Episode 72

"You must never let him know"

"Why..."

"Just promise me"

"I don't want to...why do I have to..I hate him...I hate him..."

"You hate me..not him"

"You'll know the right time...I'll trust you with this...so do what I couldn't do..."

"What makes you think I can do what you couldn't.."

"Because you're way more stronger than me love...you're a very strong child..."

"All I want is someone to save me...I want to cry...I don't have what you think I do..."

"You do...I know it"

"I can't..."

"You must...for the sake of yourself and your younger brother...don't give up...don't let him go through what happened to us...I'm sorry that I was only able to save your elder brother and not you both...I'm so sorry Ian.."

"Mom..."

"hm..."

"I don't hate you..."

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"Are you awake?"

Alex asked the boy once he showed some signs of movement. Ian opened his eyes that were heavily buried under dark circles.

He'd gotten thinner, paler and weaker.

He even looked fatigued, barely able to open his eyes, there were still breathing tubes up his nose and he was still hooked up with an IV. He didn't dare move, his legs felt numb and sore anyways. Though Alex was slightly moving his feet in a very professional manner, trying to regulate blood circulation by less straining physical activity.

"Don't worry about it, you're way better now..once they feel you are able to property breathe on your own..they'll remove it" Alex said since Ian appeared bothered by all the stuff on him.

He relaxed back and stared at Alex silently.

Alex helped him do some physical exercise for a few moments, then stopped. The two shared a silent glance before Alex looked down.

"Is..it.." Alex tried to utter a few words but couldn't dare ask. Ian kept on silently staring at him.

At the same time,the door opened and Mari came in. Alex lost his chance to talk privately.

"You're up" She said walking towards Ian and gently brushed his hair with her hand.

"Li...." Ian tried to whisper something to her but the pain made him unable to do so. He only cringed painfully.

"He's safe...I got him out of there the moment I saw your text" Mari said as if she already knew what he meant to ask.

"What text?" Alex asked.

"Before this incident, I received a text from Ian to get Lian Strauss out of the Strauss mansion as soon as possible, I didn't understand at that time but I did it anyway" Mari replied and Alex's eyes widened.

"You knew she'd harm you..." Alex realized.

For Ian to send a message to Mari beforehand meant Ian knew he might not get out of there alive.

"YOU KNEW AND YET YOU!"

Alex completely got engaged.

"What about you" Mari interrupted "You knew the risk too" Mari counter questioned Alex who became silent being unable to answer it.

"Why did you even-" Alex clenched his fists a bit in frustration.

Ian couldn't reply, all he did was smile. Alex couldn't understand why'd he come there like that but he was sure as hell regretful.

"Took...care...of...no...worry...safe...now..." Ian mumbled a few words quite painfully, though none of them made sense.

"Okay stop talking if it's hurting so much!" Alex said.

"I see" Mari replied as if she understood something "Thank you Ian Strauss, leave the rest on me"

Alex looked at her cluelessly.

"What are you both talking about?" Alex asked.

"Focus on healing, I will protect Lian Strauss with my life for what I owe you" Mari said and even did a complete bow, something that she never did before for anyone.

What did Ian Strauss do to deserve this?

Alex couldn't be more confused and Mari never really answered anything even if she heard it, unless she wanted to.

She took her leave after this leaving Alex all confused.

Getting out of the ward, she made a phone call to Aoi.

"We have won the first gamble"

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"Was that Mari san?"

I asked soon as Aoi got off the phone. Don't know why but recently as soon as her phone starts ringing, I feel my heartbeat rise as if something bad is about to happen.

I don't know when I became so negative...

"Yes" She said and settled back down on the couch in front of me. The boy had his head in my lap while he laid on the couch I was sitting on. So there was no space for her.

"What did she say?" I asked her even though I did know that everything was fine judging from her expression.

"He's worried about his younger brother" She told.

Well of course I know that much, it wasn't much surprising after I came to know that he texted Mari san to ensure his brother's safety before walking into such a dangerous situation...

Which also makes me wonder...

"Aoi..what did Ian go to Kirihara Liliya's place for?" Something clicked at the back of my mind.

"So you caught up.." She replied "my lover is so smart.."

What the- is this woman trying to start a fight?! Come at me bro!

"Yes, it's exactly what you think it is, he went there for a purpose...Alex just got it messed up.." She spoke again.

Thought so...I mean unless Ian Strauss was following Alex, that'd be another story...but for him to be there...he had some purpose in mind..

"Do you know his major in college?" She asked.

"It's IT if I'm not wrong...I was made the homeroom teacher for IT department this time, teaching them English" I replied.

Is that important though?

