The Emperor Heir

Chapter 2: He Came Back

The next day, Sophia had almost forgotten about the stranger — or told herself she had. Almost.

She caught herself glancing at the door for the third time in ten minutes and made herself stop. He'd been a customer. A handsome, infuriatingly calm customer who'd laughed after she ruined his shirt — but a customer.

"You're distracted," her mother said, arms folded, appearing behind her like she always did.

"I'm not."

"You've checked that door three times."

"Mom."

Margaret only smiled and walked off, which was somehow worse than anything she could have said. Sophia scrubbed the counter harder than it needed and told herself, again, to let it go.

By lunch the café was slammed, and she didn't have a spare thought for anything beyond orders and plates. She ducked out of the kitchen with a tray and nearly walked straight into someone.

She looked up. It was him.

Dressed differently — dark sweater, charcoal coat — but unmistakably him.

"You came back," she said.

"I did."

"Why?"

"I wanted coffee."

"You could've gone anywhere."

"Probably." He didn't explain further, and she decided not to push.

"Sit down. Only customers who survive my coffee get a second round."

He took the same table by the window. She brought him a coffee and the cinnamon roll without being asked.

"Is it safe?" he asked.

"Depends whether you've forgiven me for yesterday."

"I already did."

"Then you're safe."

He ate. She lingered, and before she could stop herself, asked, "Why are you really here? In Hammondsport, I mean."

"Property business." He glanced around — the worn counter, the repaired chair by the window. "You don't look like this place is easy to run."

"It's my family's café. I've worked here since I could reach the counter."

"That explains why you're good at it."

"Are you complimenting me?"

"Yes."

"That's new. Most people complain first."

"Then your customers have bad judgment." A pause, then, quieter: "I like the person who works here."

Neither of them said anything for a second. Sophia busied her hands with a napkin that didn't need folding, aware of exactly how much that had landed and unwilling to let him see it.

"You're very confident," she said finally.

"I know."

She retreated to the counter half-laughing, half-flustered, and didn't look back at him until she had to.

He stayed almost an hour — no calls, no rush, just talking whenever she had a free minute. When his phone finally rang, he answered, said "I'll be there soon," and stood to leave.

"Leaving?"

"For now. I'll come back."

"You keep saying that."

"Because I mean it."

He was nearly at the door when she spotted his wallet on the table.

"Adrian!"

He turned. She held it out. "You forgot this."

He looked at it, then at her. "Keep it. Now I'll have a reason to come back."

She was still standing there, mouth slightly open, when he smiled and walked out. A driver opened his door before he'd even reached the car. She watched it pull away, then looked down at the wallet still in her hand.

She opened it just enough to find the ID.

*Adrian Emperor.*

The name snagged on something — her father's voice, careful and low, the way people in town always said it. The Emperor family. The ones who owned half of Hammondsport and everything built on top of it.

Her stomach dropped.

The man she'd been trading jokes with for a day now wasn't just some rich stranger. He was an Emperor. And if the rumors were true, he was the one who'd inherit all of it.

She closed the wallet slowly, standing in the doorway of her family's café, with no idea what she was going to say the next time he walked through that door.