"Kat!" Bella's voice came from the hallway door, panicked. "Stop! You'll kill her!"

Katarina blinked. The red haze in her vision cleared slightly. She looked at Candi's bulging eyes. She wasn't worth the prison time.

She released her grip.

Candi slid down the bookshelf, gasping for air, clutching her throat.

Francis grabbed his heavy wooden cane and raised it. "You animal!" He swung it at Katarina's head.

Katarina didn't flinch. She caught the cane mid-swing with one hand. The impact stung her palm, but she didn't show it.

She looked her father in the eye. "You used to hit me with this when I was twelve. When I was too slow. Too fat."

She gripped the wood with both hands and snapped it over her knee.

CRACK.

She threw the pieces at his feet.

"I'm not twelve anymore, Francis."

She turned and walked out of the study. Auston scrambled out of her way, pressing himself against the wall.

Katarina marched through the ballroom. The crowd parted like the Red Sea. No one spoke. They just stared at the goddess of war passing through.

She walked out the front door, down the steps. The cool night air hit her flushed skin. Her hands were shaking. Not from fear, but from the adrenaline crash.

A black SUV pulled up. Solo.

She got in. "Drive."

Inside the car, she leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. "Did you get the data?"

"While you were putting on a show, I hacked their local server," Solo said from the front seat. "We have the ledger. Francis has been embezzling from the trust for years."

"Good," Katarina whispered. "Burn him."

They drove back to the city in silence.

When they reached the St. Regis, Katarina felt heavy. Her bones ached. She just wanted to hold Kaylee.

She entered the elevator. Just as the doors were closing, a hand stopped them.

Dimitri Shaffer stepped in.

Katarina groaned internally. Of all the people. Of all the times.

The doors closed, sealing them in the small, mirrored box.

Dimitri stood with his hands in his pockets, looking straight ahead. He smelled of cedar and expensive scotch.

"I hear you had an eventful evening," Dimitri said. His voice was low, vibrating in the small space.

"News travels fast," Katarina muttered, leaning against the rail. She was too tired to fight.

"Assault. Property damage. Threats." Dimitri turned his head to look at her. His eyes swept over her disheveled hair, the redness on her neck where adrenaline had flushed her skin. "You are a chaotic woman, Ms. Acosta."

"And you are a judgmental prick, Mr. Shaffer," she shot back.

Dimitri stepped closer. He invaded her personal space. He loomed over her.

"I don't care what you do to your family," he said. "But I meant what I said last night. Stay away from my son. I saw you in the hallway. I know what you are."

"What am I?" Katarina challenged, looking up at him.

"A gold digger," Dimitri said coldly. "A woman who uses her body and her drama to trap men. I won't let you use my son as a pawn to get to me."

Katarina felt a laugh bubble up in her chest. It was hysterical.

"Get to you?" She poked him in the chest with a manicured finger. "Shaffer, you have nothing I want. Your money? I have my own. Your power? I'm building mine. Your personality? It sucks."

Dimitri looked down at her finger on his chest. He looked surprised. Most women trembled when he got this close. Katarina looked bored.

"And as for your son," she added, her voice softening involuntarily. "He deserves better than a father who thinks everyone is out to get him."

The elevator dinged. Penthouse floor.

Katarina pushed past him. "Goodnight, neighbor."

She walked down the hall.

Dimitri stood in the elevator for a moment before stepping out. He touched his chest where she had poked him. It burned.

---

"Mommy?" Kaylee sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. "You smell like ozone. Did you explode something?"

"Metaphorically," Katarina said, kissing her forehead. "Go back to sleep."

In the suite next door, Dimitri sat in his office chair. His tie was undone. He was watching the security footage from the hallway again.

He watched Katarina hug Draven. He watched the way she shielded him from the guards.

"She's a good actress," he muttered to himself. But there was a doubt gnawing at him. Draven never let anyone touch him. Not even the nannies. Why her?

Draven was sitting on the floor, playing with a set of magnetic blocks. He was building a complex structure.

"Draven," Dimitri said. "Why did you let her hold you?"

Draven didn't answer. He placed a red block on top of the tower.

Dimitri sighed. He turned to his computer. "Lars, get me everything on Katarina Acosta. The last five years. There's a gap. I want to know where she was."

Suddenly, his screen flickered. A skull and crossbones appeared in pixelated green.

"Sir!" Lars's voice came over the intercom. "Someone is bouncing a signal off our server. They're trying to mask an IP address."

"Who?"

"It's... it's coming from the suite next door."

Dimitri's eyes narrowed. "Katarina?"

"I don't know, sir. The encryption is military grade. It's... it looks like the signature of the hacker 'Ghost'."

"Or," Dimitri said, standing up, "it's a woman trying to spy on me."

Next door, Kaylee was typing furiously on her tablet under the covers.

"Oops," she whispered. "Almost got caught."

"Kaylee, lights out!" Katarina called from the bathroom.

"Yes, Mommy!"

The next morning, Katarina dragged herself to the hotel buffet. She needed coffee. Intravenously.

Kaylee skipped ahead to the dessert section.

"Can I have a donut?"

"Protein first, sugar later," Katarina said, piling eggs onto a plate.

Kaylee ignored her and beelined for the donut tower. She reached for the last strawberry frosted one.

Another hand reached for it at the same time.

