"Well... you know that mysterious person that was sending me all those messages?"

"Yeah, did you manage to speak to Micah about it?"

"Well... not exactly." She scratched the back of her head in awkwardness.

"Why not?"

"I don't know... but I got another message today."

"Oh no... what was it?"

"Well, I'll show you." She got her email up on the phone and then brought up the painful message. She sniffed and glared at the painful image before giving her phone to Leilani.

She inspected it for a few minutes and her lips slightly parted as her eyes widened.

"Oh dear..." she muttered.

Mariana huffed and then flopped back with a grumpy face. She continued to hug Mateo and gently pat his chubby cheek as if he was a teddy. He giggled under her touch and showed off his gummy smile with some teeth popping out. It made Mariana smile because he was so cute.

"I don't want to believe that's Micah but it looks too much like him," she said.

"Yeah that's true, have you seen anything like this around his house or on social media?"

"Nope, I can't even tell who the woman is because of the angle."

"Hmm, maybe this will be a good time for a discussion with Micah." She got up and then gave Mariana her phone back. "I'm sure he can clear this up if he knows where this picture comes from." She went back to her seat and crossed her legs.

"Yeah, I guess." She locked her phone and began to fiddle with it. She wanted to believe the image was fake but it looked so real at the same time.

"You know what." She sat up and grabbed her phone. "I'm just gonna text him and see if we can talk about it," she muttered in a dulled tone that conveyed the opposite feeling of her words.

"Okay, I hope it goes well."

"Me too." Her lips stretched into a forced smile but inside, she only felt pessimistic. She released a deep, gloomy sigh and picked up her phone to text Micah.

Mariana: Hey! Um, I was wondering if I can talk to you about something rn? 😚😚

She put her phone down and sighed again. She felt like crying again but held her tears back. She didn't know what to expect. She loved Micah so much it hurts since she didn't want anything to ruin it, especially this stranger that she felt a sense of threat towards.

Leilani went to her and carefully removed Mateo from her arms. She sat next to Mariana and cuddled her close. "Don't worry, it will be alright." She gave her a reassuring pat on the back as they sat there in silence.

Mariana sniffed as she heard her phone vibrate. She got out of Leilani's arm and picked it up with loose tears falling down her cheeks.

Bubba❤️❤️❤️: Hey Mari❤️❤️ I can't talk rn since I'm quite busy, but as soon as I'm free I'll call you.

After reading his message, the thought of him being busy at this time when she needed him the most, made her burst out in tears. And the possibility of where he could be right now made it even worse.

Her sudden outburst shocked Leilani, as she dropped her phone to the floor. She sobbed loudly as her arms hung loosely beside her.

"What happened?! What did he say?"

"He doesn't want to talk to me," she sobbed even louder.

"What?! Did he actually say that?" She exclaimed with slight disbelief.

"Well no," she replied with her cheeks reddening, "he's busy b—but..."

"But he's probably thinking about other girls," Leilani said in a high-pitched voice, her accent making it sassier.

Mariana glared at her. "That's not what I was thinking."

"Sure it wasn't," she rolled her eyes, a hint of sarcasm was in her tone. "I can see it all over your face."

She scrunched up her face and then turned the other way. She didn't want to admit it was what she was thinking.

She grabbed her phone and then started to send Micah another message.

"What are you doing Mariana?" She tried to look over her shoulder.

"Um texting Micah again..."

"Are you going to spam him with messages?"

"Yep."

"Mariana, are you sure that's a good idea? You don't want to annoy him if he really is busy with something."

"Yeah but... I want to talk to him now," she said, her tone slightly demanding. She didn't want to wait until later because it might be too late.

"Mm okay," Leilani sighed and just went onto her phone.

****

On the other side of town, was the building of Perez Co. It was a multinational energy company owned by Aidan Pérez, and today his two sons were helping him out.

Micah was sat in a maroon leather chair wearing a midnight black Armani suit. He was busy signing some papers for his father in his office. Hung above, was a portrait of him and Mason sat on their father's lap when they were very young, things were good back then.

The sun glazed inside the cozy office, with wine-colored walls and a matching rug. There was a brown desk near the big windows. The remnant of the light fell onto his fuzzy black beard and his faded Afro.

Suddenly, the door echoed open and Mason walked in.

"Hey Micah, are you finished with those documents?"

"Yeah almost, why?"

"Because dad wants them now."

"Alright then." He quickly finished the last remaining bits and got up, making sure all the papers were neatly stacked together.

They went out of their father's office and walked down the freshly polished tiles. An aroma of lavender drifted through the air. They saw Aidan down the corridor, talking to two other businessmen. their conversation got more clearer as they got closer.

"And then after that, we..." Aidan stopped talking as his two sons came beside him. "Oh hello Micah, have you finished with the papers I gave you?"

"Yes, father." He held up the papers with a fake smile. He couldn't wait to go home and rest from this long day.

"Thank you, Micah." He took the papers from him with a proud smile and a small smirk. "I just have one last thing to do and then we can go home. Meanwhile, you two can go check how everyone's doing."

"Okay dad," Mason said obediently. He and Micah then walked away from them and went into the elevator.

Mason leaned against the wall, meanwhile, Micah stared deadpanned into the mirror.

"Micah."

"Yeah?" He glanced at his brother through the glass.

"Why was your phone pinging so much during the meeting?"

"Because Mariana wouldn't stop texting me."  He replied. He didn't understand why she was blowing up his phone even though he said he'll call her later. It got so bad he had to mute his phone so his father wouldn't get mad.

When they reached the second floor, they checked on everyone and then met Aidan outside when he was finished.

They got inside the black limo and Anthony drove them towards their house.

Micah relaxed into the seat and poured himself some champagne. He got his phone out and unmuted it. He was taken back by the flood of notifications from Mariana. He started to wonder what was wrong that she had to send him so many messages.

He tried calling her while sipping his drink. It rang a few times and no answer. He frowned, his eyebrows knitted together as he thought of how Mariana could send him so many messages, and then not answer the phone.

He kept trying to call her until they were home. She still didn't answer and he was started to get really worried. What if her battery died and she was in trouble?

He continued calling her phone whilst walking into the mansion.

"Hey Micah, what are you doing?" Makayla came in from the kitchen, eating vanilla and raspberry ice cream.

"Trying to call Mariana but she's not picking up."

"Oh, how come?" She peered over at his phone screen.

"I don't know."

"Hmm, I'll text her to see if we can go shopping this weekend because I miss spending time with her."

"Okay, let me know if she replies."

"Sure." She got her phone out and then started texting as she walked away.

Micah went into the living room and sat on the couch. He massaged his temples as he felt like having a nap. Today had been long and stressful but he hoped Mariana was okay.

A/N: Hey I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Lemme know your thoughts👀❤️