"Since Archer's doing his part on Saturday, I had to push mine back to today, which is Thursday so that I can search the office tomorrow, the day before his," Anneliese said to herself as she ate breakfast. "I'll go to mother's house in the evening with Clarissa then I'm going to the office tomorrow in the afternoon by myself."

She changed into a long-sleeved, light blue, sweater dress; thick, grey leggings; black, thigh-high boots; and a white, hooded, fleece coat. Her hair was styled into a lace braid ponytail. Her neck and ears were accessorized by a silver, triangle necklace and earrings with the same style from Swarovski.

She went to classes like normal. When her last class ended, she pulled Clarissa aside to talk to her. "I need your help today. Let's leave for now before Archer catches up to us then I'll explain in the car," whispered Anneliese. Her friend hesitated but eventually complied and left the campus with her.

"Where did Anneliese go?" Archer asked himself as he looked around for signs of her. "She must've gone home early... Or is she still...embarrassed about...Sunday? Nah! That was three days ago! No way! Right?..." He scratched his head as he walked to his car. A blush crept up his neck as he thought back to Sunday's startling event, and he slapped himself. "Get a hold of yourself, Archer! You're not a teenage boy!"

. . .

"So what's going on?" Clarissa asked Anneliese.

"See, my part of the searching was originally planned for tomorrow, but it's going to be Friday. I want to do it today instead," answered Anneliese.

"Then why did we have to hide from Archer?"

"Because he doesn't know."

"Why didn't you just tell him?"

"He'd want me to stick to Friday, and honestly, I just want to relax Friday. Maybe finally meet up with my father."

"Okay, alright. What do I have to do to help you succeed this mission?" asked Clarissa.

"I need you to distract my mother," answered Anneliese.

"How?" Her brows knitted together.

"I don't know! Come up with something!"

"You expect me to just know what to do on the spot?!" Clarissa threw her hands up.

"Okay, how about you talk to her about me outside the house?" suggested Anneliese.

"Why would I take her outside the house? That's already suspicious!"

"Okay, okay, fine. Keep her in the kitchen then. Tell her I've been acting strange, and you think I'm pregnant or something. Something drastic."

"She would never listen to me if I say that crap about you being pregnant."

"Just distract my mother!" exclaimed Anneliese, and Clarissa nodded.

. . .

Anneliese rang the doorbell twice before her mother opened the door for her. "Anneliese?! What are you doing here...with Clarissa?" her mother asked as she noticed her presence as well.

"I don't have classes until afternoon tomorrow," Anneliese replied. "As for Clare, she wanted to hang out with me, so here she is." She smiled.

"Hey, Mrs. Mormont! Sorry for being a bother," said Clarissa after she waved.

"It's no problem, Clarissa. You and Anneliese can stay here as long as you want!" Karen smiled.

"I'm going to the bathroom," said Anneliese as a signaled for Clarissa to start displaying her acting skills. After she 'went to the bathroom', she pulled her aside into the kitchen.

"Mrs. Mormont, I have to talk to you about something very important," said Clarissa.

"Okay, sure but why in the kitchen?" she asked.

"I don't want Anneliese to overhear this conversation because it's important to me."

"Alright. What is it about?"

Clarissa bit on her lip before deciding to say, "Sexual intercourse."

"Oh, Clarissa... Em, you sure you want to discuss that with me?"

"Yes, are you uncomfortable with it?"

"No, no, no. You're like my second daughter."

"So, there's this guy..." Clarissa started, and Anneliese took a peek at them before going to her parents' bedroom. Her mother's back was facing the entrance of the kitchen, so it was easier to sneak past them.

She went into the room and started by searching the closet, five drawers, and two bedside tables but found nothing. "If I were secret documents, where would I be?" Anneliese asked herself. She looked under the bed and mattress but still found nothing. Then, she noticed something sticking out from under her mother's vanity. It was a piece of paper. She ripped it off the tape that was used as an adhesive to stick it on the underside of the vanity and unfolded it to reveal a six-digit code. "980214? This is my birthday...Why? Do my parents not remember my birthday?!" Anneliese felt hurt. "Huh, there's something else. Pwd?" Her brows knitted together. "What does that mean? I guess I'll just have to ask Clare later." She stuck the paper where it belonged and left.

Anneliese walked into the kitchen and nodded at her best friend. "So, yeah. Is it a possibility?" Clarissa asked Karen.

"Honestly, Clarissa, I didn't get part of what you just said," she answered.

"Ah, I guess it's totally fine then. I'll just ask someone else about it."

"Hey, mother, do you have any fruits for Clare and me? I'm craving some," said Anneliese.

"Yes I do, actually. We have some strawberries, grapes, and starfruit."

"Strawberries would be nice, thanks."

"I'll wash them for you girls." Her mother opened the fridge, and Anneliese pulled Clarissa to the living room couch.

She turned on the television to drown out their conversation. "Did you find anything?" Clarissa asked.

