Damien, finding some strength in his warm hold. She missed being hugged lately.

"Are you alright?" Damien frowned, feeling how Ella seemed less energetic, basically melting against him as he pulled her closer, caressing her soft hair. "Hmm?" He nudged huskily, lowly asking again.

"I'm just tired." Ella finally responded, resting her hands on his torso. "Rufus hasn't really been sleeping much, and he keeps barking at night." Damien relaxed, now understanding why Ella had seemed tired and lethargic.

"Have you eaten?" Damien pulled away, grabbing the copies that had now cooled down.

"No, but I'm not really hungry. I think I'm just going to go nap at home for a little bit." Ella rubbed one eye, messing up a lash that Damien reached to fix.

"Okay. Then I'll stop by with dinner. How does that sound?"

Ella nodded, looking forward to some down time. She was grateful that she no longer had patients for the rest of the day; she really wanted to lie down and just sleep.

That was exactly what Ella did, too.

After arriving and taking a warm bath, she fell asleep shortly after. By the time she woke up, she had slept through the entire afternoon. Rufus had also cuddled up by her side, his tail gently wagging and softly brushing up against her side, further relaxing her.

After lying for another half an hour, mindlessly scouring YouTube, Ella had finally had enough and decided to get up to prepare herself for her guest. Still feeling a bit groggy though, she just chose an oversized hoody with some jean shorts and braided her hair to the side before applying just a bit of makeup. Damien arrived a bit later with some Mexican.

"Did you take your nap?" Damien kissed her forehead as he entered her home, his hands still occupied with the food.

"Yes. Let me help." Ella reached to take, at least, one bag from his hold, but he pulled back.

"I got it." He carried them to the kitchen, and Ella shook her head.

"How was work?" Ella pondered, setting some plates out for Damien to used.

"Kim mentioned that he invited you to their camping event." Damien revealed, plating the food while Ella helped set the table.

"He did. Are you going?" Ella stole a chip, munching on it without dipping it into the salsa.

"No. I have a bit of work to do." Damien grabbed their plates and walked back to the table where Ella was already at. "Did you want to go?"

"I'm thinking about it." Ella nodded. She had originally wanted to go because of him, but now she wasn't so sure. It would be a fun experience anyway since she liked everyone at the office. "I'll have to see how things work out."

Damien hummed in agreement, watching as Rufus came trotting into the room to rest by Ella's feet, causing Damien to chuckle as he picked up a piece of his steak, underhandedly giving it to the golden retriever.

"I saw that." Ella grumbled even though she wasn't exactly looking at Damien or Rufus.

Damien laughed, surprised that he had gotten caught. "He really is protective of you." Damien noted, watching as Rufus curled his tail over one of Ella's ankles.

"He's been a bit of a nutcase these days." Ella sighed, shrugging. Just then, Rufus perked up, trotting over to the front door and sniffing before he just disappeared from Ella's view. "See?"

"Does he do that often?" Damien slid another piece of meat to the side for the dog for later. While he didn't necessarily like the dog, he did want to get along with him for the time being.

"Not really." Ella noticed, turning around as Rufus began barking. "Rufus!" Ella sighed, standing up to go see what was his dilemma now. After surveying the area, Ella calmly pulled Rufus away from the door. "There is nothing, Rufus. Look." Ella opened the front door and turned on the porch lights, illuminating Damien's car and the gate as well as the front yard. "Come on, boy."

Damien waited for Ella to return with a calmer dog. "It's probably the stray cat I saw earlier." Damien assured her, remembering two cats that were wandering the streets when he passed by.

"It probably is. Last time Stephanie brought her kitten over, Rufus didn't let anyone sleep that night. He was glued to her bedroom door." Ella recalled, pushing back a piece of stray hair.

Damien blatantly gave Rufus another piece of meat. Ella had already caught him once, he didn't see the harm in another small piece. Ella simply sighed, reaching over to tap Damien's fingers when he was on his way with the third piece. Damien chuckled, following Ella's wish and stopping.

"Sorry, bud, but the lady has spoken."

Rufus seemed to sigh before lying back down by Ella's feet, closing his eyes and focusing on listening and smelling the surroundings

His owner didn't know it, but Rufus hadn't actually been whining about a measly little cat. No. Rufus could smell another person, specifically, a stranger. That stranger would get close to his human's property. Rufus was only doing the right thing by barking, warning his Ella and simultaneously warning the strange person to stay away.