Back at home, Leon dismissed Zeke for the day and rode the elevator to the top floor with Ella. He walked her into their suite, sat her down on the couch, and made some passionflower tea for her.

"I don't know if it's any good, but tea is supposed to help." Leon set the cup in front of her on the coffee table and sat down beside her.

"Thanks..."

"Are you ready to talk about it?"

"..."

"Do I need to call the girls over for you to talk to them instead? I mean, I'd rather you rely on me more, but I can understand wanting to talk to them."

"I... just want to go to bed," Ella mumbled. "I'm tired..."

Leon scratched the back of his head as he tried to figure out what he could do. "Okay." He nodded. "Finish your tea first, please. And if you happen to change your mind at any point, even in the middle of the night, come and talk to me. I don't care if I'm asleep or whatever, just talk to me if you want to..."

Ella nodded and picked up the cup of tea. "Thanks..." Slowly sipping on her tea, it took her a while to finish.

Leon stayed beside her the entire time, but he made sure not to stare at her and make her uncomfortable. Instead, he focused on remembering the features of the man who was there, hoping to research him later.

When Ella stood, Leon snapped out of his thoughts.

"Goodnight..." she mumbled and handed him his jacket back before heading to her room.

"How long until you actually open up to me?" Leon sighed. He remembered his parents always had a list of the attendees along with pictures of them, so he called his father. "Dad... I need a favour. Yes, yes, I know I left the party early. Don't worry; we'll work on that later. Ugh, fine, you give me the information, and I'll let you invite whoever."

It didn't take long for him to receive an email with all the information he requested. "He's so going to turn this into a big spectacle now... I doubt she'll want a wedding this big, but I'm sorry." Leon sat down in his room with his laptop and looked through the profiles of their guests. "This is him... Bruce Bently... What a douche," he grumbled as he read through the profile. Then it clicked; he remembered it from when he checked into Ella's background before. "No way... it really is another one of them? Why'd we run into him?"

In disbelief, he called Alice.

"Hello?" Alice answered, worried something happened again.

"What can you tell me about Bruce Bently?"

"Bruce...? Oh! Him... Why are you asking about him? Ella hasn't talked to that lug nut in years. Good riddance, if you ask me, but I can't say Ella didn't have her hand in how it ended."

"He was at my parent's party today, and I found him alone with her, and she... wasn't in a good state."

Alice gasped. "Are you saying what I think you're saying? Did he—"

"No, I'm not saying he attacked her physically or anything, but she was quite upset about something, and she's refusing to talk to me."

"I see..."

"Any ideas?"

"Bruce had a mouth on him last I knew, so it could be anything."

"Who are you talking to?"

Leon heard a familiar voice in the background. "Was that... Zeke?"

"Maybe..." Alice cursed under her breath.

"What's he doing there?"

"Um..." She held the phone away from her head. "I think we've been had."

"I can still hear you, you know?"

"Oops... Um... Does it matter if he's here? It's his personal time, right?"

"I suppose so... Anyway, can you and the girls talk to her? I'll keep trying, of course, but based on tonight, my prospects aren't good."

"Yeah, it's hard to get her to talk sometimes... Maybe I'll invite her to a girls-night-out."

"Uh... Sure, but try not to drink too much."

"I guarantee we will."

Leon rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Maybe you should drink here then; I can order anything you want."

"While that sounds great, I think it's best if she's out of the house. Hey, what are you doing? Give back my phone."

"Do you mind not calling her so late at night? I'm the jealous type and don't have much spare time for fun," Zeke said, having stolen Alice's phone.

"Be careful, Zeke."

"I'm not going to hurt her."

"She's not the one I'm worried about. Zeke, she's... how should I put this?"

"Tread carefully..."

"She's not exactly a one-guy kinda woman. Or more like, she doesn't like to get attached."

"I know that already; your worries are unfounded."

"But I know how you get. You tend to go all in, and despite your roughness, you wear your heart on your sleeve in relationships."

"Butt out; I can handle this." Zeke hung up on him.

"I hope you can." He sighed. "I should've called Kyra; she's the reliable one." He looked at the time and thought better of it. He didn't want to disturb her this late, especially when she's generally wiped out at the end of the day from dealing with work and her kids.

