It wasn't any surprise to either family when Amelia fell pregnant, but as it were, the stubborn Carusos were loathe to admit that their luxurious, transient lifestyle wasn't a stable one. Robert and Amelia spent more time in the air than they did on the ground, and a child had to learn to stand and walk somewhere. When Lauren Amelia Caruso was born, it was with great fanfare and concession that Robert announced he'd be taking on the role of CFO for Caruso Travel; deciding to ground his family permanently. All it took, he'd later claim, was his screaming daughter. Far more persuasive than the screaming of his personal assistant, anyway.

Despite the announcement, Amelia, it turned out, was the one taking primary care of the newest, most-delicate Caruso project. Robert did what he knew how to do; provide. He worked in the study, and he worked hard to ensure that Caruso was a name on every computer in the UK, the United States, and beyond. The Carusos were a proud family, a wealthy family, and the (exceptionally high) roof over their heads meant they were doing everything right, didn't it? Not exactly. Lauren was around three years old when her mother fell to the ground at afternoon tea. The word doctors kept using was 'stroke'. The Caruso child was far too young to know what words like 'debilitating' meant, too young to understand why mum wouldn't play anymore, or why dad wouldn't come outside. All Lauren knew was that her family wasn't the same, and when Amelia passed away a few weeks later, Lauren still couldn't identify why it'd happened. Her young age at the time was probably for the best: she'd never remember the weeks where Robert couldn't bear to face her.

Over the years, and under her father's (distant) wing, Lauren grew into a model young lady. She was mild-mannered, quiet, easily amused by books, and could find herself out on walks for hours. To Robert, a man who'd buried himself into his work more than ever before, she was a dream. To everyone else, something seemed to be a little bit off. It was odd that Lauren, daughter of one of the biggest commercial minds of present times, much preferred to have dirt under her fingernails, to nurse birds with broken wings and collect rocks. That was when Robert's new girlfriend Jacqueline entered the picture. Lauren needed a positive female influence, Hugo (the family butler) had said once, and Jacqueline was more than willing to shoulder the responsibility.

After years of playing the doting stepmother, Jacqueline'd been exposed, numerous times, to the inner workings of Caruso Travel. Suffice it to say, Robert's increasingly-bleeding heart, careless mind and fleeting attention-span did not bode well for business. When Jacqueline went after the family assets in a move that'd sliced betrayal throughout the home. Errol Caruso, brother to Robert and CEO of Caruso Travel, was not pleased, to say the least. In preparation for the worst, Robert took every avenue to gather what money he could to cushion what would be his daughter's future. Errol ex-communicated his brother, ousted him from his position (for the better of the company, he'd claim) immediately prior to drawing up an IPO at Jacqueline's suggestion. This move would split the Caruso family in half. Lauren only returned from boarding school to the family's Maui compound, plucked from her environs when word of her father's disappearance went public. Robert Caruso had been shamed so badly that he'd removed himself from the world, hidden himself away somewhere with no means of contact. Life had become too much for the lone Caruso to deal with on his own, it seemed.

The life that Lauren knew, the patchwork of care and love holding together moments of inexplicable loss, was snipped neatly at its seams again. She was all too thankful to wind up back at school after the press had died down, and was inappropriately eager to get far away from England for university. Lauren was an exemplary student in Hawaii; Hermione-Granger-jokes abounds. She cocooned herself away in textbooks, presentations, and museums -- all things at which she excelled: Lauren had no desire to pursue business, nor involve herself in her family's increasingly-tangled financial affairs. She chased anthropology and art history instead, two tangible things that satisfied her curious mind without miring her in sullied reputations or the pain that was back in England.

Five years later, With more sessions of family counselling and hours with a social worker than she'd ever like to admit, Lauren's friends whisked her away for a trip to South America on her twenty-first birthday. It was to see Peru, they said. Wasn't that where those mountain cities were? Is that where those adorable alpacas in the memes you love lived? Yes; it was also where Lauren was separated from her tour group, an oversight from -- ironically -- a company that Caruso Travel had once ended up hiring and Lauren's own curiosity. The introverted, slip of an heiress was left on her own for seventy-two hours in the South American scrub, 'missing heiress' headlines and all, injured and fending for herself. While doctors have explained that her spotty memories of the incident are due to a sustained concussion and post-traumatic stress, to this day, she still experiences severe panic attacks, and has taken large steps to mitigate them.

In more recent years, Lauren has continued taking numerous steps to normalize her life. She's beautiful, her money is plentiful, her past is mysterious, and socially, she's a bit of a firecracker; by all standards, she's a normal twenty-four year old. Hugo (still going strong in his eighties, bless him) is her remaining familial tie at the compound, and is all too thrilled at the idea of Lauren's teaching climbing lessons at the local gym. It keeps her occupied, he says, much like coordinating the building of a climbing wall and training course near the poolhouse keeps him as such.

Personality-wise, Lauren can be aloof -- lost in a daydream or idea -- but on the whole, is charming and dynamic, never without some short quip or opportunity to offer an impish grin. She is a survivor at her core; life seems hell-bent on convincing her of otherwise, but Lauren'll be damned if she doesn't drag everyone else to safety, even if it kills her. It's in her blood, after all. She's a Caruso.