Prologue

"Come on, Emmi." A young woman in her twenties said with a hint of impatience in her voice to a schoolgirl who was a few steps behind her. A girl wore her school uniform of white shirt, green cardigan, grey skirt, and black shoes. Her pigtails dangled cheerfully with her energetic movements.

"But Evaaaa…" A girl moaned. "I am trying to make you a crown." She continued picking daisies from the patch of grass with complete disregard for the woman's pleading eyes and a passing time. They were going to be late if she didn't hurry up.

"What about this, Emmi? You will leave the crown making to after school. It's still early morning and the flowers haven't opened up yet. After school, when the Sun will shine high up in the sky, they will open and they will be even more beautiful. So, after school, you can make even prettier crown, and then we can go to get some ice cream and stop by the park. The weather is supposed to be so nice today." The woman smiled warmly. A girl named Emmi agreed, still looking unconvinced by the suggestion, but at least she started walking beside the woman.

"Did you say ice cream?" A second girl, looking like a slightly older version of Emmi, turned around with an excited spark in her eye.

"Yes, Suzie. I did say ice cream. We will go and get some after school." Eva answered.

"Don't be late." Suzie continued.

"I won't. I promise. Besides, I was late only once and it was because of traffic. And I did call your teacher to make sure that you knew!" Eva said defensively.

Her gaze fell onto a car with black tinted windows. She didn't know why but she felt like someone was watching. But she dismissed that feeling and continued walking down the road until she dropped off the two girls at their school.

Now that the girls were safely in school, she run towards the bus stop, nervously checking her watch. Her cheeks blushed in crimson red.

The bus was already there so she run even more frantically. Once inside she sat in the seat opposite the window. She saw the black car with tinted windows pass by the bus, clearly speeding.

But she quickly dismissed it as she took out her phone and started checking emails. She was going to be late to work again. She knew that she will hear an earful from her manager and she already dreaded it.

Half an hour later she walked into an office.

"Evelyn…" her manager sounded behind her in an overly friendly voice.

"Hi, Marjorie." Evelyn said as she bit her tongue.

"I have a deal for you. You finish this lovely new project by tomorrow morning and I'll bar my eye at your lateness."

"Oh, Marjorie." Evelyn was surprised, until Marjorie passed her a pile of documents.

"If you have it done when you come in tomorrow, I will be more forgiving."

"But that's at least a two days worth of work." Evelyn mumbled.

"You better get started then."