Is this destiny?

Jeff remembered how Oscar and Elanor never objected to his union with JoAnna, and they supported him in breaking up the agreement with Isabella. Was it because they approved of his choice? Or because they saw his union with JoAnna as a way to increase their power further?

Jeff looked at Stella and Edward while confirming to himself how Whites and Hills have a lot in common, and that includes manipulative parents. Maybe they did it with different goals, but in the end, both sets of parents lied to their kids and kept them in the dark while covertly guiding them in the direction of their choice.

Jeff held JoAnna's hand in his. "I hope that you know how under all these lies and schemes, my love for you is rock-solid. I approached you because I fell in love with you, and I still love you."

JoAnna smiled and pecked his lips before melting into his embrace.

Aiden saw that Jeff is troubled and he felt guilty that so far Jeff dealt with the Voronins in the White family on his own. "When we sort out the mess here, let's talk with our parents together."

Jeff looked at Aiden and nodded in agreement. He liked that Aiden volunteered his support.

Felix listened to this exchange and pulled Sophia to lean on him. He was happy that he is not part of this drama. It seems that his crazy-possessive-narcissistic mother is the least of their problems when looking at the extended family.

"What do you mean, sort out the mess?", Stella asked Aiden with panic in her voice. Didn't they just deal with the mess and it's over?

"We are going after Voronins.", Sarah responded.

Stella's anxiety swelled. "Now? Why don't you wait? You are pregnant. How about we leave whatever you want to do for after the baby is born?"

Stella looked at Aiden. "You understand that Sarah's safety should come first, right? You are safe here."

"Don't talk to Aiden like he is the weak link.", Sophia said before Aiden could respond to Stella. "We are all aware that the schemes don't stop with Lebedevs or Voronins. Each of us is a target because we don't know when one of your enemies will decide to use us as leverage against you. The net around us is complicated and neither of us is willing to stay in it a minute longer. By taking down the Voronins, we will reduce the threat and the sooner we start, the sooner we will finish. Now Sarah is pregnant, and tomorrow it might be Anna or me. It's never a good time to go to war, but it's not like we have a choice."

Felix shot a side-glance at Sophia when he heard her mention the possibility of being pregnant in the future. She told him after Valentin was born that there will be no more babies for them, but now… maybe that changed. Oh, he would love to impregnate her again! His biggest pride is to see Sophia with a big belly waddling through the house, because he did that! The sound of children's giggles fills their house and his heart as well, and he will do anything in his power to protect that. Even if that means going to war.

Stella felt that the room was spinning. She thought that Sarah is the reckless one, but now she saw that Sophia and JoAnna are supportive of Sarah's craziness. This was too much. Stella wanted a vacation, to disconnect from everything... but it was impossible because they had a lot on their plates to deal with.

"What will you do with Vasily's resources?", Stella asked Sarah.

Sarah was surprised by this change of topic. "What?"

"Gavril was interested in Vasily's resources. With Vasily gone, North America is without an Elder to look after it.", Stella explained.

Sarah frowned. "Vasily's body didn't cool off, yet vultures are gathering. Who else is interested?"

"Everyone.", Owen responded. "Vasily set up his troops to work independently. It was easy to manage, especially due to his brutal reputation which fended off any competition before they got any ideas of reaching where they shouldn't."

Sarah felt a headache coming. She didn't want to deal with this right away, but she remembered that Vasily wanted to clean up the Lebedevs and it seems that this is a perfect opportunity to see who cares about people and who is in it only for the money.

"I will talk to Konstantin about this.", Sarah said.

If anyone cares about the family, that is Konstantin. He proved it by staying as Sarah's proxy, lowering himself obediently without asking for anything in return, only so that the family does not plunge into chaos.

"We should not delay attacking Voronins.", Sophia advised.

Sarah agreed but… "We can't attack others efficiently if we have discord in our own house. We will be forced to watch our backs and risk someone betraying us again."

Sophia and JoAnna agreed with this.

Sarah turned to Aiden. "Love, I want you to meet with Hong and Zack and come up with ideas what might work for dealing with Voronins. Ideally, we will empty their warehouses, cut them off from the rest of the world, and shut them down as a threat permanently. Igor can also help you because he has firsthand experience. Until today, I hoped to take them down by minimizing violence but now that we reached this point, anything goes. The only person who can minimize bloodshed is Hong, if he agrees to take his rightful position. I know that we discussed you going for the title of an Elder, but if Hong does not take down Simeon, I don't want you to take that risk. When I'm done with Konstantin and the Elders, I will join you."

Aiden confirmed that he will handle planning for dealing with the Voronins. He was glad that Sarah delegated to him this duty, because he knows how she prefers to be involved in everything.

Felix went back to the lab to continue working on drones, and Jeff said that he will join Aiden in the planning session.

JoAnna and Sophia confirmed that they will accompany Sarah to meet with Konstantin.

"Set up a meeting with Konstantin in half an hour and ask him to summon all the Elders later today. I will talk to Ivan first.", Sarah told her sisters.

"What about us?", Stella asked.

Sarah shrugged. "At this point, we have two things to deal with. One is the stabilization of Lebedevs and the other one is the annihilation of Voronins. You know best where you can contribute."

When sisters walked out with their husbands, Stella asked: "What will we do?"

Edward chuckled. "So far, they didn't let us do anything and you complained. Now that you have a choice, you don't know which one to choose."

Stella shrugged. Well, Edward is right but… "We can contribute to both. I want your opinion on where we can help more."

"I will help them with Lebedevs.", Owen announced. "After all, I know the Elders and I can provide valuable insights."

"I will look at the data from the Voronin base and see if that can help them with planning the attack.", Edward said.

Stella exhaled. "When you put it that way, I bring more value in supporting Sarah and Konstantin than to plan an attack…"

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