"Whatever," he grumbled, loosening his tie. "We'll deal with it tomorrow." He flopped back on his bed, not bothering to get changed.

Leon sluggishly got ready for work the next morning. He approached Ella's door, wanting to check on her.

Knock, knock. "Ella? How are you feeling today? You can take the day off from work if you want." When she didn't answer, he knocked again and then opened the door. She wasn't there.

In the kitchen, he found his breakfast sitting there and a note.

Went to work. Have a good day.

"That... tells me nothing." He sat down to eat his breakfast of an omelette and bread all on his own. He stared at Ella's spot at the table, his heart wrenching as he remembered how she looked when he went back to his room the previous night. "I never should've left her alone there..."

Ella asked Jenny to have a day working alone away from everyone, and while she was concerned, she agreed and let Ella work on some empty rooms and a few other tasks for her. Even during lunch, she made sure she was away from everyone and not answering her phone.

Maybe I should just vanish into oblivion... At least then, I won't be able to hurt anyone else. The girls will be alright without me. Leon... Crap... He needs me now unless his parents change their wonky stipulations, and he can move on to marry someone else. They wouldn't really implode their company over that, right?

...

There's no way to know how crazy they are... Ha... Even if I left, there's a chance I'd harm a ton of people. There's no winning, is there?

Ella set up her last room for the day while her mind wandered down a dark path.

"Well, you look like crap."

Ella recognized the voice instantly. "Charlie, what are you doing here?"

"I heard about the trouble, and had some spare time, so I thought I'd pop in. But damn, did you sleep at all? No wonder you're not dealing with customers today; you'd probably scare them away."

Ella touched her face, pouting.

"Anyway, your workday is over, so it's time to kidnap you." Charlie linked her arm through Ella's.

"I'm not really in the mood for a night out with the girls now... or shopping... or anything like that..."

"Since when did 'kidnap' mean you're being given a choice? You're coming with me whether you want to or not."

"Ah!" Ella lurched forward as Charlie dragged her away.

Dammit; I always forget how strong she is.

Charlie walked her out of the building and forced her into her car. Ella clung to the seatbelt, knowing full well it wasn't going to be a pleasant ride.

Ella yelped as soon as Charlie took off. "W-where are you taking me?"

"Don't worry; it's not a bar like last time... or that host club I took you to that one time either."

"Yeah... that place was a bit seedy."

"What? No, it wasn't! You just weren't comfortable with a few attractive men giving you attention."

"They're strangers..."

"That's part of what you should be able to enjoy! Anyway, it doesn't matter; we're not going there after you freaked out last time."

"Should you even go there? You're married."

"So? My husband is away a lot, and I want attention, but at least they don't cross the line. They're mostly there to flirt with you and make you spend more money."

"Wow, wow, wow. Slow down!" Ella cringed and closed her eyes as they skidded to a stop at the light.

"What are you worried about? I stopped in time."

"If you have to hit the brake that hard, you were going too fast!" Maybe I won't have to worry about harming anyone else because I won't make it past this trip!

"Na, it wasn't that bad."

"Does your husband know you drive this bad?"

Charlie was silent for a moment. "He always does the driving when we go out."

"I'm guessing he knows then. I seriously don't know how you've managed to not get a single traffic ticket so far."

"Obviously, it's because I'm a good driver."

"If you think that, you're delusional."

"Oh, be quiet, like a good little captive."

Ella looked out the window to the side, afraid to keep her eyes forward or to close them. Her eyes widened. "No way..." she mumbled. Nathan was on the sidewalk next to them. Ella ducked down.

"What are you doing?"

"Go, go, go!"

"I thought you didn't like my speeding?"

"The light changed!" she yelped.

Nathan looked over, hearing her voice, right as Charlie sped off.

"Ella?" She could almost hear his voice.

"Oh yeah!" Charlie cheered. "No more holding back."

"What? No, no, no. Ah!" Ella screamed, shaking as she clutched her head. "Hold back, hold back!"

The car came to a stop, and Charlie turned off the engine. "We're here."