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, too familiar — like an old drawer opening somewhere in the back of my memory.

I turned around slowly.

Standing a few feet away was a man in a tailored gray suit that practically screamed success. Confident stance, polished smile — like someone used to winning. I knew that face. I hadn't seen it in years, and honestly, I would've preferred to keep it that way.

Richard.

I tried to keep my expression neutral. But my heart was racing, and there was already a knot forming in my stomach. Wala naman sigurong kasama 'to, 'di ba? Please lang. Huwag siya.

His smile looked practiced — the kind you wear in boardrooms, not in reunions. I forced a small smile back, kahit ang awkward na sa pakiramdam. I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to see anyone from that time in my life.

"Alara," he said, casually, like we were friends who regularly caught up. "It's been a while."

"R-Richard? What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to mask the confusion with a polite smile, even though my brain was already on high alert.

It felt off. Too coincidental. Too calculated.

He chuckled, glancing around the lobby of the building. "Oh, nothing too exciting," he said with a shrug, like he hadn't just derailed my morning. "Your boss reached out to us. We're consulting on the mansion project your firm's handling."

I blinked. "Consulting?"

"Yeah. Smart system integrations, backup power design, all that techy stuff. She said she wanted additional insight — international-level expertise, I guess."

Of course.

Of course they'd be involved. The world really had a twisted sense of humor.