Is this destiny?

~ Italy, Milan ~

7:32 AM

Sarah and Aiden arrived at the base of the army of Chaos shortly after Masika and her team returned from Turkey.

When Hande woke up, and she was confused and scared. Luckily, Merve was there to assure Hande that they are safe. Masika gave painkillers to Hande and both Merve and Hande went to shower and freshen up before breakfast.

While Hande and Merve were cleaning up, Masika reported to Sarah and Aiden on what happened in Turkey.

When Merve saw Sarah and Aiden she dissolved into sobs.

Sarah hugged Merve and she was not sure what to say to comfort her.

When Merve caught her breath, she spoke: "I am sorry, Sarah. If I stayed, I would not inconvenience you to come and get me." Merve looked at Aiden and then at Sarah. "And I am sorry to interrupt your honeymoon… again…"

Sarah was surprised that after everything Merve went through, she is worried about inconveniencing her and Aiden. Sarah concluded that Merve has a big heart.

"And who is this?", Sarah asked Merve while looking at Hande who was half-hiding behind her big sister.

"This is my sister, Hande. She is ten years old and I could not leave her there. When I was in trouble, she stood up for me, neglecting her safety. She is brave and knows what is right. Can she join your military as well?"

Sarah smiled. "No. She is too young for the military. But she can join my family." Sarah glanced at Aiden and took his hand in hers before correcting herself: "Our family."

Aiden didn\'t talk much. Sarah can do whatever she wants, and he will support her. But the fact that all this is happening during their honeymoon is rubbing him the wrong way.

Merve turned to Hande, held onto Hande\'s shoulders, and explained: "These are Sarah and Aiden. From now, they will be our parents. If we work hard, we can get knowledge and strength to defend ourselves. And only like that, we can defend our new parents, and our other brothers and sisters as well. There are many of them, you will get to meet them soon."

Hande blinked, unsure what to say. All this is too strange and new. Hande remembers that Merve returned after many months and that their father was hitting Merve, and Hande jumped to defend Merve, and then everything went black. And she woke up in this place and… now she has a new family? Everything changed, even Merve feels like a different person. But Merve is confident and smiling and that must be a good thing.

"Let\'s eat. You must be starving…", Masika urged everyone.

After breakfast, Sarah and Aiden went to check the construction site. Louis was still in Italy, and he was excited that the bosses (aka who is signing his paychecks) are here.

"Excavation for the keyhole-inspired structure will be done in two days. Cash should be here until then. We are building three regular looking houses on the East side and two on the South. These two will be done in about one week…", Louis explained while pointing on the laptop which showed aerial photos of the area where construction is in progress.

Louis is the architect, and usually, he should not be here, but Cash (the construction manager) still has few days left of work at Sarah\'s and Aiden\'s mansion at the Whiterock Lake in Dallas. Once that is done, Cash will come to Milan, and then Louis can return to the comfort of his Los Angeles office. Cash and Louis did so many projects for Sarah and Aiden that they bonded and are working very well together.

Sarah was happy to hear that the first two houses will be done in one week. With each house providing living quarters, they will send more army members here and Masika can return home.

"Do you want to return with us?", Sarah offered to Masika. "Things seem to be under control and the guys here can hold the fort until others arrive."

Masika refused. "It is fine. Because everything is under control, I\'m getting extra time to practice my knife throwing and I study. I have one more exam next week. Besides, if you need an emergency mission in Europe, there is no one else but me." Masika ended smugly.

Masika is proud that Sarah and Aiden relied on her to save Merve on short notice, and that she successfully completed her mission. When they are back home, older kids usually get sent on risky missions while she handles the defense and other routine things. But now it was different because she is the most senior.

Sarah was surprised about one thing Masika said. "Knife throwing?"

Masika nodded enthusiastically. "Yes. Zack is teaching me. He is good…"

Sarah smiled knowingly and threw a side-glance toward Zack who was watching them from the other side of the room.

They chatted a bit about new girls and Sarah told Masika that there are currently twenty-five of them at the Beach house. "With Merve and Hande joining, it will be twenty-seven. Our plan was that they will stay with us at least a few months before we talk with them about sending them to their families. But after this experience with Merve, we will need to be cautious about sending them home. If they want to go, we will not stop them, but we will keep an eye on them for the initial period, until we are sure that they are safe…"

Sarah felt guilty for sending Merve back. If she didn\'t insist on her story about \'if you have a loving family, you should return…\', Merve would stay with them and she would not go through that trauma.

"Maybe some of us can join them? In that case if something goes wrong, we can save them before they get hurt.", Masika suggested.

Sarah told Masika that she will think about it. The idea is solid, but it needs to be executed by females, and Sarah is not comfortable sending her girls in a potentially hostile environment. It is one thing if they are enemies, they would just take them out. But these are family members and friends, and it\'s easy to be tricked by them.

Later that morning, Sarah and Aiden boarded the plane with Merve and Hande and headed to the Beach house.

When they parted, Masika promised Merve and Hande that she will visit them at the Beach house as soon as she returns to the United States.

Merve was in good spirits, excited to hear about the Beach house and what the other girls are doing there.

At first, Sarah was surprised to see that Merve is in such good spirits, but then she realized how that is because of Hande. Merve does not want Hande to be worried, and in return, Hande is doing the same for her older sister. They are strong for each other, and it reminded Sarah of her relationship with her sisters.

Sarah observed that Hande didn\'t mention their parents or their home and Hande was curious to find out more about having many sisters and studying without fear that someone will hit her.

Sarah noticed that Aiden is mostly silent, and she knows that he is upset because of all these events which disturbed their honeymoon. She is grateful that he is not throwing a fit about it. Ah, she will need to find a way to make it up to him.

When the girls slept off, Sarah approached Aiden.

"Hey…", she called softly while taking a seat next to him.

Aiden kept his tablet on the side and turned to Sarah. "Hey."

"I am sorry. I promise that as soon as Anna completes a health checkup on Merve and Hande, and gives us the results, we will be on our way to Las Vegas and I will not allow anything to interrupt our honeymoon."

"What is left of it.", Aiden grumbled and exhaled helplessly. "No need to apologize. But don\'t make promises you can\'t keep."

"But I wish to keep this one."

"Wishing for it and actually doing it are two different things. Don\'t apologize for helping others. That is one of the things I love about you.", he said while pulling her to lean on him.

Sarah wrapped her arms around Aiden and promised silently that when they return to Las Vegas, she will not leave their room and she will turn off her phone and remove Eve-lens. Only like that she can ensure no more disruptions.

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