Kaylee looked up. Draven looked down.

They froze.

It was daylight. No shadows. No sleepiness. They stood face to face.

It was like looking in a mirror.

Kaylee's eyes went wide. "Whoa."

Draven stared at her. He blinked. He slowly pushed the donut toward her.

"Thanks!" Kaylee beamed. "I'm Kaylee."

Draven didn't speak, but the corner of his mouth twitched. A tiny, almost invisible smile.

"Draven!"

Dimitri marched across the restaurant. He looked like a thundercloud in a polo shirt. He grabbed Draven's hand and pulled him back.

"I told you not to bother them," Dimitri growled at Kaylee.

"Hey!" Katarina slammed her coffee cup down. It spilled. She didn't care. She marched over. "Don't you dare yell at my daughter."

"Then keep her away from my son," Dimitri snapped. "She's harassing him."

"He gave her a donut!" Katarina shouted. "Are you blind? Look at them!"

She pointed at the kids.

Draven was waving at Kaylee. Kaylee was waving back.

Dimitri looked at them. He saw the resemblance. The dark hair. The eyes.

"She looks like him," Dimitri said, his voice losing some of its edge.

"Coincidence," Katarina said quickly. Too quickly. "Kids look alike."

"It's uncanny," Dimitri murmured. He looked at Katarina. "Did you clone yourself?"

"Funny," she deadpanned. "Come on, Kaylee. We're eating in the room. The air here is toxic."

She grabbed Kaylee's hand and stormed off.

Dimitri watched them go. He looked down at Draven. Draven was looking at his hand, the one that had touched Kaylee's. He looked... happy.

"Lars," Dimitri said into his phone. "Forget the background check. Find out who the father of that girl is."

---

She opened it to find a wall of red roses. Two hundred of them.

"Delivery for Ms. Acosta," a muffled voice said from behind the flowers.

"I didn't order these. Throw them in the trash," Katarina said, reaching to close the door.

A foot jammed into the gap.

"Ow! Kat, wait!" Auston Mcmahon squeezed through the flowers and the door. He was wearing a casual suit that tried too hard.

"Auston," Katarina sighed. "You are persistent. Like a fungus."

"I brought you these," he said, breathless. "Ecuadorian roses. Listen, about last night... Francis is crazy. But I'm not. I still have feelings for you."

Kaylee poked her head out of the bedroom. "Mommy, is that the Bug Spray Man?"

"Yes, baby. Go back to your game."

Katarina looked at Auston. She was about to kick him out, but then she remembered something. Auston was currently trying to broker a deal with Charlton Walton, her mother's nemesis.

She forced a smile. It hurt her face.

"Come in, Auston. Five minutes."

Auston beamed. He strutted in like he owned the place.

"So," Katarina said, pouring him a glass of tap water. "You seem confident these days. Business must be good."

Auston laughed, taking the water. "Good? It's phenomenal. I've got Charlton Walton in my pocket. We're about to close a deal that will shake the FDA to its core. I have connections, Kat. Real power."

Katarina's eyes sharpened. She tapped her phone screen twice under the table, signaling Solo to activate the room's listening sniffer.

"Walton?" she asked innocently. "I heard his new drug, Serenity, was stuck in approval hell."

"That's what the public thinks," Auston bragged, leaning in. "But let's just say I know a guy on the board who owes me a favor. Next week, Serenity gets the green light. The side effects? Buried."

Katarina didn't need him to say more. Her phone vibrated. Solo had just used Auston's presence to ping his phone and download the attached documents from his email outbox. The raw data on cardiac failure was there. Auston was a fool, walking around with a digital smoking gun.

"Interesting," she said. "You're playing a dangerous game, Auston."

"High risk, high reward," he winked.

"Thanks, Auston," Katarina said. She walked to the door and opened it wide. "Now get out."

Auston blinked. "What? But... the roses..."

"Are dying. Like this conversation. Goodbye."

She pushed him out.

As Auston stumbled into the hallway, Dimitri walked by. He saw Auston leaving Katarina's room. He saw the roses.

Dimitri's jaw clenched.

Of course, he thought. She plays the victim, then entertains her ex-fiancé the next morning. She's playing all sides.

He stormed into his suite.

"Lars," he barked. "Send the email to Dr. Anti. Offer double. Tell him my grandmother is fading."

Next door, Katarina's secure laptop pinged.

Subject: Urgent Request. Patient: Helena Shaffer. Offer: $100 Million.

Katarina read it. She looked at the wall shared with Dimitri.

She typed a reply.

To: D. Shaffer

From: Anti

Subject: Re: Urgent Request

Mr. Shaffer,

I do not treat patients based on their bank accounts. I treat them based on need. And currently, my schedule is full. Also, stop trying to trace my IP. It's amateurish.

- A

Dimitri read the email. He slammed his fist on the desk. "Amateurish?!"

Meanwhile, Kaylee was bored. She pulled out her tablet. She opened a Bluetooth scanner app.

Scanning nearby devices...

Found: Silent_Boy_iPad

Kaylee grinned. She sent a pairing request.

Message: I'm the Donut Girl.

In the next room, Draven's iPad lit up. He looked at the screen. A picture of a donut appeared.

He pressed Accept.

Draven:

Kaylee: My mom hates your dad.

Draven: (Dad face)

Kaylee: We should fix that.

Draven:

---