Near You

[Present time]

She was severely injured, and Lara couldn't do anything but to dismiss the doctor.

Tin Malahan is her name. With the fire inside the hospital blasting off in the last minute when Tin was going to rescue Aria, several of Prince's men cornered her and fought her off. Lara has in no way she should deploy all of her connections to find Aria.

Lara let Aria live in peace. She doesn't want her to be like her twin sister.

As Lara stood in the door frame, observing Tin shifting in her position in her bed, she asked, "Does it still hurt?"

She can't use her right hand for now. It was badly injured.

Tin opened her eyes slowly and turned to her. Lara approached, sitting down beside a stool, and scrutinized her wound dressing.

"Aria is in danger, Lara," Tin croaked out. Lara sighed, gritting her teeth, and met Tin's hopeless eyes.

"You should rest first before we move to our new plan. I want to protect Aria, too. But we knew the reason why we did that to her. We never abandon her, Tin," Lara explained. Tin knew everything about what happened between the Gomez, Fajardo, and the Cortez, their family. She might be the one who would blow the whistle, but Tin promised to stay by the Cortez side, and she would never bring them down.

"Prince had gotten hold of her, and he might hide her somewhere that nobody would know. This is getting tough, Lara. We have to find out where he hid her," Tin muttered. Lara nodded, touching her arm. She reassured that she'll do everything she could to seek justice for Avery and Aria.

"I wouldn't leave my daughter on Prince's hands. I would never let Prince take over my authority."

Tin sighed, closed her eyes, and became drowsy again. Lara sighed, turning to the window, and glared at the trees.

"D*mn you, Prince. I would never forgive you with what you have done to my daughter."

…

Prince held out until he found her bedroom. He placed her down gently, staring at her Avery-proportioned face, and held on his breath for a while. She doesn't budge when Prince was staring this close to her. Probably she collapsed because of the IV medicine.

It would knock her off for a while, certainly.

As Prince shook his head, coming to his senses, he tucked her on a thin blanket she folded on the side.

Aria must have been out for a while because the room was too cold to sleep at. He fastened the blanket around her shoulders for a while before looking around. Prince saw a small heater by the corner. No other things caught his eye but a small drawer and a few necessities she used to present herself clean outside.

Prince turned to Aria, observed her deep breathing, before turning to the drawers, and opening one of them.

The clothes smelled like her, but she must be a minimalist for the handful of clothes she had.

It isn't more than ten. He opened one of the compartments, and she only has 10 pair of jeans.

On another one, a set of underlings and lingerie, but it is a handful, too.

On the last one, two beautiful and simple dresses she must have worn when a party is called off at the center square.

Prince closed all the compartments, wondering, "Do Lara doesn't spoil her daughter?"

He's aware of all the details he have obtain from Aria, and that she's cut off a connection from the De Leon-Cortez, probably to seek protection from the strangers who wanted to kill her. But fair enough, Prince had gotten hold of her, even though Lara hid her for 20 years.

Bryce was the first, and he's a good predator, too.

As Prince retrieved the heater, he plugged it in, and turned it on.

He stared at Aria's sleeping face, and the silence breath lingering in the cold air. In the sudden turn of events, Prince had to take care of the plan rather than Bryce. It felt sick at first, but as the week passed, Prince felt he needed to accomplish this before anything gets wrong.

Prince went out of the bedroom, rummaged the kitchens, and wonder where he can put…

"I had to do this," Prince whispered.

It's his urgency to put recording devices in her house to hear what she's doing all day.

Prince retrieved a box of it, contemplating, "But Aria would insist to leave here. It's no use."

Still, Prince battled with himself. He planted one recorder on the kitchen, and the other one underneath the drawer. Prince doesn't know if he should place one underneath the couch, but he did so.

Now, every step of his plan would be smoothly executed.

Prince installed a listener in his phone to know exactly the sound. It did the trick.

He listened for a while, but it creep him out whenever he heard his foot tapping in the floor.

Prince removed the earphones right away, and turned to Aria.

Checking the time, it was 3 hours after lunchtime.

"I should go and make lunch."

…

Aria woke up in a jolt. A frying sound reached her ears, and the steam of fried chicken seasoned with spices wafted inside her nostrils, answering the rumbling stomach of hers. Aria plastered her eyes on the ceiling, wondering how she should approach the day.

Aria was blinded by the light as she turned by the window, seeing the afternoon rays.

"What time is it?"

Aria got dizzy, scrunching her nose, and sat up. She held her forehead.

She ran down the happenings before she came here, and the only thing she remembered was climbing down a man's car. Aria looked at her drawers, and to the bedside table where a small clock propped up. It displayed the time: 4pm.

Aria swept the comforter aside, scratched the back of her head, and stood on barefoot.

She walked towards the door, and opened it. Another fizz of the oil by the kitchen reached her ears.

Prince must be cooking.

She stood by the door frame, and saw him. Prince moved around the counter, wearing her pink apron, and even fastened up transparent gloves to hold on to the chicken meat. Prince lay down a pad of tissues in one plate and put the chicken in place.

As he was about to retrieve something inside the refrigerator, Prince saw her.

He instantly smiled. "Oh, you're awake."

Aria beamed, tucked in her hair behind her ear, and approached the small table. She swallowed, sighing, "I'm sorry. I tend to collapse because of fear. I just remembered something earlier, that's why…"

He didn't answer for a while as he turned the chicken on the other side. Aria propped up her elbows on the table.

"I've cleaned up the mess outside. The one with the flowers," Prince said. He opened the fridge, and retrieved some side dishes. Aria observed him wandering around, cooking for her.

Bryce doesn't know how to cook, that's why Aria was the one doing it for him. She's doing him a favor all the time.

"I replaced it with another set of the flowers I gave you days ago. It looks beautiful down the terrace counter."

Prince smiled at her.

Aria wondered how Prince acted if he has a girlfriend.

"You're so caring, Prince." Aria must have thought it out loud.

"What?" Prince didn't turn around.

"You cook for me even if you hadn't known me for a month. You cleaned up the house like I'm no stranger. You… deal with a lot of things while you're around me," Aria revealed.

"So? Does that mean you…"

Aria smiled, looking up at him. "It felt like my ideal man woken up and chose to save me instead."