Annette grimaced as she drove her Hyundai Ioniq 5 through the upscale districts of the Sirius Zone.

The streets were wide and well-paved, with tree-lined sidewalks.

High-end retail stores and cafés were interspersed with sleek glass and concrete office buildings.

More than the architecture, it was the women milling around that made her skin crawl.

They were all attired in sleek skirt-suits, fitted dresses, and of course, the ubiquitous high-heels.

"Wow!" said Mikaela, as she looked around wide-eyed.

"No. Don't say that. This is oppressive," said Annette, her voice tight with anger.

Mikaela looked away from the window, and down at her lap, shuddering slightly at Annette's harsh tone.

Normally, Annette never ventured outside of Palm Springs, and the adjoining Boston Public School district.

However, she had to visit the Sirius Zone to be present at the supervised visitation of Mikaela and Ivan.

After she had found out that Ivan had treated Mikaela to a hot dog on his last visit, she had told Officer Vasquez that she would be there herself to supervise the next visit.

"Next time, I'm picking the place," muttered Annette furiously, as she parked the car near a massive park.

"Come on. Let's get this over with," she said, getting out of the car, and unceremoniously pulling a subdued Mikaela behind her.

"Parent of the year," thought Officer Vasquez scornfully, as she watched Annette and Mikaela from her patrol car.

"Hey there Princess," said Ivan, getting up from a park bench as Annette and Mikaela approached.

"Daddy!" squealed Mikaela, lighting up and running into Ivan's arms.

"Oof! You've gotten big!" said Ivan, as Mikaela nearly knocked him over with her hug.

"I missed you, Daddy," said Mikaela, snuggling into Ivan.

"Missed you too, Princess. How have you been?" asked Ivan, as Annette stood stiffly nearby, arms crossed.

"Good. School is fun," said Mikaela, looking up at Ivan with a smile.

"That's great to hear. What have you been learning about?" asked Ivan, sitting back down on the bench.

Mikaela was about to get on his lap, before she saw Annette's disapproving glare, and instead sat down next to him.

"I've started learning multiplication. It's hard, but I think I'm getting the hang of it," said Mikaela.

"Her history and English grades have been slipping," said Annette, cutting in.

"I wasn't asking you, Annette," said Ivan, as Mikaela flinched slightly.

"And next time, how about you come near the school? I hate driving all the way here," said Annette, her tone sharp.

"Fine, I'll do that," sighed Ivan. He gently put his arm around Mikaela's shoulders.

"All right, Princess. What else have you been up to? How are your friends?" he asked.

"Well, there's a new girl in my class. Her name is Anna, and she's pretty and nice," said Mikaela, brightening a little.

"That's nice, Princess. I'm glad that you're making friends," said Ivan.

"I asked Mommy if I could invite Anna over, but she said no," pouted Mikaela.

"And why not?" asked Ivan, raising an eyebrow.

"Because her father is that shark of a lawyer you hired," said Annette, her tone icy.

Ivan's expression darkened slightly, but he kept his tone light.

"Well, it's quite unfortunate that you hold the child responsible for the actions of the parent. But that's your decision, Annette," he said.

"Yes, it is," said Annette, her tone hardening.

"All right, Princess. Let's not let Mommy's bad mood spoil our time together. How about we go get some ice-cream?" suggested Ivan.

"No you cannot," said Annette firmly.

"Excuse me?" asked Ivan, surprised.

"I said no. We're leaving now," said Annette, grabbing Mikaela's hand and standing up.

"Annette, it's just ice-cream," said Ivan, standing up as well.

"No. We're leaving," repeated Annette, pulling Mikaela away from Ivan.

"Mommy, please. I want ice-cream," pleaded Mikaela, looking up at Annette with big eyes.

"No! No ice-cream! You can have some vegan frozen yogurt when we get home," said Annette, her tone final.

"Vegan frozen yogurt?" asked Ivan, raising an eyebrow.

"Shut up, Ivan! Just shut up! I've had it! You're not seeing Mikaela again!" shouted Annette, pulling Mikaela towards the parking lot.

"Daddy!" screamed Mikaela, struggling to break free of Annette's grip.

"Annette, let her go!" said Ivan, stepping forward.

"Stay back!" screamed Annette, her eyes wild.