"Ian Strauss is a boy with a harsh exterior, he might even appear like an asshole to most people but on the inside,he's just a child with a sensitive heart.." She replied.

Well...I guess he really was annoying at first but now that I know the situation of his family, I can understand why he's so hostile...though I wouldn't exactly call him sensitive...considering he's only concerned when his brothers are involved....

"You're wrong" She said looking at my face even though I hadn't said anything.

"What am I wrong about?" I asked.

"You probably thought, he's only sensitive when his brothers are involved" She said.

AAAAAA THIS PSYCHIC WOMAN!

Did she transplant a chip in my brain or something?

"No, I didn't put anything in your brain" She said.

HOW?! JUST...HOW?!

"You wear your thoughts on your face Natsu, even I'm surprised sometimes over how much expressions you are capable of making" She sighed.

AHH STOPPP.

"Tell me what you mean by I'm wrong?" I changed the topic.

"Ian Strauss isn't as self centered as you think he is, he really didn't know Alex was going to be there" She said.

"Then why'd he go there?"

"He went there to make sure what Kirihara Liliya has can never be used by them"

"What do you mean?"

"He went there for Kei"

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"I brought what you asked for"

"You're quite the reliable woman Liliya san"

She handed him over the usb and settled back.

"This has all the things that are well capable of taking down the Uzawa Keitarou and with him Kirihara Mari and Himari Aoi" She said.

"I'd like to verify it" Mr. Strauss took the usb and handed it over to one of his butlers who brought the laptop for them and placed it upon the desk between them.

He started it and plugged the usb in and turned it to Mr. Strauss.

For a moment there Mr. Strauss's eyes widened and he raised his brow looking at Kirihara Liliya.

"Horrific right, Aoi had been covering all this, imagine if this shit was made viral, the public will completely turn against her" Liliya smirked.

"Ms. Liliya, what kind of sick joke is this?" Mr. Strauss gave a grave dark smile.

"What do you mean?" She frowned and took the laptop from him ,turning it to herself.

To her horror, the video that played before her featured that night between Ian and her when she drugged him and.......

"WHEN DID THAT B-STARD!" She almost yelled "Wait- Wait...I have a copy saved in my drive..so.."

She immediately turned on the browser and tried to log in but her password seemed to have been changed.

She gulped down hard and accessed her email to change the password again.

The only thing left on her drive were videos of great business dealers involved with the Strauss estate being the physical customers of Ian Strauss.

Even Mr. Strauss's eyes widened.

"Where'd you get those?!" He asked with a dark expression.

"It's not mine! Wait , I might have another secret one saved in a flash drive back home" She said and tried to get up but two huge men dressed in a tux stood behind her.

"WHAT TF ARE YOU DOING?!"

She barely asked when one of the guys hit her at the neck, knocking her out.

"Discard her, I don't have anymore use for her" He said.

"Sir, should we go get the flashdrive from her house too?" One of them asked.

"No need, we can't use it anyway...this is an open threat, they got hands on Ian's videos, if we are to leak any of Uzawa Keitarou's videos, they will leak Ian's videos and hence put our estate and alot of famous people involved with us at stake...." Mr. Strauss almost punched into the table.

"So even if we get those videos, we can use them...what will we do now sir?" The guy asked.

"So this is how you want to play Himari Aoi" Mr. Strauss clicked his tongue.

"Should we send some assassins? Our close sources have informed us that Himari Aoi's partner is expecting" He said and it piqued Mr. Strauss's interest.

"Let's see about that later, first I need to find out how they got those videos and I believe it has something to do with Ian, find Lian, he is the only way we can control Ian's little rebellion" Mr. Strauss said.

"Okay sir" They said and left taking Kirihara Liliya with them.

"Himari Aoi....what game are you playing?"

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"I couldn't have done it without you"

"There's no need Aoi san, I did what I thought was right"

"It was still risky to ask you to deal with this Ayane san"

The girl smiled brightly at Aoi.

"Akio san has been so good to me, there's no way I wouldn't help you if his family was involved and moreover I do dislike Ian but I pity him too" Ayane replied.

"You did a good job spying on Kirihara Liliya and helping us get in" Aoi said gratefully.

"Nah nah , I didn't do much, all I did was help you hack into the Strauss estate...besides if it weren't for Ian I couldn't have possibly done it...even with hacking Kirihara Liliya..it was mostly Ian, I just helped him..you should thank him" Ayane said modestly.

"I think by now Kirihara Liliya would have been done for, especially since Mr. Strauss no longer has any use for her" Aoi shrugged.

"Say Aoi san..." Ayane lowered her head a bit saddened.

"Hmm?" Aoi replied.

