Chapter 1Undistrupt Simple Life

Aeron Luke Xavier.

Everyone knew him as a dedicated public defence officer, special division in the West side of Charm City. Also known as one of the eligible bachelors with excellence personality & grace with a handsome face, tall and muscle built body; helpful, and warmth towards all citizens of the Charm City. But how handsome & flawless he is, nobody knows his real thoughts on his life. What he wanted was a big mystery to all the parents who have an unmarried daughter & would love to have him as their son in law. Except for one woman. Who he had cut off contact with since two years ago. 

Before he met the woman, his life was perfect without any worries, no stress besides the work stress he welcomed with open arms. He’s a workaholic. He committed to his job like the lives of innocent people depend on him to get back their lives. He spent many hours getting his work done and even took his paperwork back home on the weekend. His dedication proves his worth of spending overnight trying to solve multiple tough cases. And every time he successfully finishes his mission, he feels such fulfilment with his achievement & pride as he heads home, showered & gets all the sleep he needs before his whole life resetting to a new mission. 

He loves his personal life routine without any worries & being stoic like the world is not his concern. He always went home with comfort food served by his ma. He thought life should be that simple. He won’t allow anybody to ruin his zen space, not even his parents can say anything about it. But deep down in their heart, they won't live longer and wish for their eldest son to get married soon so they can have grandchildren running around their feet. 

The day he graduated from the police academy and finished the two years of compulsory work, the father started to look around for a suitable wife for him. A non-stop blindsdate no less. There was a bank manager, an architect, a music teacher, a nurse, a doctor and many others, but he declined them softly as a gentleman. 

“Hello, I'm Aeron. Good to be your acquaintance.”

“Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Kathy.” 

“Well, Kathy. I will get to the point here,” he started. He signalled her to take a seat with a smile. She was surprised with the gentleman gesture and yet she followed as instructed shyly. Not far from their table, several women were whispering, speculating among themselves while watching the couple, making the other woman feel even shy but at the same time proud with her achievement to date such well-known gallantry and eligible bachelor in the City. In second, his sweet personality turns serious, looking into her eyes as if she was one of the offenders caught red-handed. 

The woman nodded shyly, didn’t dare to stare at his lovely eyes, nervously looked away. He finds it unsettling to watch her behaving like that. He gave out an irritating sigh. “I don’t have any interest in you and I believe you have the same feeling as mine. A stranger. So, I am very sorry that we can’t possibly be a good couple. Not even I can imagine us as a married couple. With that said, this is a goodbye & have a good day to you.” He stood up and left without waiting for her reply. Leaving her baffle trying to grasp at what just happened. Seconds passed, a loud shrieking shout of frustration only makes him smile with satisfaction.

“You are impossible! Do you know how much time I spent to get her & her father to agree to come so you can meet her?” His father was frustrated with his eldest stubborn son. “This is for your own good. We’re not sure how long we’ll be able to live.” Aeron doesn’t blink or turn to see or hear what he wants to say as he continues with his take homework on his laptop. “What else do you want us to do?”

“Well, for starters, don’t do anything. Just live your life. Enjoy your retirement with mom.” Aeron is still punching through the keyboard at rapid speed while talking to his parents. His father looks down with disappointment. Mother shook her head at her stubborn son. They both slowly move away to their bedroom in defeat. 

Aeron halted his work and gave a glance at the closing door. He gave out a groan in defeat. It pains him to watch them work hard to make him marry someone they like. He doesn’t want to hurt his parents' feelings but he has his own life principle. All of the little fights makes him not in the mood to finish the rest of the report anymore. Aeron let out a long sigh, leaning low on the highchair looking up at the high ceiling trying to grasp what he can do to make his parents happy besides looking for his bride. 

The hanging clock on the wall showed eight o’clock at night. Several new incoming cases just came in this morning lying on top of the desk. He shut his eyes hoping those annoying thoughts would disappear. A moment of silence doesn’t help at all as he roughly gets up from his highchair and leaves for the balcony. The cold night air rushes into the warm bedroom the moment he opens the french door wide. The night was moonless with only stars scattered beautifully. Beyond the front only other neighbouring houses with normal household noises of couples arguing, shouting & crying of babies. 

He can’t even begin to imagine how’s life should be like with all those noises. He gave out a sigh of disbelief that people want that kind of life at all. Aeron moved away from the balcony and shut it as he was disinterested to listen to details of their arguments. His eyes dropped to the case files he received to handle this morning. The words “CLASSIFIED/ INTERNATIONAL” intrigued him to pick it up.  He remembered the chief mentioned that the woman in question had just returned from overseas two months ago. The same woman that was previously charged with murdering her husband & two years old son which later dropped loose with not much evidence to convict her of murdering her family. A clip of a newspaper article & several forensic photographs falls scattered to his feet including a passport photo of a woman. 

Headline ‘TRAGIC ACCIDENT AT THE INTERSECTION. DRIVER AND SON DEAD ON SCENE.’ with the photographs of the horrendous scene evidently showed how brutal it was & how heartless the culprit was. If it really was as they claimed as a murder case,  the culprit should pay for what they did. He bent down on his knees collecting all the papers and the last photo of the woman with a name on it. 

“How interesting can you be, Dr Alison?”  He hates schemers the most. If she is who she is, he’ll make sure to get the bottom of it. This is going to be a long night.

Not knowing this very case is the start of his misery and the love he has been avoiding.