The next morning, Chano woke up to the smell of high-end espresso and the sounds of a woman losing a fight with a kitchen appliance. He walked in to find Rina, draped in a silk robe, glaring at her tablet as if it had insulted her family.
"Your toaster is running on prehistoric firmware, Chano-san. The browning levels are mathematically inconsistent. I'm rewriting the heating algorithm," she said, her eyes never leaving the screen.
Chano rubbed his face, still half-asleep. "Rina, it's just bread. It doesn't need an algorithm."
Before he could even grab a mug, the front door didn't just open—it chimed a melodic, choral welcome. The heavy oak swung wide, and Bella Aragon swept in, followed by two assistants lugging designer suitcases. She was in a full power suit, looking like she was minutes away from hostilely taking over a small country.
Then she stopped. Her eyes did a slow, lethal scan from Chano—shirtless and looking like he'd just crawled out of a cave—to Rina, who was looking entirely too comfortable in her robe.
"Bella?" Chano blinked. "What are you doing here? We don't have a meeting."
The Ownership Card
Bella's eyes turned into frozen daggers. A cold, corporate smile touched her lips—the kind of smile she usually reserved for rivals she was about to bankrupt.
"Chano," she said, her voice dropping into a dangerously sweet register. "I was checking the security logs for my building this morning. I noticed an unauthorized biometric signature had claimed the guest suite of my apartment."
Rina didn't back down. She stood up, crossing her arms. "I'm the Lead Architect of Aragon Aegis, Bella. I'm conducting a 24/7 security audit on our most vital asset. It's strictly... professional."
"Is that so?" Bella dismissed her assistants with a sharp flick of her wrist. She turned back to Chano. "Well, it's a good thing I'm here. You see, when I 'gifted' you this place, I technically kept the title under the Aragon Holding Group for tax reasons. Since we have 'security concerns' big enough for an architect to move in, I can't exactly stay in a hotel, can I?"
She dropped her handbag on the island like she was planting a flag. "I'm taking the Master Suite. Chano, you're in the second guest room. Since we're so worried about safety, I've decided to move the headquarters here. Permanently."
Three's a Crowd
Chano looked from the billionaire who owned the walls to the genius who had hacked the locks.
"Wait a minute," Chano said, hands up. "This isn't a dormitory. This is my home."
"It's a fortress, 'tol!" Philip's voice chirped from the hallway. He walked in carrying a gym bag and a motorcycle helmet. "Ma'am Bella called. She said since all the 'brains' are in one spot, we need the muscle here too. I'll take the sofa! Don't worry, I shower... mostly."
Marco followed behind him, looking genuinely apologetic. "Sorry, Chano. CEO's orders. The General's people are still out there. Keeping you all in one place makes my job a lot easier."
The Digital Cold War
By noon, the apartment was a war zone.
Bella had a professional chef in the kitchen, but he was currently on the verge of tears because Rina kept trying to "optimize" the induction stove's magnetic frequency.
Bella sat at the dining table, her laptop open as she looked at Chano. "Chano, I need your eyes on these acquisition files."
"Master! Don't touch it!" Elijah's voice screamed in Chano's ear. "It's a trap! Rina just uploaded a 'Jealousy-Bot' to the local network. If you open Bella's files, Rina has the fire sprinklers set to trigger automatically!"
Chano sat on a barstool and buried his face in his hands. It was pure chaos: Philip was doing push-ups in the hall, Rina and Bella were currently having a staring contest over a pot of coffee, and his quiet sanctuary had turned into a high-stakes reality show.
"Master," Elijah whispered, sounding a little too entertained. "I think the Scorpion Group was easier to handle than this."
Chano looked up. Both women were staring at him, waiting for him to pick a side.
"I'm going to the balcony," Chano muttered. "Do not talk to me unless something is actually on fire."
"Oh, something is definitely going to blow, 'tol," Philip whispered as he walked past. "And I don't think it's a bomb."