"Can't you save that woman" Ayane had her firsts clenched for a bit.

Aoi's serious face turned to a smile.

"Ayane san, I know you love girls alot but don't you think Kirihara Liliya is not the kind of person you should be falling for"

Ayane became silent for a while and then clenched her fists a little in frustration.

Aoi sighed and took out a little piece of paper from her pocket.

"Here" She handed it over to Ayane.

"What's this?" Ayane asked.

"You're getting a foreign scholarship in IT soon right?" Aoi smiled.

"Yeah but what's that-" Ayane took the paper and blinked hard, trying to understand what would she do with an address in such a situation.

"Luckily ,men can be bought as long as you pay the right amount" Aoi sighed.

"You mean!"

"Take her with you and don't let her harm anyone ever again"

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"Are you.....feeling better....now?"

"Yeah"

"What... did you... eat..."

Kei was extremely worried because Akio was a bit under the weather. He already thrown up twice.

"I'll be fine.." Akio said.

Kei was feeding the girls for now since Akio wanted to take rest.

"Ah! I forgot!" Akio sat up "I have to deliver food to the hospital today, Zhuang told me he wouldn't be able to  visit Alex because he's going looking for schools for Adrian, he's four already so.."

"No..you're not...well..." Kei immediately refused. Especially since Akio wasn't well once in a blue moon. It was rare for him to get sick so Kei wanted him to rest it out.

"But..." Akio tried to argue and placed the spoon with which he was feeding the kids infront of Akio gesturing him to stop.

"I'll go" Kei said adamantly taking Akio by surprise for a moment.

"Are you sure?" Akio didn't really like the idea of passing responsibilities but he really did want to help Kei get out there, even if it meant placing a stone on his heart. He truly wanted Kei to be able to stand on his feet again.

"Yeah...after I finish...feeding...I'll go.." Kei smiled.

Akio smiled looking back at him but his expression went from smiling to nauseous soon

"Goodness that porridge smells so horrible"  Akio moved the spoon away from his face covering his mouth and got up rushing to the bathroom again barfing.

Kei was confused and worried at the same time.

"Maybe I... should ...get some medicines....on my way back..." Kei mumbled to himself.

"Dadi dadi..." Leah dragged over her doll "Feed baby too" She said almost putting her baby doll in Kei's face.

"Right..." Kei pretended to feed the baby doll.

"Daddi I want baby too" Sia cried getting all jealous of Leah's doll even though she'd broken her own.

"You...broke...it...though" Kei tried to remind her but she just threw a tantrum.

"Okay, okay...don't....cry....daddy will...get you a new...baby..." Kei tried to calm her down.

"Pwomise?!" Sia stopped crying but was still sniffling.

"Promise..." Kei replied.

Akio came back, Kei looked at him with a worried expression.

"I'm fine I'm fine, okay girls...come, time for a nap" Akio called the little ones who rushed to him playfully.

Nap time was basically them getting to hear a horror story from Akio which he'd obviously make up on the spot to amuse the girls till they fell asleep.

"I'll...go...see...Alex.." Kei said.

"Okay" Akio picked the girls and walled up to Kei kissing on Kei's cheek. The girls kissed their dad's cheek too.

"Have a safe journey"

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"You're awake.."

"Where am I?"

The dark haired woman sat up with a sharp pain in her neck and looked around at the familiar place.

"You're safe.." The girl replied.

It took only a few minutes for Kirihara Liliya to process what was going on.

"huh...so you were a traitor b-tch all along weren't you..Aoi set you up to this" Liliya said looking almost ready to punch someone.

"Go ahead, I do deserve this one" Ayane said , through Liliya didn't do anything.

"Why'd Aoi save me" Liliya asked instead.

"Don't know...but she told me to keep good care of you" Ayane replied.

"Say kid, you must be crazy with what you're hinting ,do you realize what I am? Aren't you afraid?" Liliya got a bit annoyed.

"Afraid of such a beautiful woman? Yeah I guess I am" Ayane replied and Liliya's nerve cracked up.

"What do you want from me.." Liliya sighed calming down.

Ayane reached her hand and put it upon Liliya's cheek.

"I want you to come abroad with me" Ayane whispered.

"What makes you think I would do that?" Liliya asked.

Ayane closed her face in "You life is already in danger here, you might get assassinated"

"Do you know what I was in prison for? And what I did to my fated partner? What makes you think I care?" Liliya rolled her eyes.

"Well I know that won't be enough to convince you...I can't really force you...but of course, if you were to go with me...I'd promise I'd be with you, I'll willingly stay by your side and never abandon you...I'd make you the happiest woman alive...I'd like to live my youth with you, get old with you and sit at a countryside balcony with you while wearing heart patterned matching shirts with our cats roaming about and maybe even share a grave with you.." Ayane said.

