Trouble Flotation

PROLOGUE

©2022, by miss_sanjuan

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form on by an electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Main target: Moving on.

Alara Gabriella Diaz.

Pasilipxd

October.

"Engineer Diaz!"

I froze the moment I heard my name, the voice was sharp yet familiar, one I hadn't heard in years. I turned around slowly and I saw a man standing a few feet away, wearing a perfectly tailored gray suit that practically screamed success. His posture was confident, his smile polished — like he'd just stepped out of a magazine shoot.

His eyes seemed kind, but there was an unease creeping up my spine. Fucking hell. Wala naman sigurong kasama 'tong ibang tao, 'di ba? Please, not him.

His smile was too perfect, almost rehearsed. I forced a small smile back, though it felt awkward. My heart raced with a mix of emotions I didn't want to deal with. Ayoko siyang makita.

"Alara," Richard said smoothly as he closed the distance between us. His tone was casual, his expression friendly. But there was something in his presence that felt just a little too put-together. "It's been a while."

"R-Richard? What are you doing here?" I managed to say, masking my confusion with a polite smile.

It was Richard, Case's best friend, and someone I hadn't seen in years. The fact that we were meeting again now of all places just made the world feel too small, too claustrophobic.

He chuckled lightly, glancing around the lobby of the office building. "Oh, nothing too exciting," he said, shrugging like he hadn't just turned my morning upside down. "Your boss is one of our clients. We're collaborating on her mansion project — the one your firm is handling."

I blinked, trying to process his words. "The mansion?"

Last I heard, they were both abroad... working together, living their lives somewhere far from mine. I thought I'd moved past it, left it all behind. Apparently not.

"Yeah," he said, adjusting his watch like this was just another ordinary day.

"My firm's in charge of the electrical systems. Your boss reached out to us. I guess she wanted the best."

I wanted to roll my eyes at his casual bragging, but my brain was too busy connecting the dots. Of course. Of course, he and his firm would somehow be involved. The universe clearly had a twisted sense of humor.