Love Began with the First Meeting novel Chapter 1000

Now that Hugo's location was determined, they only had one problem to solve: how to let Aaron know that they were successful.

Looking at the "Y" that was still flickering on the screen, Brian thought hard. If he tried to contact Aaron again through the wireless communicator, Hugo would be able to hear in and know what they had done. If that happened, he might be determined to take further action, an action that would inevitably make the situation worse. If, instead of doing that, he decided to sent somebody to go to QY Island in person in order to inform Aaron, it would obviously take a certain period of time, during which the situation might change. Time is something none of them could control, and gambling that would mean a higher risk for the whole operation.

While he was thinking about the options, the fixed-line telephone in his office rang.

Brian withdrew his thoughts for the time being and picked up the phone, placing the receiver by his ear.

"Brian," Shawn's voice came through on the phone, "why couldn't I contact you through your cellphone?"

"It was hacked..." Brian replied in an indifferent tone, as if that was none of Shawn's business.

"Ahaha," Shawn's harsh laughter came through from the other end of the line. "Oh my God! Did I hear you correctly? Aha... You were hacked? Ahaha!"

Hearing that, Brian's eyed narrowed. Rolling his eyes, he warned, "If you want to die, you may choose to go on laughing."

"Ahem—" Shawn sounded like he choked on his own saliva. Looking at the flight attendant who was staring at him, he pretended to cough for a second and then asked, "Has anything happened in QY Island?" Just as the flight attendant was about to answer him, the plane's pilot suddenly made an announcement. While listening to what the captain of the airplane was saying, Shawn frowned slightly. "The airplane is circling in the air for quite a while. It seems that it can't land," he said to Brian on the phone.

Hearing that, Brian took furrowed his eyebrows as well. "Why are you going to QY Island?" he asked. He hadn't assigned any task to him that would take him to the said island, as far as he remembered.

Shawn chuckled on the phone and then answered, "Nothing in particular. I had nothing to do and got a little bit bored, so I decided to go buy plane tickets online, and now I'm here, up in the air!"

"I see you're chased by Yuri again. Am I right?"

"Ahem—" Shawn once again sounded like his lungs were being pulled out of his body. "What on earth is happening?" he once again asked. "It's really not a pleasure to stay inside a plane that cannot land."

"It's great that you're in QY Island!" Brian said in a somewhat surprised tone, though it quickly changed to all serious business. "I will get in contact with the control tower and give the captain of the airplane a landing signal. Later I will send some action codes to you. You play it by ear..."

"Okay!" Shawn answered. He didn't hang up until Brian finished giving him instructions. After that, they said their goodbyes to one another. After expressing his thanks to the flight attendant, Shawn walked back to his seat. Soon, the captain of the airplane gave another announcement, this time asking the passengers to get ready for landing.

In his office, Brian was still staring at the big "Y" on the screen of his laptop. It disgusted him, and he could not help but frown at its sight. In the end, he decided to unplug the power cable so that the screen would turn off. After that, he stood up and left the office. Now that Shawn was in QY Island, it would be less difficult for Brian to help Aaron solve his problem. Truly, he hoped that Aaron, and Ximena, would soon get past this.

In his mind, Aaron was the smarter guy between the two of them. Aaron was able to see clearly through a relationship he himself was involved in from the very beginning. He understood that he could not keep a woman to stay by his side through sheer force, as it would not only fail, but it would also cause critical damage, both to the relationship and the woman.

With these thoughts in his mind, Brian walked out of the building and stood by the roadside. The setting sun created a long shadow for him, and it made him such a lonely figure, all alone. As a gust of wind blew, yellow leaves got blown off their trees and they fell behind him. The chilly weather, the falling leaves, the silent road, and the lone man made a depressing scene.

*

Freya couldn't do anything but just look on as Aaron approached her daughter. Clearly, she did not know what to do. When Aaron finally reached Ximena, he stood by her side and silently stared at her for quite a while. Then, he raised his eyes to look at Freya and gave her a little nod, indicating that she could leave the room now.

After taking a final look at Ximena, Freya, with her face still contorted with worry, sighed, turned around and walked out of the study.

Aaron sat down opposite to Ximena. Looking at her face, which looked gaunt as a result of both the previous fever and the incident that had happened earlier, he felt great pity for her, and it was clearly seen in his eyes. Raising one of his hands, he slid his fingers across Ximena's skin, which was still a little hotter than normal, and gently called out her name. "Ximena..."

Ximena didn't respond to him at all. She just looked ahead blankly and without focus. It was as if she was frozen. A person's capacity to tolerate anything was limited. Once a person found out that the happiness he or she had thought he or she had possessed was based on lies, he or she would no longer be strong as he or she had always been. It was not until now that Ximena knew that she was such a person.

"Ximena..." Aaron called her name again in a voice that indicated that he was putting a restraint on his emotions. Seeing that Ximena still didn't respond to him at all, he sighed. Suddenly, he stretched his arms and held her into his tight embrace. "Ximena, please don't be like this. Okay? Everything will have a solution," he said softly.

Ximena didn't move. She just let Aaron whisper by her ear. With the familiar voice, the familiar embrace, the familiar body note... she closed her swollen eyes and began to breathe deeply.

Aaron pursed his lips into a straight line. Tightening his hug, he rested his cheeks onto her head, slightly rubbing it on her hair, as if consoling her. Continuing, he said, "No matter what happens, I will always be by your side."

Ximena felt the hot air from Aaron's mouth around her ear as he spoke those things. Hearing his deep and magnetic voice, she felt as if it was hard to breath. Taking quicker deep breaths, she opened her eyes slowly. With her red swollen eyes, she looked at Aaron directly, and said, with her dry, coarse voice, "You have known that she is my mother since the very beginning. Am I right?

Answer me!"