"Mommy, please don't be mad at Daddy. We'll not get ice-cream," sobbed Mikaela, tears streaming down her face.

"Quiet!" barked Annette, dragging a sobbing Mikaela towards the parking lot.

"Ms. Petra, I need to stop you right there," said Officer Vasquez, stepping out of her patrol car and approaching Annette.

"Back off! I'm taking my daughter home," said Annette, her tone hard.

Officer Vasquez toyed with the idea of arresting Annette for child abuse, but decided against the firestorm of paperwork that would follow.

Instead, she kept her tone calm and professional.

"Ms. Petra, I understand that you're upset, but you cannot deny Ivan his visitation rights. You can discuss any issues you have with the court," she said.

"Then that's what I'll do! Now get out of my way! I'm going home with my daughter," said Annette, unlocking her car, and shoving Mikaela into the back seat.

Officer Vasquez sighed, and got into her own patrol car - a new hybrid SUV that had been acquired by the newly formed Boston Police Department.

She started the engine, and followed Annette's car at a discreet distance.

----

Annette drove home as fast as she could, her knuckles white on the steering wheel.

The familiar streets of Palm Springs, finally came into view, and she let out a sigh of relief.

She pulled into her driveway, and got out of the car, slamming the door behind her.

Mikaela got out of the back seat, and ran into the house.

With a sigh, Annette went into the house, and locked the door behind her.

She went into the kitchen, and poured herself a glass of cheap boxed wine.

"All right, Annette. You can do this. Just stay calm," she muttered to herself, as she took a sip of the wine.

Sip after sip, she finally drained the glass, before pouring herself another.

"I should get another restraining order against him. I'm sick of him indulging Mikaela," she muttered to herself, as the wine dulled her senses.

----

Mikaela lay on her bed, curled up in a ball, sniffling softly.

"Why does Mommy hate Daddy so much?" she wondered, tears streaming down her face.

"Is it me? Does mommy hate Daddy because of me?" she asked herself softly.

Her stomach rumbled slightly, and she realized that she was hungry.

Cautiously, she got out of bed, and crept downstairs.

She saw Annette sitting at the dining table, draining another glass of wine.

Fear crept through her, and she quickly retreated back upstairs, and into her room.

She lay back down on her bed, and hugged her stuffed teddy bear tightly.

"Maybe Mommy will be nice to me in the morning," she thought, as she drifted off to sleep.

----

"I think I need to sue for custody again Stefan," said Ivan, as he sat in Stefan's office.

"After what you've told me. I think I agree. For now, let's get some surveillance on Annette and Mikaela. If we have a solid evidence trail, there's no judge on earth who would deny you custody," said Stefan.

"All right, let's do this," said Ivan, determination in his voice.

"Before that, how are the alimony payments holding up?" asked Stefan.

"I've been keeping up with them," said Ivan.

"Good. Because if you fall behind, that could be used against you in court," said Stefan.

"I understand. I'll make sure to keep up with them," said Ivan.

"All right, if Annette pulls another restraining order, we'll deal with it. For now, see if you can get those PI's to start surveillance," said Stefan.

"Will do. Thanks Stefan," said Ivan, getting up to leave.

----

"Natasha, Can you put me in touch with a good PI that you know? I can't keep asking you to do this for me," said Ivan as he entered the antechamber of Aaron's office where Natasha had her security desk.

"That won't be necessary, Dad. Natasha, I'm putting you in charge of the surveillance. You can liason with the SZPD detectives to get a round the clock surveillance going," said Aaron, stepping out of his office.

"I'll get on it right away, Master Zakhrov," said Natasha, her hands already flying over her keyboard.

"You sure about this son?" asked Ivan.

"Yes, I'm sure. But for now, I need you to go over some stuff with me," said Aaron, leading Ivan into his office.

"All right," said Ivan, following Aaron into his office.

----

"I see. You want to make this nuclear control system even more secure," said Ivan, as he looked over the code Aaron had written.

"I might have a potential saboteur in my ranks. I want to make sure they can't do anything," said Aaron.

"All right. I can help you with that. You're already capturing everything including fingerprints through these doors of yours, so having a two-person authentication system should do the trick. No tech can shut down or override the system without your biometric authentication," said Ivan.

"All right, let's get coding," said Aaron, cracking his knuckles.

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