"My nephew Asher, he will be back in a week."Lia was in Aster's office listening to his schedule."That's good!"Aster nodded. "You know what that means?""No?""It means we should probably live together."Lia laughed. That was the best joke she had ever heard."I'm serious.""No, you are Aster. "Seeing that he didn't chuckle with her, Lia finally realized that something was wrong. Very wrong."You are not kidding?"Aster shook his head."That's really impossible. My family will not allow me to do this.""I know. That's why we need to find a way."They pondered many ideas."How about I leave after your nephew falls asleep and come up early in the morning?""A good idea. But he is not stupid. He will catch on layer. Or someone else will catch it."Yeah, Aster was probably in surveillance every moment."Then if I live with you, my family will catch on."Yeah, it was like a dead end."How about you live in my apartment building? You can leave whenever you want and come whenever you wan
"Mom, I think we should get an apartment. I want to buy one near my office and my lab. So, I can rest assured about you."It wasn't actually a lie. Lia had stayed most days at the lab so she didn't have to travel. And now she felt it would be good to get that apartment. It was really good. And she would still earn later. Then they could buy land."Yes, it's your money. You decide."Her mother had decided."But Mom-""Jake, next time you win the lottery, we will go with your decision. And your sister should have thought about this. I trust her."It's not every day that you find trust like this. Lia was so moved that she cried.She told them she would go see some apartments near the tech district. That place was the most developed one in terms of company headquarters and real estate. And Aster had a place there. It's cool, and she was not getting it for free. Also, Lia thought if things didn't work out in the end, she would sell the place. Someone would definitely buy. It's kinda a win
Lia ran away the moment she knew that her mother was planning to throw a welcome party. She didn't want to be recognized by the kid when she met him as his aunt. That would blow her cover. Also, she was being cautious. Because she was at home, someday she could slip up and jeopardize this entire operation. She wouldn't want that obviously because she would lose so much money.Aster was puzzled but he didn't say anything. She was being cautious and you couldn't say no to that."Where's your sister?"Jake looked left and then right. He got up from the sofa and searched the balcony, home office, and finally her bedroom. Lia wasn't there."Mom, she's not here.""I'm really fed up with you kids. You disappear when we unpack and she disappears when we have to host a party."Seeing his mother mumbling, Jake slowly reached out to eat a cookie on the plate kept aside.He was about to touch when he was hit with a spatula.He looked up and found his mother glaring at him. "It was worth a shot.
Trainwreck. This was a trainwreck. Asher had tears in his eyes as he gazed away from Lia. Lia who was a child king in her childhood was stumped at this development. She did nothing. It was a big mistake.She just entered the room and she tripped over a wire. Unfortunately, that wire was placed behind the card tower made by the kid. And it collapsed gorgeously. It all happened in slow motion. It was enthralling like the dominoes falling. And at the same time, Asher was about to cry."I don't like you."He yelled and ran away. Lia looked broken by her luck just now. This was a huge difference from what she witnessed and expected. She saw her brother charming this kid and herself disgusting him, probably. Lia wanted to cry.Aster didn't wake up from the fast chain of events unfolding before him. He didn't have time to utter a word or even a gasp.It was maybe the fastest worst first impression ever. And to top it the first impression was already made with a lot of prejudice."I'd bet
"I was worried about you."Lia told Aster when her call finally got through. "I'm fine now. I should be asking you. How are you? This should be the first time you faced something like this, right?""Yeah, it was unexpected. Does this happen to you often?"She was insanely curious."Want the truth or lie?""Lie.""This was the first time."Lia chuckled."I want to ask you something.""What?""You could get out of this. Such things will happen more and more and the danger will only increase. You could quit right now."Lia paused.She had to think about this. She didn't envision saying yes but she saw herself saying no. Maybe earlier she would not be willing to enter this den of thieves. But now, she saw him something as a friend. She didn't want him to fight this all alone."I just need you to protect my mom and brother. And also me. I can be your less involved partner.""Haha."Aster felt happy. He unconsciously didn't want her to accept this offer.The question posed itself again whe
"You are staying home often these days," Jake observed.Lia nodded. She found that she was jobless. Because she was still working on the website, she didn't take on any new projects but that meant staying quiet a lot and getting taunted."Why? You are supposed to be in the college but here you are, making jabs at me for being at home."Lia retorted perfectly."I'm preparing for my exams so I'm allowed to be here. But you don't go work somewhere and you are sitting jobless."That was not really true."I'm taking a break, you know."He made a face at her. They were getting worked up and they finally resorted to a guessing game before they stopped."I'm thinking about a player who is not your favorite.""That's the total player community," Jake was angry."Yeah, that's why I chose him."Lia was victorious because of this. Her brother only concentrated on Ron Lexor, an e-sports player. Others, he didn't care enough to know about them so he didn't know others.Lia always won by using this
Lia stood alone behind the pillar wishing to go back in time. It all started when Aster messaged her.Aster- Can you come to a party with me?Lia- Why?Aster- It's actually a wealthy people kind of party and you need to be with me as I'm married.Lia- FineLia dressed in a gorgeous way and that's why she was well, targeted.Aster was taken away by the elders for a small talk. It was just a matter of minutes.And the wealthy ladies sent veiled insults towards her. She was angry but she didn't change her expression."She should be from some middle-class family. How dare she come here?""That miss couldn't marry into the Brooks family and she was the most popular candidate.""Yeah, do you know she was sent abroad by her family?""That's a pity."Lia listened to this conversation with bated breath and understood many things. The lady they were talking about should be the one who found fault with her at the last party.They all stopped when Aster came back.He bent and whispered in her ear
"Hey, Claudia is so miserable." Lia sat with Aster in his study. They were there to discuss plans. "Why?" "She is being treated like this by her aunt." Aster was amused. "You know she is okay. I think her father is the culprit here." Lia was shocked. She looked at him with wide eyes. "He didn't know. How could he be responsible?" Aster leaned back against the chair and spoke in a low voice. "If he cared enough, he would have found the clues. He was running away from her. Maybe someday he doesn't want to face her. His mentality like this caused her harm." "But why?" "Lia, human emotion is very complex. It's like when there is zero exiting, a person can comprehend it in infinite ways. And emotions are inherently complex so you get more than infinite possibilities. How a person could feel or react, you cannot fathom. But you can try to predict. It may or may not be right. Just don't keep hoping about someone. It's best to be confident yourself." She nodded. She didn't understa