Here you are, Chapter 28! In the next chapter, Daphne will know who the woman is. Stay tuned! Do leave a review! - (8/8/2016)
Chapter 28:
Tiara snuck into one of Rick's subordinates' office. She was searching for information about Rick and Daphne's father. She found an envelope with Rick's name on it in a handwriting she recognized. Before she could open it, she heard footsteps and people talking so she rushed to hide in the darkness. Two men came in.
"Are you sure you don't want to report this to the boss?" the first man asked.
"Not yet. I want to see how she handles this situation," the second one said.
"Huh…? I know this voice…" Tiara whispered to herself.
"Why are you trying your best to ruin the Aldrin family?" the first one asked.
"I am simply trying to help boss. That is all," the second one replied.
Tiara silently growled. They started telling each other their plans to get rid of Daphne and shockingly, Rick as well. She slipped out of the locker after they had left. She had recorded the whole conversation.
"I have to warn Mana and Miss…" she said, running into the forest nearby.
She made her way back to the mansion. The woman was waiting for her, playing with her cats. She had seven of them. Tiara watched as they backed away when she approached the woman.
"Any leads?" she asked Tiara.
"Yes. I found out Arnold is one of Rick's men," Tiara explained, handing the woman the recording.
"Hmmm…do not speak about me to Arnold. Tell Mana this as well. I want to see how far he will go in helping Rick and lying to Daphne. Bring him to me if he ever tries to harm her," the woman ordered.
"As you wish, Miss…" Tiara nodded.
"I wish to meet Daphne soon as well," the woman muttered.
"You should attend Delphinium's death anniversary," Tiara suggested.
The woman hummed and replied, "I shall think about it."
Tiara went back to Aldrin manor after that. Mana was busy watering the plants in the lawn. She smiled at Tiara as a greeting. Tiara started telling her what she had found.
"I can't believe Arnold is one of them!" Mana exclaimed angrily.
"Yes. He's very good at hiding it. No wonder Miss Delphinium knew nothing about the bombs," Tiara remarked.
"I feel kind of bad because I was the one who introduced him to her…" Mana said sadly.
Tiara hugged her best friend. "It's not your fault. It was hard to see through that innocent eyes of him," she said.
Mana nodded. Silence filled the air for a few minutes. Mana suddenly remembered something to inform Tiara.
"Miss Daphne came by and asked if the preparations for Miss Delphinium's death anniversary are done," she said.
"Are they?" Tiara asked.
Mana nodded. "Yes. One thing is left on the list…inviting the Teen Titans."
"That's going to be a little hard since Miss Daphne only wants Starfire and Blue Beetle to come…" Tiara remarked.
Mana nodded, agreeing with her partner. Silent filled the atmosphere. The breeze gently brushed against the two. Mana fixed her hair. Tiara looked up to the sky. Both of them were wearing a smile.
"It has been a year…" Tiara muttered, sighing.
"Yes…one year she had left us…" Mana replied, sighing too.
Tiara excused herself to head to her room to change her clothes. Doing a spy work in broad daylight was not her style but it was what asked by her best friend. Mana went in to prepare something to eat.
Daphne was busy sorting out some papers when Bruce's secretary smashed her hand at her desk. She was surprised, suddenly letting go her hold on the papers in her hands. It scattered onto the floor. She widened her eyes.
"I need you to type this out and send it to Mr. Wayne immediately!" she ordered.
Daphne glanced up at the secretary's gleaming eyes. Sighing, she replied, "Yes…okay…"
The secretary huffed and chuckled to herself. She walked away, looking satisfied. Daphne sighed. She collected the papers scattered on the floor, placed it on the side of her desk and went on to do what the secretary had asked her.
Some of Bruce's workers didn't like looking at her relationship with him, so they would bully her and push her to do works beyond her limits. Daphne didn't mind as she knew her place all too well. She didn't want to create problems for Bruce, so she never reported any problems to him. Whenever he asked, she would flash a smile and say that everything was okay.
Shirley and Max paid a visit to Daphne at the office that day. Bruce didn't mind at all. They were waiting for her to finish up her work. They wanted to invite her to hang out with them.
"I'm not dressed for such an occasion," Daphne said.
"Oh, come on! It's just dinner!" Shirley complained.
"Yeah, we made a reservation for you!" Max added.
Daphne sighed at her two best friends. She smiled and gave in to their pleas. The two cheered. Shirley pulled Daphne into a hug. The girl knew why they were doing this. It was her birthday that day. Bruce knew and he had gotten her a necklace with a kitten locket. She put it on the moment she got it. Alfred had baked her favorite cake for her to devour for the rest of the week.
"Let's get going then," Max said.
"I'll drive you there," Bruce said.
The three nodded to him. Bruce was glad that Daphne was having a good time with her friends. He suddenly wondered how his son was doing with the Teen Titans. It had been three weeks since his last contact with Damian. He wondered how the boy was doing. Daphne was staring at the ring Delphinium had given her.
"Master Damian…" Bruce heard her muttered.
The man flashed a smile at her words. Daphne kissed the ring and held it close to her chest. Bruce rubbed the girl's shoulder to comfort her. Shirley and Max exchanged a look. She shrugged while Max looked down at his hands. They missed him too.
"I got your back!" Raven assured Damian as she blocked an attack from Garfield.
They were doing an evening sparring together and against each other one day. Damian jumped away when Garfield attempted to charge at him in his rhinoceros form. Raven backed away, deciding to watch them spar instead of joining in. Damian was already sweating but Garfield wasn't having a hard time at all. She secretly smiled at the two boys. Coincidently at the time, a letter came for Jaime. It was an invitation from Daphne. He scratched his head and decided to consult Starfire about it.
"Kori…we have a situation," he started when he popped his head by her door.
