Triggered.

"Damn!" Ethan rose up from the couch, where he had drifted off to sleep while waiting for Shikera. His face was deathly pale as a result of the terrifying nightmare he just had, and his clothes were drenched in sweat.

The recognition of where he was dawned on him and a string of curses fell from his mouth. How could he have fallen asleep so easily? His eyes flicked to the clock and when he saw that it was almost midnight, he rose to his feet and slipped his legs into the slippers lying beside the couch he had been sitting on.

The slippers were purple.

He hurried up the stairs to Shikera room, wondering if she came home yet. She had been annoyed this morning so it wouldn't surprise him if she decided that she was not going to sleep at home that day. Though he was prepared to search for her to the ends of the earth if she happened not to be in her room that night.

Pushing open the door, the room he expected to be dark, was actually dimly lit. While the woman he was looking for, was sitting on the floor with her head on the lone sofa in the room.

The sofa was littered with brown files, some lying face down while the rest of them were piled on top of themselves. The source of the dim light was the bedside lamp, which Shikera had brought to the sofa to lighten up the area.

Ethan walked closer to her, wondering why she was motionless, only to discover that she had fallen asleep. He bent down till he was at the same level as her face, before reaching his hand out to touch her long, curly eyelashes.

"No difference," he whispered, taking in her innocent sleeping expression before averting his gaze.

His eyes roved the folders lying on the couch, while lingering on some of them. It seemed she had been working late before she fell asleep.

He tapped her lightly on her back, calling, "Shikera..."

He watched as she stirred lightly, raising her head in the process while her eyelashes fluttered open. She tried to stand up from the chair and he assisted her, seeing that she was still half asleep. A pen fell from her hands as she did and he looked down to see that she had been writing something on a sheet earlier, before drifting off to sleep.

A name on the paper she had been writing on caught his eyes and one of his hands reached out for it, releasing Shikera in the process as she wandered to her bed, throwing herself on it as soon as she could.

" Four Years Old Case: Superstar MD Fakes Death, Trying To Trick Reporters!" Ethan's eyes hardened, his hands balling into fists as he read the title of what Shikera had written.

His heart began to beat, faster and faster, till he was finding it hard to breath. He could feel his chest pounding in fury as his veins throbbed painfully. He was already angry enough that everyone seemed to believe what the news said about Mignon, but would she also believe it?

The words on the paper in his hands were being written by her which meant that she had been trying to write an article. She was trying to write an article about the very wound of his that refused to heal!

Coming to that conclusion, he tore the paper in his hands into shreds and walked out of the room, the anger in his heart not subsiding. If he stayed one moment longer in that room, he would not be able to control his actions against her.

He took out his phone and texted Raymond, his feet taking him down the stairs at the same time. By the time he opened the door, Raymond and Ruthlyn were waiting outside, dressed in black and panting.

They could feel his anger and displeasure from where they were standing, and the feeling was very familiar to them. They knew very well what was going to happen tonight. Ethan DeLoach had been triggered and nothing would be able to stop him.

"Sir—" Raymond tried to ask him what had made him angry even though he knew how risky his actions were. He didn't need to worry though, since Ethan was still clouded by the anger of what he had seen upstairs and couldn't be bothered with punishing Raymond for it.

"She was trying to write an article on Mignon," he answered, smirking evilly. "She looked so innocent that I thought she could be a little bit different, but she's the same. Wanting to reopen someone else's wound just so she can write an article!"

Raymond and Ruthlyn were able to make up the rest of the story themselves. It seems that Miss Anderson had wanted to write an article out of the incident four years ago which had made Ethan DeLoach hate reporters, and this was why their Boss was now angry.

The only thing they could do right now was to pity the people who would suffer for this, and they themselves who would suffer a sleepless night for this.

"Do we..." Raymond trailed off at the glare Ethan threw at him.

"The three board members at Anderson Corporation, give them a gift. We won't be going there tomorrow so none of them should be allowed to tender any plea!"

"Yes Sir!" Raymond exclaimed, his voice firm.

Ethan continued, "And you, Ruthlyn..."

"Yes Sir!"

"If there's no other news for her to report on, make news for her. Starting from tomorrow!"

"Yes Sir!"

"We will be sparring in the open air tonight." He concluded.

The next morning was calm, as Shikera had forgotten all about Ethan leaving for a month without informing her. She packed up the Code Z folders she had been studying the previous night, while trying to remember when she tore the paper whose shreds laid on the floor.

"Good morning Ethan!" She greeted when she got to the kitchen, but the reply she got was silence.

"Ethan?" She called again, thinking he hadn't heard her but the man simply set her food on the table and walked out of the kitchen.

"Is he on his period?" She murmured under her breath as she watched him walk away. She had wanted to ask him about Erica Jordan since she could feel the girl and her friends were suspicious.

It was probably as a result of the kind of family she came from, but she always liked to investigate the ties of anyone who came close to her. This way, those with ill motives were easily fished out and destroyed.

Her phone rang and she picked the incoming call, sighing as she did. Why was the sleepyhead Cyprian calling her this early morning?

"Kera! We are at Lucian Rays Hospital right now; Country A's president has just been brought here and Team Leader requires our presence!"

Shikera was just a little bit surprised. Since their Team Leader had informed them that they would be working more on the field, she had expected it. The only thing left for her to do now was to visit her doctor for check ups every week given that she would now be undergoing five times the stress of previous times.

She hurriedly finished her food and rushed out of the house, not wanting to take long before getting to Lucian Rays hospital.