Lora stayed with Aika for a few days. Aika told Lora she planned to move to the same area Lora lived in over the next few days. Since this apartment was furnished when she came, Aika only had a few items to bring with her. Lora had space for Aika anyway, even before she came back. Lora helped Aika get ready to leave. If Grayson were tracking Lora, Aika's apartment would be where he'd most likely go. Lora's quick work allowed her to finish packing everything for her friend in a day. Aika headed out with her as well, with the little luggage she had from her apartment.
Lora froze outside the apartment. She saw a Bugatti in a bright honey-gold colour. She knew that car. Grayson would always get high-quality cars with high prices, all in that colour. Lora's favourite colour. Even while she was gone, Grayson always got cars in that colour. Aika knew the colours and types of cars Grayson used, and it made it easy to spot him. Lora wasted no time and called down a taxi, and Lora and Aika got into the car and put their luggage in with them, and the car was off before Grayson could even get close. Lora looked back out of pure panic and saw Grayson stop at Aika's apartment and get out. He stormed in as if he owned it.
Before this, Lora had checked the back of her phone and found a tracker stuck to the battery. Grayson wasn't even near her home overseas for two years. She didn't know how he managed to do this when she had no idea how he did this. Seeing the tracker freaked Aika out. Lora used a knife and managed to get the tracker off without damaging the battery. Lora left the tracker on the counter of Aika's old apartment before getting the taxi.
"So, we go straight to your place, right?" Aika asked, still freaked out.
"Yes, then figure out what the hell is going on," Lora said, rubbing her left shoulder out of nervous habit. She was overwhelmed still. Not just with Grayson acting psychotic, but also learning that she was living someone else's life entirely for the last twenty years. She didn't know if she was who she thought she was anymore. Even if she didn't know, she still lived another person's life. Her nails practically tore into her skin, drawing blood. Aika saw this and placed her hand on Lora's right shoulder. Lora jumped and looked at her, then at her shoulder and saw it was bleeding. She pulled her nails out of her shoulder. Aika handed her some tissues to clean up. Lora took them and wiped up the blood. She was a mess, inside and out.
Soon enough, the taxi came to the airport. Lora paid for the taxi, and the duo went inside with their luggage. Lora paid for the tickets to leave as soon as possible. Thankfully, the plane leaving soon was in the next two minutes, and was boarding now. Lora almost dragged Aika with her through security and to the plane's boarding area. The plane had many free seats, and the duo's seats were right next to each other. They put away their luggage. Lora looked out the window, and Aika watched her friend with worry. She didn't say anything, knowing that Lora needed her space to think, so she never pried into what was going on in her head. Last time anyone tried, she completely walled herself up inside. Aika never pushed that boundary. Grason didn't either, but would watch her like she was going to run away at some point. Even someone like him had enough decency to avoid pushing boundaries that were off-limits. The sun began to set by the time take off began. Lora had barely noticed how fast the day went by. She was just tired and wanted to go home, where the people who she thought were family were not living.
Aika settled in her seat to sleep and just wanted her friend's mind to settle. Lora couldn't sleep. She kept thinking back on how Grayson acted, how he was so... much compared to before. Yes, before he was overbearing and possessive of Lora, but the moment he knew she wasn't related to him by blood, he acted like he was making moves on someone who was never raised as his sister. It was like she was seeing someone she couldn't recognize in any way. It was true she left to go overseas to get away from Grayson, but she never imagined he would be worse with her when they found out about the baby swap. Her mind was too loud for her to sleep on the plane. She began to wonder if her parents, the real parents, knew and didn't care, as long as their daughter had a good life. If that was the case, what about that Katherine? Did she not have a good life to live? Why was she there in the family home with the parents that raised Lora instead of the parents that raised her?
"This doesn't make any sense," Lora said aloud, quietly. She was tired, but couldn't sleep. She was angry, but had no energy to scream. She was sad, but too exhausted to cry. She was confused, but couldn't pinpoint who to ask why her life was falling apart like this. All she could do was stare out her window as the lights shut off for the plane's trip. She knew her life was only going to get much worse. She stayed in the family business because she thought it would always be a place for her, but now, she was faced with this. She made up her mind on one thing. She was going to leave the company and find work in what she enjoyed. The only hobby she had was making comics and publishing them online. She wasn't very good at it, or making them exactly as she wanted, but it gave her an income outside of business.