"What is it?" Starfire asked.
He showed her the invitation. She widened her eyes at it. Jaime asked whether he should go or not. The woman smiled, handing him back the invitation.
"Why not? I'll send you there," Starfire said.
"But…what about Gar, Raven, and Damian?" Jaime asked, worried.
"I'll handle them," she muttered, glancing up at the confused Jaime, "I'll drive you up first thing in the morning."
Jaime obliged. He went back to his room after that. He bumped into Damian and Raven who was busy discussing some things. They saw the sad look on his face.
"What's with him?" Damian asked.
"I don't know. Something's happened maybe?" Raven shrugged.
Starfire exited her room looking as happy as always. She saw the two and smiled. She went up to them. They immediately stopped their discussion and turned to look at her.
"I need the two of you to run an errand for me tomorrow," she started.
"What errand?" Damian asked.
"It's nothing hard. I just need you to buy some groceries and pick some things up," she explained.
Raven and Damian turned to look at each other before turning back to Starfire.
Shrugging, the hooded girl said, "Sure I guess…"
"Great! Thank you very much!" Starfire said, delighted.
Damian and Raven were confused as to why they were the ones who had to do it. They didn't ask many questions, though. They started walking to the kitchen.
"Are you going to visit her anytime soon?" Raven asked Damian.
"I'm sure she's fine," Damian muttered.
"You're still wearing the ring," the girl said to him.
"It's a gift from her and the only memento, after all…" he replied.
"Do you…really like her?" she suddenly asked.
Damian stopped walking. He turned to look at Raven who was avoiding his eyes. She didn't want him to think she was jealous. She was just concerned about him and Daphne. Damian pondered for two minutes, trying to get his thoughts straight.
"I do...I guess…" he muttered, scrunching his face angrily, "I don't know!"
Raven was surprised at his outburst. He took a deep breath and regained his composure. He apologized and left her after that. She was still surprised at how messed up the boy was. Her lips curved into a smile. She was glad that Damian's feelings for Daphne never died even though they had been separated for a year.
Daphne was wearing a black halter dress and black high heels. She greeted another guest which claimed to have known her sister. She had asked Tiara and Mana to distribute the invitations secretly with the help of everyone around her. She didn't want this occasion to reach Rick's ears. Tiara made sure that Arnold didn't know as well because there was a chance that the woman would show up. She and Mana were busying themselves with the food. Daphne had organized a dinner to thank the people who had come.
"So, what did you tell Miss Daphne?" Mana asked.
"I told her Arnold couldn't make it..." Tiara replied, grinning sheepishly.
Tiara had taken the obligation to inform Bruce and Dick about the new threat. The two made sure that Arnold would have a hard time contacting Daphne, but not too hard because they didn't want him to know that they were onto him. Daphne came by to the kitchen to help them out.
"Master Bruce are entertaining the guests. They're asking what will become of the new Aldrin building," she sighed.
Tiara and Mana nodded. They let her help them. They knew that the building made her remember her precious sister. Delphinium may have given her some bad times but she is her sister and no matter what, Daphne would love her. Daphne started to wash the vegetables that were going to be made into salads.
"Miss Daphne," Alfred called when she was busy.
She turned around to see Alfred with two other people. She widened her eyes in disbelief. She was touched that they could make it. Starfire and Jaime stood at the door to the kitchen. Daphne rushed to hug them. Kori hugged her back but Jaime found it to be awkward. He was never hugged by a girl before.
"I missed you guys..." she sobbed.
She pulled away, looking at the two. Jaime smiled at her. Starfire patted her head a few times.
"I'm only here to drop off Jaime. I'll pick him up tomorrow," Starfire explained.
"Yeah. Or else Gar would be asking questions again," Jaime continued the explanation.
Daphne nodded. "I understand. Take care, Kori..."
Starfire nodded. Tiara handed her a goodie bag full of souvenirs. The woman took it and went on her way again. Daphne showed Jaime to the living room. All eyes were on them as they approached Bruce. The man was surprised to see Blue Beetle, dressed formally for an occasion with his usually visible scarab on his back.
"So glad you could make it. Daphne did mention that she invited you," Bruce said.
"Yeah. I used to be her loyal listener back at the tower," the boy explained.
"She must love having you here then," the man remarked.
Daphne pulled Jaime to meet her two best friends, Shirley and Max. The boy was nervous to see more people of his age.
"These two are my best companions in school," Daphne explained.
"Glad to finally meet her best listener," Max said to him.
"Always a pleasure to meet new people..." Jaime muttered.
"Well, how do you find Daphne to be?" Shirley asked.
"She's a very caring and kind girl...always thinks about others' needs before hers," Jaime replied.
"Sounded just like our Daphne," Dick interrupted.
All four turned to him. Daphne hugged him lovingly. He replied with a pat on the head. Shirley and Max decided to have some snacks and left the three to chat.
"Nightwing, right?" Jaime asked.
"It's so hard to hide my identity now that I have a sister..." Dick remarked.
"I just figured...the way she acts around you..." Jaime said, smiling at Daphne.
Daphne flashed a smiled too. Dick started telling Jaime about how Daphne ended up under Bruce's wing. Jaime told him about how Daphne was at the tower. The girl decided to excuse herself and head to the music room to be alone. She sat down by the piano. She started playing a melody. It was the first one that Delphinium has taught her.
"I miss you..." she whispered and bit her lower lip.
"That is a nice melody..." a voice said.
Daphne's eyes widened. She froze on the spot. The woman smiled at her reaction. She sat down by the window, waiting for Daphne to turn around. Daphne did, slowly. When she saw the woman, she was even more shocked.
"Huh?" she muttered.
"I should introduce myself..." she smiled at the girl.
