“Obviously! Missed you treating us to lunch, too,” she shot back, bold as anything.


    “Done. Let everyone know–dinner’s on me tonight at SeaView Dining,” I said, not even pausing to


    think.


    “Wait–seriously?” Her eyes went wide. Cute.


    “Dead serious,” I said, giving her a nod.


    Têxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    “Yay!” she squealed, doing a little bounce before running off.


    I couldn’t help but smile. Somehow, her energy seemed to lift the whole office. The vibe felt lighter


    already.


    After dropping my bag on my desk and taking a quick look around, I decided to swing by Ron’s


    office.


    “Come in!”


    I opened the door to find Ron practically buried under a mountain of paperwork. He didn’t even


    nce up to see who had entered.


    I walked closer, noticing the stacks of documents–most of them from my department.


    It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had been going on. My peaceful break? Yeah, that had


    been courtesy of Ron’s hard work.


    “You’ve been running yourself ragged. Why not hire someone else to help out?” I


    asked.


    Ron froze mid–signature, his pen hovering over the paper. When he looked up, his surprise was


    clear.


    For a second, he just stared, then he shot to his feet. “Oh my god, you’re back! I thought you-”


    He cut himself off, but I knew what he meant. He didn’t think I’de back.


    If he really thought that, then why hadn’t he hired anyone? Was he waiting for me to quit officially?


    “So, are you letting me back, or…?” I asked, getting straight to the point.


    “Of course! What else would you do? Quit? No chance. I wouldn’t approve it anyway,” he said,


    shing a sly grin. “Besides, your contract says you can’t resign until you’ve worked at least a


    year.”


    Wait–what? That was in the contract? How did I miss that?


    “Sounds a little predatory,” I teased.


    “But you signed it,” Ron shot back with a yful smirk. “So, technically, you agreed to be


    ‘predated.“”


    He didn’t look the least bit sad.


    Maybe he didn’t know about Hayden’s passing.


    If he didn’t, that was probably for the best. Knowing wouldn’t do anything but add to the grief.


    Yara once told me Hayden had confided in her. He said the only family he had was Yuna, and if


    anything ever happened to him, she was to keep it from his sister. No need to tell anyone else


    either–because, in his words, no one would


    care..


    It had been over a month since he died. Surely Ron noticed he’d been gone this


    whole time.


    But now, standing here, he hadn’t even mentioned him.


    Maybe Hayden was right. No one really cared about anyone.


    Then Ron frowned, like something had just clicked. “Wait–you’re back, but where’s Hayden? Holed


    up in that studio of his again?”


    I stared at him, my throat tightening. Finally, I said, “He’s noting back. Not


    ever.”


    The smile froze on Ron’s face, his lips trembling. “W–What do you mean? He’s leaving? But this is


    hispany. He wouldn’t just-”


    And there it was, unspoken until now. This was Hayden’spany.


    The favoritism, the special treatment–it all made sense.


    773


    “Mr. Shane,” I said, keeping my voice steady, “Hayden’s gone. He passed away over a month ago.”


    The words hit like a thunderp, and Ron just… froze.