There was drop dead silence for a few minutes there.

Liliya's head was bent and she looked a bit frozen.

"..Gross..." Liliya mumbled.

"I know...even Aoi thinks I'm weird for falling for you...but even if it's gross...it's my feelings..." Ayane clenched her fists upon her skirt.

"Heart patterned shirts are gross..." Liliya said and Ayane's eyes widened.

She almost jumped on Liliya in a hug.

"Then we'll get you the ones you want..." Ayane squeezed her tightly in a hug before parting, Liliya remained calm.

"But before any of that Aoi san gave me the contact of a very good psychologist friend of hers abroad...her name is Sam, she said to get you proper treatment with your anger management and psychological issues"

"Huh?!" Liliya frowned.

"Please don't say no, remember Aoi san could have left you to die but she wants to get you treatment instead, she saved your life...this way you won't owe her anything...that's the deal she put forth" Ayane said.

There was obvious anger on Liliya's face but she somewhat controlled it.

"Deal huh...that b-tch...acting all high and mighty as usual" Liliya spat angrily.

"Please.." Ayane held both her hands.

"Get your face away I'll hit you if I get angry..." Liliya said.

"Liliya san, no matter what situation we are in, kindly don't hit me, this is not the kind of relationship I want from you, violence in the name of love might sound okay to you but it isn't, please respect the boundaries, otherwise even I won't forgive you" Ayane said.

"Even after that whole speech you gave? What a wimp..." Liliya spoke sarcastically.

"Yes I want to love you and stay with you, I want you to become a better person too but I refuse to accept a relationship rooted on violence, kindly understand the difference between love and emotional manipulation..I'll make sure you do" Ayane said with a very serious expression.

"Tch..Do what you want b-tch" Liliya rolled her eyes.

"Lets start by having you practice not to threaten or swear at others" Ayane smiled "I'll reward you every time you hold back"

"What can you possibly-?" Liliya was about to ask what she meant by the reward when Ayane reached in and kissed her.

"I'll give you the emotional validation that you need with your insecurities and I'll give you a kiss" Ayane said.

"Pfffttt" Liliya broke into laughter

"Don't laugh, I mean it" Ayane pouted.

"Fine...let's see how far can you play this game of trying to tame me" Liliya said with a smirk.

"Didn't I tell you? I plan to play it till death do us apart" Ayane said with a scary look in her eyes even though she was smiling on the surface.

"You must be one crazy brat to be going after someone like me but it's amusing in it's own way, so I'll play this game with you until you're bored of it" Liliya licked her lips.

"Please do, I'll be grateful"

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"Hey..."

"Hey"

"I bought.. food..."

"Thanks"

Kei placed the food on the side table and sat on the visitor's chair while Alex went to the bathroom first.

Ian was somewhat awake, he glanced sideways at Kei who lowered his head shyly.

Kei nervously fiddled with his thumbs 

"Th...Th...I heard.."

Kei started stuttering a bit like before but it was not because of being scared, it was due to a different feeling that made him modest.

"Than...k....y...ou..." Kei managed to convey what he planned to by coming here.

Ian painfully smiled a bit.

"I...pro...mised...n't I...?" Ian had more difficulty producing words.

"You..did" Kei said gently.

Alex came out of the washroom. He unpacked the food Kei brought and started helping himself.

Ofcourse Ian wasn't allowed solid food yet other than water and porridge but he was doing better than before.

"Alex..." Kei noticed how the other seemed so down "How...are you..."

"I'm fine Kei.." Alex answered too plainly, the usual Alex would atleast pull out some perverted joke to answer that.

Kei was worried enough by his unlively behavior.

"Adi..will go...to school soon...huh...Leah and Sia...too...next year" Kei tried to initiate a conversation.

"Hmm" Alex answered, not paying much attention.

Kei looked away at Ian in disappointment.

"Have you...both...talked?" Kei asked what the two had been avoiding bringing up.

"How is Akio san , why didn't he come today?" Alex tried to detrack the conversation.

"Are..you really...his brother...?" Kei turned to Ian instead, avoiding Alex's question.

Ian was taken by surprise for a moment, he looked at Alex who seemed as curious as Kei even though he didn't ask him directly.

Ian stayed motionless for a while but then turned his head looking away from the two and nodded in a yes.

Alex was at loss of words,he didn't know how to process of absorb this.

He seemed utterly confused.

Ian pulled out some energy and whispered

"...I ...hid...the....mom...left....Lian knows....where..."