Is this destiny?

In the master bedroom…

Sarah went to the sitting area and plopped on the sofa while releasing a deep breath slowly.

The soft clicking sound told her that Aiden closed the door behind him and with her peripheral vision, she could see that he is approaching her.

She is happy that he won against those six people and upset that he received a few additional hits. They were not much as he moved at the last moment to lessen the impact, but still... she is worried because he got quite a beating that morning from the Voronins when they captured them.

The fight in the arena ended and the restructuring of the Lebedev family started.

The Hill sisters didn't find time to discuss in detail how the Lebedev family will look once the reorganization is completed, but Sarah has a plan to make it work similarly to how the Voronin family is, with the Grand Elder as the main person and others that would be advisors and handling specific duties. No one will have independence because the Grand Elder (aka Sarah through her proxy Konstantin) will be in charge of everything. She knows that Elder Dimitri and Elder Milena (aka Stella) will take roles in the next order, supporting Konstantin who will work as Sarah's proxy... but that is as far as her plan goes. She will talk about this tomorrow with her sisters, before they open it up for a discussion with a wider audience. 

Sarah hopes that they will find a good solution that will allow her, Sophia, and JoAnna minimum involvement because Sarah is aware that neither of them is interested in staying here. Sophia is a lawyer, director at White corp., and a mother of three. JoAnna has LA Medical Center, Golden Ocean Resort, her lab, duties as Madam White, and a mother of two. And Sarah has her Army of Chaos, a job at White corp., several companies, a house full of kids, and one baby on the way. To summarize, neither of them has the time or the will to figure out the Lebedev family and to lead it, but they want to make sure that Lebedevs are not a threat anymore and that it runs smoothly.

After their fight with Aiden, the three Elders and their assistants all needed medical care for their injuries. Elder Milan and Elder Gavril were conscious and crying in pain, while others fainted due to Aiden releasing some stress as he used their bodies as punching bags.

"What do you plan to do with them?", Stella asked Sarah while they watched as six injured people were carried out of the arena.

Sarah shrugged, indicating that she is not sure. "They know too much to be allowed to leave. I don't want to waste resources in making sure they don't talk with our enemies. That is why we need to keep them close, but not too close so that they can cause damage."

Stella frowned in disapproval. "You will keep them alive?"

"They are greedy and malicious, but what they did does not guarantee the death penalty.", Sarah said.

Sarah hoped that they can collaborate with them. Those three Elders have a lot of knowledge about the Lebedev family and they can train others (if nothing else). Sure, Sarah would need to pump them with a mix of truth serum and obedience potion, but it's doable. It would be a pity just to lock them up and not make use of them.

Stella didn't agree with a soft approach. She believes that keeping them around is like playing with poisonous snakes that can bite them as soon as their vigilance drops. And no one can be vigilant forever. "Maybe their previous crimes are not much, but their resentment swelled with what you did. They will never give up trying to get back to the top."

"No one will support them.", Sarah responded.

"Maybe not openly, and maybe not enough to give them a chance to regain their positions, but they can cause problems within the organization.", Stella explained. "Tonight, they didn't lose just their status as Elders. They lost their pride, and you made a fool of them. None of them knows about the truth serum, but they are aware that something was off, and they will come for vengeance at the first chance they get."

Sarah was tired. It was a long day. "What do you suggest?"

"They can still be useful. We can take them to our medical facility to test drugs on them."

Sarah didn't want to argue. "I will leave it for you to handle."

Stella assured Sarah that she will take care of it.

"Sarah, remember that I told you how you can forgive others and set rules when you reach the top?" Sarah nodded and Stella continued. "You are at the top and in order to stay there, don't give your enemies a chance to backstab you. Every time you forgive someone, you are risking that it will backfire. Gavril on his own won't dare to come after you, but if he joins forces with a few others, they will find strength in numbers. Don't allow those numbers to grow to the point you can't handle."

"You are telling me to be ruthless."

Stella smiled. "Vasily would call that methodical. Vasily dealt with his enemies swiftly and decisively. That built his reputation which made everyone give up going against him before they even tried."

Sarah thought about how it makes sense. And she liked that Stella mentioned Vasily. "Thanks, mom. I hope we get time to talk. I would like to hear more about Vasily."

"Sure, honey. Rest now and we will talk later."

After that, Sarah and Aiden spent some time with their fur-babies, giving them cuddles and treats. And now it's back to the two of them, in the master bedroom.

Back to the present...

After such a hectic day, silence fell heavily on Sarah's ears and she didn't welcome it. Silence meant that she does not need to deal with anything and that her mind can drift toward the events from that morning, and Vasily.

Aiden stood two steps away from Sarah and observed her face which showed how her mood is dropping by the second.

"Did you have your checkup?", Aiden asked Sarah.

Sarah noticed that his question was more of a statement. She looked up at him. "How do you know?"

Aiden arched his eyebrow smugly. "Anna is not pestering you or trying to drag you to her medical heaven."

"Baby is fine. Anna asked when do we want to find out about gender."

"Hmm…", Aiden hummed before saying, "It seems that Anna knows."

Sarah agreed. "I think so too."

"Do you want to know?"

"Don't you?", she returned the question.

Aiden smiled. "Alright. Let's ask her in the morning."

"Shouldn't we have one of those gender-reveal parties?", Sarah asked.

Aiden shrugged. "You know that I am always game for a party as long as you are there. Barbecue is optional."

"For someone who didn't want to eat street food, you are welcoming something that was prepared outside on an open fire.", Sarah teased him.

Aiden remembered Fairfield and when they ate Asian food in front of a mall on a chilly December day. He didn't think that it was chilly because Sarah was right next to him… trying to get him to eat some kebobs that were covered in Asian spices. Aiden was so smitten with Sarah, that he had no idea how the food tasted but he was lost in her deep green eyes and he said that the food was good. Later, he tried the same food from the same street vendor, and he didn't like it. At that time, Aiden realized that it's not about the food, but it's about the company.

"What can I say? You opened my eyes to many things."

"A party… Vasily would like that.", Sarah said in a half-whisper as she remembered that they are talking about barbecue for the gender-reveal party.

"Sarah, don't beat yourself over it."

"I can't help it."

Aiden knew that this will be the case. She kept busy with things only to push thoughts about Vasily away but now things are coming back to haunt her. He knows that Vasily's death would not hit her so hard if she didn't misunderstand Vasily from the beginning. Because of that, her sorrow is mixed with guilt and regret and it's pulling her down. Will she cry again? Probably. But not if he can help it.

Aiden removed his top, revealing his toned body and perfect skin that was tainted with bruises.

Sarah frowned as her eyes moved from one dark purple mark to another. She exhaled and shook her head.

Aiden made a pitiful face. "I have so many boo-boos. I need you to kiss them away."

Sarah didn't expect him to act like a child. He even had an adorable pout adorning his handsome face that looked like he is about to burst into tears.

She stifled a laugh. "What?"

Aiden smiled a little and extended his hand toward Sarah, palm up. "Come and shower with me. Allow me to make you forget about everything outside this room. At least for tonight."

Sarah knew what he is doing, and she welcomed it.

"Are you offering me your services, Mr. White?"

He wiggled his fingers impatiently. "Don't leave me hanging, Mrs. White."

Sarah put her hand into his and allowed him to lead the way into the bathroom.

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