Is this destiny?

Aiden is anxious. Now that it\'s just the two of them, he needs to confirm that Sarah is not keeping her anger for later and that her jealous beast is under control.

Aiden leaned closer to Sarah and spoke in a soft voice: "Love, you know that those two approached us and I didn\'t acknowledge their presence."

Sarah wanted to tease Aiden and to pretend that she is angry at him because of those two women, but when she saw how nervous he is, she could not. "I know. Am I that unreasonable to put you in this timid state when you did nothing wrong?"

Aiden scolded himself silently for overreacting. Now that he thinks about it, he has to acknowledge that lately Sarah\'s temper is much milder (toward him at least). There is some stable and soothing, almost motherly energy coming from her. Probably because she is channeling her destructive urges on the missions with the army of Chaos.

"Well, you are the Goddess of the night.", Aiden whispered into Sarah\'s ear. "And the word is that even the almighty Zeus is afraid of your power…"

Sarah stifled a laugh and explained: "I was upset that those women dared to approach you even though they saw us together earlier. If those two Smiths didn\'t appear, I would take those two women in the back room for some private talk."

Aiden understood what that \'private talk\' is, but he does not care how merciless Sarah is toward anyone who tries to come between the two of them.

He hugged her. "It means the world to me that you believe in the fact: my eyes see only you as a woman."

Sarah hugged him back and said dreamily: "If anyone proved that he changed his life for love, that is you."

Aiden sighed in relief. "You have no idea how much it means to hear that you trust me."

"I trust you… and there is the thing that Eve is recording everything.", she added through giggles.

Aiden frowned. "Oy! How can you call that trusting me if you are collecting evidence?"

Sarah hummed. "Mmm… there is no stronger trust than the one supported by evidence."

Aiden pinched her nose.

Sarah was about to protest when JoAnna interrupted them.

"Are you two doing OK?" JoAnna asked when she arrived by their side with Jeff.

"Yeah.", Sarah responded. "You escaped the reporters?"

Jeff did his best not to roll his eyes. The reporter approached him and asked what is his interest in this rehabilitation center, and Jeff said that it\'s personal because he is accompanying his wife. However, Jeff responded only because he didn\'t realize that was a reporter. By the time Jeff grasped the mistake he made, four more reporters latched onto him and started asking all kind of questions from his private life to White corp. business.

"My husband is popular.", JoAnna said cockily. "And because he usually does not give interviews, they took advantage of his good mood."

"Good mood?" Aiden asked while glancing in the direction from where JoAnna and Jeff approached them. "More like he pushed Steve in front of reporters and escaped."

Jeff shrugged. "He is my assistant. He is doing his job in handling the media."

They all laughed. How can Jeff push Steve under the bus and have an excuse ready why that is OK?

Sarah noticed that their oldest sister is not in sight. "Where is Sophia?"

"In the family restroom with Felix, puking her guts out.", JoAnna said in a low voice. "This pregnancy is not so kind to her. On the bright side, at this rate, she will lose those last few kilos from her first pregnancy."

"You have a gift to always see the silver lining.", Sarah said sarcastically.

"So, she really is pregnant?", Ellie asked when she and Jasper joined the group.

JoAnna nodded and said with a straight face: "Felix is so mighty that no contraception is strong enough."

"Is that a thing?" Jasper\'s serious expression made JoAnna burst into laugh.

"You are so much like Jeff…", JoAnna said when she caught her breath.

Jasper\'s question reminded JoAnna when Jeff needed assurance that he is manly enough compared to Felix. Why is their confidence so fragile? Eh, JoAnna still remembers how she had to assure Jeff that he is THE man in her life and no one else.

JoAnna and Ellie linked arms and went out to talk about Ellie\'s upcoming wedding in peace, leaving Jeff and Jasper behind.

Sarah and Aiden were pulled to the side by the group of four kids who came to deliver their missions.

"With this, everyone completed their missions, right?", Aiden stated something that both of them know.

Sarah gave him a side-glance. "Your point?"

"I think that we should talk about giving Ade his previous position back."

"Are you sure it\'s not too soon?"

It\'s not that Sarah does not want to reinstate Ade as a general, but she fears that he will go back to his playful-irresponsible behavior if he gets rewarded too soon.

Aiden understands Sarah\'s concerns, but he believes that Ade did a lot to prove that he is serious. Aiden summarized: "His performance on the training grounds is among top five and his academics are steadily improving. I think that he deserves to be rewarded for his efforts, it\'s almost two months how he was punished, and that is a very long time for a kid his age. And he is working tirelessly. I recommend that we give him his privileges back with a warning that if he reverts back to being unreliable, we will double the punishment and it will not be easy to bounce back."

Sarah listened to Aiden carefully and she can see that he cares about this. "Let\'s talk about this more at home. I want us to give him clear expectations so that he knows when he slips…"

Aiden smiled. He understood this as her agreement. Ade will be over the moon.

Outside, in the garden…

Penny is sitting on the bench and reading emails on her phone.

"Something is troubling you?", Ben noticed Penny\'s expression.

"My parents went into Opulence again. They demand to see me."

"What are your thoughts?" Ben asked while wrapping his arms around Penny. He knows that dealing with family is difficult.

"I\'m not sure. If I ignore them, they will not go away. If I see them, they will only insist that I give them more... and it\'s never enough."

"Maybe it\'s time to ask for some external help.", Ben suggested and explained further: "You said it… leaving them as-is or you going to deal with them will not help. The only thing left is that someone else handles them. As for how…? Maybe we can ask Jeff and Anna for an advice. They took care of many inconvenient situations lately."

"Someone talking about me?", JoAnna asked when she and Ellie approached them.

Penny smiled. "Yeah. My parents are causing trouble and Ben suggested to ask you for an advice because I am out of ideas."

JoAnna and Ellie joined them on the bench and JoAnna gestured to Penny to tell them what is going on.

Penny told them how her parents are visiting her hotels daily and causing scenes while demanding to see the owner. They found out that \'Penny Sanders\' is the name she is using now. "I really hoped that them staying in that house and me improving their living conditions will be enough. However, a modest lifestyle is not sufficient for them. They were always hungry for more and that didn\'t change. I don\'t want to allow them to control my life again. I don\'t want them in."

JoAnna offered her advice: "They lived in a certain way for a very long time and it\'s difficult to change. Unless a person is driven into a corner, he will not find another way. Especially if all other options are worse than what was there previously. We can help you deal with this in several ways… but it all depends on how far you are willing to go with them."

Ellie is familiar with Penny\'s background and she added: "You wanting to help them to a certain degree is admirable. However, they see your kindness as your weakness. While thinking about how you want to handle this, don\'t forget what they did to you, and what they will do if you allow them back…"

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