Lillian’s drive to the company was an uneventful one. The taxi dropped him at the company’s entrance and she walked from there into the building.
Her employees respectfully lined up and greeted her before going back to work after she responded and walked towards the elevator.
She headed directly to the top floor, as Ethan had informed her earlier that he was in the office.
The elevator let out a ding as it reached the highest floor and the doors opened to let her out.
Calmly, she walked towards the door and knocked twice before opening it.
She immediately noticed Ethan behind his desk, seemingly reviewing something on his tablet. Slowly, his eyes moved from the tablet to her and he gave a small smile.
A smile that worked to melt away the worries that plagued her mind... maybe Aria was right, she really was simping.
"Good morning," he greeted.
"Morning," she calmly replied, none of her inside expressions visible on her face. Though Ethan could read the lack of sleep from it which she had tried to hide with light makeup.
And she did a pretty good job, but Ethan was looking closely enough to notice.
"You didn’t sleep much," he observed casually, though it was less a question and more a statement.
Lillian hesitated before answering. "Enough to function." She gave a faint smile, then quickly moved on. "It doesn’t matter."
She placed a tablet before him and said, I’ve compiled all the preparation documents for both the announcement of our partnership with Google and Sentinels launch Day."
Ethan looked at the tablet that lay on his desk before looking back at her and saying, "sit."
"But—" she wanted to protest and make up some excuse of being busy but it seems she forgot that he was also her boss.
"Sit." This one was a command as opposed to the first request so she just calmly sat down on the chair opposite his, the desk separating them.
Ethan set the tablet aside without opening it, leaning back in his chair with his eyes fixed on her.
"You’ve done excellent work, as always," he said, voice even. "But that’s not why I asked you to sit."
Lillian folded her hands in her lap, her posture straight but her gaze wavering for the briefest moment. "...Then what is it?"
"I asked if you needed my help yesterday," he started, "and I’ll ask again, do you need my help?"
There was a moment of silence before she shook her head, "as I said, I can handle it, besides, this is part of the growth you wanted so I wouldn’t want you to get involved in it."
Ethan sighed, she seemed determined to follow through with her words and there didn’t seem to be anything that’d convince her to allow him to help.
"Fine," he said, "you can get back to work."
A bit disappointed, she stood up and walked towards the door only to be stopped by his next words.
"Know that I’m here if you need me," she turned back, searching his eyes. For what exactly? She had no idea.
Her lips parted slightly, as if to respond, but she quickly pressed them shut. "...Thank you," she said at last, her voice softer than intended.
Ethan gave a small nod, turning his attention back to his tablet. "Don’t burn yourself out. A tired mind makes costly mistakes."
Lillian hesitated, lingering by the door for a beat too long, before finally stepping out. As the door shut behind her, she exhaled quietly, pressing a hand against her chest.
She shook her head, pushing the thought away and refocusing. She had work to do and a past to take care of, she had to prove to him that she wouldn’t just lean on him forever.
She had to prove herself worthy to stand by his side, and that was exactly what she planned on doing.
With that resolution, she walked to her office.
_______
Isabela sat in her room in Ethan’s apartment. It was pretty dark with the only light illuminating her face coming from her monitor.
On her face was a grin she couldn’t previously allow due to the weight of her team’s ’death’ on her mind.
But now that she had learnt that they were alive, she could enjoy every hacking session, especially when it was with them.
<Silk: Be honest Spectra, you cried when you thought we were dead didn’t you.>
She smiled as they sent her a message mid hack .
<Spectra: ...Tch. You wish.>
<Silk: Don’t lie. I bet you bawled.>
<Tag: Focus. We’re not here to discuss who cried and who didn’t.>
<Silk: Aw, the boss is trying to sound serious again.>
<Zero: He cried too, when he realized that he couldn’t see Spectra again.>
<Tag: ...>
There was a round of silence in the chats after that was revealed before Tag broke it and immediately switched topics.
<Tag: Spectra, status.>
<Spectra: We’re in.>
The job this time was a pretty simple one, gain blackmail material against a certain political figure, one that just so happen to be Victor Langley, Nathaniel’s father.
Their job was to gain enough blackmail material that’ll keep him busy long enough for the downfall of his son to come to pass.
Isabela leaned back slightly in her chair, fingers dancing across the keys as she mirrored their progress on her end.
<Bypass: Firewall’s a joke. I’ve seen high school projects with more bite.>
<Nico: Don’t underestimate. There might be traps, remember the Sentinel job.>
<Zero: Hidden traps? Heh. I’ll spring them all and juggle ’em.>
<Juno: ...Too noisy.>
<Tag: Zero, no games. Stick to your role.>
<Zero: Aww, boss... fine.>
Isabela chuckled softly. The team was as chaotic as she remembered, but hearing their banter again... it felt like coming home.
<Silk: Hah, looks like Daddy Langley’s got some nasty skeletons.>
The files appeared on her screen in rapid succession, financial irregularities, offshore accounts, suspicious "donations."
This was more than enough to keep him busy for a loooong while.
<Silk: Let’s just hope OmniTech is satisfied with this.>
She was still a bit wary of their new boss but she had to admit, the pay was good.
<Spectra: Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll be pleased.>