Angela ate the bowl of oatmeal despite not having the appetite to eat. Gael was thoughtful about her stomach issue, and that was endearing. The thought of him drunk in her kitchen while making her this food was something she didn't think she wanted to witness. How did he even manage without burning or cutting himself? Though she wouldn't really know since she hadn't seen him. She just hoped he didn't hurt himself.

Staring at the note he left her, she stuck it on her nightstand, and a sigh escaped her lips. This morning was the first time that she'd seen him in such a state. And although he was still handsome, she missed the dangerous and cheeky side of him.

Angela didn't want to think about Evan, but what he did really caused her not to fully trust men so easily. Gael was an exception, but perhaps she had trusted him too fast? It didn't seem like it, though. She could feel that he was different, but why was it still so hard?

Her phone rang just as she got up from the bed. It was her brother calling. She pressed the green button and answered.

"Hey, Oli."

"Good, you're up."

"Why are you out of breath?" She furrowed her brows.

"I'm out running. I'm at the park across from my place. Join me."

"Not today. I had heartburn. I'll just crawl back into bed later. I don't feel like doing anything today." Angela gathered the tray of food and drink and carried it out of her bedroom, sandwiching her phone between her ear and shoulder.

"Have you taken something?"

"Yeah, I did. What's up? Why did you call so early?"

"I just heard from Attorney Jenkins. It's about Herman. He's missing."

Angela's brows knitted together. The sudden news was surprising that she had so many questions in her head. "What do you mean he's missing? Like missing missing?"

"I don't know. Either someone desperate thinks he's a good source of ransom money at his age, or he's hiding somewhere."

"Since when?"

"A couple of days, maybe. His servants refused to give information as to when they last saw him. The organization we contacted regarding the children went to the orphanage yesterday to check the situation. They were told Herman hadn't been there since the day we came to give the gifts. No one knows where he is."

Angela placed the dishes in the sink and leaned against the counter, her eyes glued to the floor as she spoke to the phone. "That's strange. You think he's on the run? Because I do. But what about the kids? What will happen to them?"

"At the moment, we're not sure yet. Because Herman is the current legal guardian of those kids, it will take a while before we can do something. Hey, sis, I'm heading out of the park. I'll come over and bring some food. What do you want for breakfast?"

She shook her head even though her brother couldn't see her. "Nothing. I just ate some oatmeal." Letting out a long sigh, she pushed herself off the counter and added, "Okay, just buzz, and I'll ring you up."

"Wait—you're...alone, right? Or…"

Angela swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yeah. It's… It's just me."

"Okay. See ya."

The line went dead, and she set her phone on the kitchen island. Her movement slowed down when she noticed a pink sticky note stuck on the edge of the counter. It had Gael's handwriting on it. She picked it up and read.

[ You wanted to hire me as help. I decided to start my job this morning and cleaned your counter. There were ants everywhere. I had to throw your Reese Puffs. Sorry. ]

"Oh…" She liked the cereal. Her shoulders slumped. She felt terrible that he had to clean up her mess. "That's embarrassing…"

Angela raised her head and scanned from left to right. A part of her hoped he wrote more notes, and sure enough, there was one stuck on her fridge.

[ You don't have food. Make sure to restock. I do deliveries too ;) ]

Cheeky. For someone drunk, while writing this, he sure could keep his handwriting neat. Come to think of it, Gael was a bit of a neat freak. Always dressed nicely and organized—it even showed on his penmanship.

On the counter near the fridge was her new espresso machine. And yes, there was also a pink note on it.

[ Avoid coffee until your stomach gets better. ]

"Now, why do I start to feel like you're getting bossy." She took the sticky note and stuck it with the other two in her hand.

Angela began to examine her surroundings, and she was surprised to see a piece of pink paper on top of the shoes she wore last night. She vaguely remembered that she kicked them off to the side without a care in the world, but now the pair of heels was properly placed beside the leg of the buffet table in the hallway.

[ Pretty shoes for your pretty feet. ]

"That is so random." She shook her head as she picked it up, unsure of what to make of it. Had Gael just scribbled whatever he was thinking and began sticking it everywhere in her apartment? Well, she couldn't put all the blame on him when she did precisely the same thing to his room.

She turned to the side and saw another one on the center of the buffet table.

[ If you're wondering why I'm leaving notes around, Gio got sick again and I'm not holding his hair for him. So this is me passing the time. Also, this is payback.

P.S. I don't mean it in a bad way. I promise, I only want to make you smile. Is it working? ]

Okay. That actually made her chuckle. Even on the notes, Gael complained about his uncle. He'd get annoyed by how annoying Giovanni could get, but really, he cares about him. Also, even during this time, he indeed made her smile. "Mission accomplished," she muttered to no one in particular.

A pink paper stuck near the bathroom door in the hallway caught her attention, and when she grabbed it, she was surprised to see handwriting that wasn't Gael's.

[ Angela, I feel like dying. Help! ] Next to it was a drawing of a stick figure person hurling in the toilet. She was pretty sure it was Gio who wrote it.

"Great. Now the uncle joined in the fun," she muttered sarcastically. Just how many more of these are there in her apartment? Oliver could be here any minute, and she didn't want him to see the other notes. What if the two buttheads wrote something so embarrassing?

This time, she hurriedly searched the area, trying to see if there were pink papers in sight. Her eyes moved from top to bottom and side to side.

Not far from her, she found one on the wall going back to her kitchen.

[ The towels are in the wash. I ran a cycle. It should be done when you're up. ]

"I swear, you're a superhuman. How can you be drunk, make food, clean up, take care of your wasted uncle, and even do laundry?"

Angela scoffed as she crossed her kitchen and headed to the laundry room. The washer was indeed done. She opened the front cover, grabbed a towel, and smelled it, nodding when it didn't smell funny. She then moved the towels into the machine next to the washer for tumble dry.

Her phone beeped, and she was sure that it was her brother.

[ Oliver: I'm at the cafe downstairs. I'll get you a sandwich for later. Want soup? ]

[ Angela: Yeah. Ok. Thanks ]

Okay, now she needed to hurry.

Angela hoped there were no more pink notes—if there were still more, she better find them soon. Secretly, she wished she'd find more of Gael's. Was that bad?

Reaching the living room, she sunk into the couch when she found another one on the coffee table. She picked it up and slumped back on the rest as she mulled over the writing.

[ How are you feeling? If you can... if you want... call me. I'll be waiting.

P.S. I gotta go, baby. Gio's done being sick. I now have to carry his ass out. ]

Angela guessed it was his last note before they left. Perhaps her little scavenger hunt was over. She paused for a second to breathe and then whipped out her phone to send him a text message.

[ Angela: Thanks for the food. You shouldn't have. I hope you got home safe. I got your notes… I'm fine. Sorta. I just need to think for a bit. I hope you understand. Take care. ]

Her finger hovered over the send button for a few seconds before finally giving in and hit send. That was the least she could do. Right?

Out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted two pink notes on the plant that Giovanni gave her. She went over and bent down to pick them up.

[ Don't let my precious die. I hold grudges. P.S. It looked dehydrated so I shared my Gatorade with it. -Gio ]

Angela's eyes widened until she read the other note with Gael's writing.

[ Don't worry, I stopped him.]

She released the breath she was holding. "You two are gonna be the death of me."