"Yes but also no. I didn't find any evidence, but I did find something. It was my birthday on a piece of paper with the letters 'pwd' on it," answered Anneliese.

"Pwd? That means 'password'! They set your birthday as a password for something. Is it a laptop with more evidence? A phone? Tablet? Safe?"

As Clarissa continued with her guesses, Anneliese thought to herself, 'Safe...It's for a safe. I think I heard my parents talk about this safe at the office before. It must contain something useful!'

. . .

Classes had started, but there was no sign of Archer. "Have you seen Archer? He already missed the first class," Anneliese asked Clarissa.

"No, maybe he's sick. The weather is pretty cold," she answered.

"Ah, okay." Anneliese nodded slowly. 'I hope he didn't catch the flu,' she thought. After classes, she said goodbye to her best friend quickly and drove to her father's company. When she reached the entrance, she was blocked by employee verification machines. 'Crap, I need an ID!'

"Miss, do you need some help?" a security guard asked.

"Ah, actually, I do. You see, I'm Gabriel Mormont's daughter," Anneliese explained to him.

He looked at her suspiciously. "Do you have proof? A lot of people have come claiming to be relatives of Mr. Mormont before," said the man.

"Ah...I only have my ID, but it has my biological father's surname instead of Gabriel's since I'm his stepdaughter."

"Hm, nice try, young lady. I'm going to have to ask you to leave the premises."

"No, please believe me. I'm here to see my father."

"Please leave while I'm asking you nicely," he said sternly.

'Argh! What do I do?!' Anneliese looked around and saw someone familiar. "Mrs. Vasquez! Carol Vasquez!" she called out to a middle-aged woman.

Carol turned her attention towards her, and a smile appeared on her face. She walked up to her and asked, "Anne, what are you doing here?"

"Do you know her?" the security guard asked.

"Of course, she's Mr. Mormont's daughter!" she exclaimed delightfully.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Ms. Mormont!" he apologized.

"Ah, it's okay. You were just doing your job. I wouldn't believe me either since I had no proof," Anneliese remarked.

"Thank you." He bowed.

"Oh, you don't need to thank me! It's really fine." He nodded and left.

"How have you been, Anne?" Carol asked.

"I'm good, thanks," replied Anneliese.

"What brings you here?"

"I'm here to see my father."

"Oh, really? He's in a meeting right now."

"How long will it take?"

"About an hour. Will you wait?"

'Perfect!' thought Anneliese. "Yes, I'll wait."

"Okay, I'll bring you to his office." Carol took her to Gabriel's office and left.

She waited a few minutes then left the office. 'Mrs. Vasquez is always so nice. I've known her since Gabriel became my stepfather. I feel bad for her and the rest of the employees that admire him because when they find out about this possible crime, they'll be so disappointed.' She sneaked around and acted as if she worked there. She needed to find the surveillance room.

"Did you see the cute newbie that works in the surveillance room by the restrooms?" a woman, who walked past her with another employee, asked.

'Jackpot! This will be a piece of cake!' She rushed to the surveillance room and entered.

"Who are you?" the newbie asked.

"Ah, I'm the assistant to the manager of Mr. Mormont. I came to pass a message to you. You are needed in the lounge. I think they're holding a short welcome party for you," answered Anneliese.

"I thought that was tomorrow."

"They moved it to today," she quickly remarked.

"Oh, I see, but someone needs to watch over here."

"Don't worry. I'll call someone to take your place," she reassured him, and he left. 'Let's see...Office camera...Bingo!' She located the camera for her father's office. 'How do I do this?' She scanned over the various buttons and saw a 'freeze' button. She entered the camera number for the selected camera option and froze it. 'Yes, I did it! Now I have around ten minutes to search the room before the newbie comes back after realizing he was tricked.'

She slowly sneaked out of the surveillance room and started leaving when someone grabbed her shoulder. They covered her mouth before she screamed, and she looked to see who it was. 'Archer?!' She pulled his hand away from her mouth. "What are you doing here?!"

"I should be asking you that question!" he exclaimed sternly.

'He's mad,' thought Anneliese. "I needed to search the office myself."

"Why? You still don't believe I'll succeed after what we talked about? You promised not to butt in!"

"I never promised. I just agreed to let you do it..."

"And what's happening here? You decided to take back your words?"

"Archer..."

"I'm so disappointed in you, Anneliese..."

"But I-" He stopped her by covering her mouth again. She tried to take his hand off, but he shushed her.

"I can't believe she thought she was all that," a woman said. She looked to him in worry. He took her hand and entered the janitorial closet with her. It was completely dark and cramped, and they were pressed up against each other due to limited space.

She held his shoulder to balance herself, and he held her waist with one hand while the other was on the shelf behind her. Her face was up against his chest. 'He...smells nice...' she thought as she breathed in his cologne. 'Wait! This is no time to think about that when you're in this position!'

'Did she just smell me?!' he thought to himself in surprise. 'Gah, this position really isn't helping with this situation...' A blush crept up both their faces. She moved her hand around for a light switch and caught it then pulled on it. A bright, yellow light shined above the room. She looked up at him, and his face was portraying shock. As quickly as the light appeared, it disappeared.

"Why'd you-" she started in a whisper.

"You're going to expose us. They can see the light from outside," he whispered next to her ear, giving her goosebumps.

Her face felt flushed, and her heartbeat quickened. 'What is this?! This has never happened before!' thought Anneliese. "U-Um, A-Archer. How l-long are we going t-to stay in here?" she asked in a stutter.

'She's nervous...it's..cute...' he thought as a small smile formed on his lips. "Uh, just a few more seconds to make sure," he answered.

"How does my hair look?" the woman asked her colleague.

"It's fine," her colleague answered. The sounds of their footsteps retreated soon after, and he opened the door.

He checked their surroundings then led her out by the wrist. He pulled her with him towards the elevator. "What are you doing? The office is the other way," said Anneliese.

"What am I doing? I'm getting you out of here!" he exclaimed, and his grip on her wrist tightened.

Her brows furrowed. "You're hurting me, Archer..."

He noticed and let go. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I just-"

"You care for me. I know...but...I care for you too..."

His eyes widened, and he looked into her eyes. She smiled a little and hugged him. He was shocked at first but soon returned it. "I want to help," she stated.

"You already did," he remarked, and they released each other. "You did your part. You have, right?"

She chuckled. "Yeah, no luck."

"Hm, that's bad, but hopefully we'll find something in the office tomorrow."

"We?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied with a smile, "we. Wanna accompany me tomorrow?"

Her eyes lit up, and her lips broke into a wide smile. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" She hugged him again in joy, and he chuckled then petted her head. "But no more sneaking."

"But isn't that the whole point, getting in unnoticed?" She raised a brow at him.

"Okay. A little sneaking, and no more secrets either," he added in.

"Oh, I've been meaning to tell you. I think I found the code to my father's safe in the office. It may hold the key to solving this whole issue."

"What?! Why didn't you say earlier?!" His brows knitted together, and she gave a sheepish smile.

"Also, we got to book it before the surveillance newbie comes back and notices what I did." She pressed the elevator button, and he threw his hands up.

"Anne!" he exclaimed, and she giggled then pulled him into the elevator with her.

. . .

As Anneliese entered the lobby of her apartment building, she checked the cluster mailbox for a letter from her father. 'He must be back from his trip already,' she thought. 'Bingo!' She pulled out the letter she was expecting. Settling on her couch, she opened the envelope and unfolded the letter.

Dear Anneliese,

Oh, my sweet daughter. It seems like the boy is interested in you. If you feel the same way, which I assume you do, I say go for it. Steal his heart before any other woman can. As for my trip, it was good. I saw something at a store and was immediately reminded of you. I got it, and I'm hoping to give it to you once we finally reunite, which I hope will be very soon.

Your father

She smiled at his support and encouragement. 'Father's always so understanding of me,' she thought. 'I wonder if Archer is actually interested in me.' She thought for a while before responding with her own letter.

Dear father,

Thank you so much for your encouragement. I love you so much, and I miss you. We'll soon be able to meet up. Also, I hope the item you got me is that new tea set you promised, lol. (It means laugh out loud, just in case you didn't know)

Anneliese

She chuckled at her last sentence. "I think father knows what 'lol' means though." She kept the letter in her drawer because she was too tired from today's events. She would send the letter tomorrow before she left for her stepfather's company.

Later into the night, at her stepfather's house, Gabriel was working in his study. He finished the last of his work and sighed as he took off his glasses. "It is finally time for some sleep," said Gabriel. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and blinked a few times then noticed something. "Huh, why is the camera light off?" He got up and went to the plant where the tiny camera was located.

"Ah, it must've run out of battery," he stated. He plucked it from the soil and brought it up to his room with him. He quietly turned on his laptop, for Karen was sleeping, and entered the software that was connected to the camera. 'Luckily, all the data is stored and backed up into a separate file so that there is no data loss if it runs out of battery. Let's get you charged,' thought Gabriel. He plugged the tiny camera into its charger. 'Huh, it's still got some battery life left. Why was it off then?'

He browsed through the current data that was recorded by the camera and found, to his dismay, that someone had tampered with it. The file was empty. 'Someone deleted my file.' He was starting to feel anxious. He quickly went to the other file to look at the missing footage, and what he saw felt like a stab to the heart. Fear rose in him like steam from boiling water. 'Anneliese...she went into my study and found the article on my company and Nathaniel's,' thought Gabriel. 'So she was suspicious of us...I've got to do something about this! I can't let her ruin all my hard work!'

He closed his laptop and went to bed with a plan in mind to stop her from destroying his life's work. 'There is no way she can present it to the police or law because it's just an article. A rumor. Yeah, that's it! I need to tell Karen first thing in the morning tomorrow. She'll know how to control Anneliese and deal with her.'