Love Began with the First Meeting

"Wait," Aaron called out.

Ken, who was already at the door, turned around and asked respectfully, "Your Highness, is there anything else?"

Aaron's eyes darkened when he saw the corner of the jade seal in Ken's hand. "Nothing," Aaron answered with a wry smile. Would she ever be able to forget the past? Some memories might have faded away unconsciously. But others stayed deep in our hearts through the course of our life.

It felt like when a boy lost the toy which he used to cherish. He might never be able to forget about that special toy, no matter how many years passed by or how many toys he had possessed after that.

Aaron took a breath, and said indifferently,"Cut it into jade beads and make a bracelet out of it for Ximena." He was hoping that maybe she would forget about the past if the seal was out of her sight. Aaron wanted to destroy the jade seal, along with her past memories. Ken saw the look in Aaron's eyes. "I will send the jade seal to be processed first. And then, I'll come back to pick you up to go to the airport, Your Highness," Ken said. Aaron nodded, and Ken turned around to leave.

The jade seal was once a symbol of the Leng family, which had been handed down from generation to generation. Years ago, the Leng family had waned until Aldrich had revived it again. After that, the jade seal had symbolized the expectations of the previous generation, handed down to their next generation.

Although Ken didn't understand why James had given such a thing to Ximena, he was sure that something must have happened between them that had sublimated their feelings towards each other. And he was trying to destroy that emotional tie between them. Even if he didn't want her himself, he would never let anyone else have her. That was just how he was.

Aaron lay back on his seat. His deep eyes fell on the table as he was pondering about her. This time, he would be away for about three or four days. He had to go to Dragon Island again. The last time, for some reason, he and Eric couldn't reach an agreement. Aaron frowned. It was just like Mr. Brian Long had said. He had underestimated Eric. Although Eric was still young, he was the future ruler of the Dragon Island, and there was no way that he would be a weak man!

Aaron smiled wryly. He checked the time, and then turned on his computer. He typed in some instructions in the DOS interface, and pressed the ENTER key on the keyboard. The instructions flashed by quickly, and at the end, it transferred to a specific interface on the screen.

'Ding, ' came the sound from the computer.

"The Grand Night Casino will be completed in another three months. I want to know if you will be coming to the completion ceremony," Aaron asked with a smirk.

Brian appeared on the screen. His clothes were askew and his hair was messy. He looked unseemly and exuberant, like a wild man. Aaron could see that Brian was tired.

"No, I won't be coming," Brian replied.

Aaron frowned and continued, "There are some rumors that someone is plotting against the Grand Night Casino. Aren't you worried?"

"Shouldn't you be the one who is worried?" Brian sniffed at Aaron contemptuously. His impassive eyes were so deep that it seemed to be able to swallow anyone who was looking directly into them.

"I am," Aaron said. Brian knew him well. He was truly more worried about it than Brian. The Grand Night Casino was nothing to Brian compared to his other possessions. It was Aaron who had insisted on giving the East Coast to the Grand Night Casino and the Dragon Empire Group against all objections. If something went wrong with any one of them, every one of his future decisions would end up in dispute.

Brian leaned on the trunk of his car and voiced, "If I am unable to catch up with the completion ceremony, you could put it off." One of the reasons why Brian liked Aaron was because he was never afraid to face the dark side of his heart.

Aaron didn't quite understand why Brian would say that. Neither did he know why Brian, a meticulous man, would look so disheveled at that moment. He was sure about the relationship between Brian and the XK Intelligence Agency now. Of course, he only knew about it because Brian believed that there was no need to keep it from Aaron. Otherwise, if the XK Intelligence Agency didn't want to, even the FBI couldn't find out any information about them.

"Okay," Aaron answered. Then Brian disconnected the chat.

Aaron didn't think that the completion of the new Grand Night Casino, which should have been completed in three months, would be delayed for almost ten months.

*

Ximena had nothing else to do but sketch. She was grounded by Aaron. Her active range was limited inside the villa. Her manager was taking care of the store, and the servants at the villa would send her designs to the store.

Ximena was drawing with a pencil in her design paper, her head hung low on it. The lines she drew didn't have the usual fluency or elegance. They were blunt, and she felt like they lacked something. She crushed and crumpled one sketch after another, and finally stopped drawing.

After taking a deep breath, she looked up at the gloomy sky outside the window and felt more anxious than before. She got up from her desk and walked out of the room. Downstairs, the servants were cleaning as per their schedule. Aaron was a neat freak and even if he wasn't around, the house was supposed to be kept tidy and the servants obliged by cleaning it at least twice a day.

They saw Ximena descending the stairs and looked at each other in confusion. Then one of them stepped forward and greeted her, "Miss Mo, what are you doing downstairs? Did you need something?" They wanted to stop her, but hesitated. Although Ximena wasn't the kind of person who willingly talked to others, she was still nice to the servants and never made things difficult for them.

"I just want to go out and get some fresh air. You can come with me if you are worried," she said flatly, and then walked out without waiting for anyone.

"Umm..." The servants didn't know what to tell her. One of them immediately called Aaron as he saw her walking out, "Your Highness, Miss Mo said that she wants to go out and breathe some fresh air. Is that okay?"

"Let her go," Aaron replied impassively from the other end of the line.

The servant excused himself and hung up respectfully. Then he heaved a long sigh of relief.

Ximena walked alone around the villa which covered a large area; half a hill could fit in there. The first night she had come here, it was raining. Under that smoggy and gloomy sky had stood this villa that was like a dracula castle in a sinister atmosphere. And she had actually managed to live here for the past several months! She had been missing James ever since she had come here.

Ximena looked around the huge space, and then lowered her head with a bitter smile. She slowly walked across the lawn with a moist wind blowing on her face, step by step, and she gradually lost track of her steps. She had moved quite far away from the villa, but she kept walking. Her mind was empty. She tried to think about something, but every time she tried, all that came to mind was the cold look that Aaron had given her at the hospital. Hiss... A strange sound came from somewhere in the grass.

A sparrow that was sitting on a nearby tree fluttered away in horror. Even then, Ximena was lost in her thoughts. She kept walking, as she stared blankly at her toes. Hiss... Hiss...

Something was moving in the grass, and the sound was getting closer and closer to Ximena's foot. Suddenly, there was a sound of water gurgling, and she returned to her senses. There was a lake in front of her. It was dark blue, like a still mirror under the trees. Ximena stared at it and wondered, 'Was this lake always around at the villa. I've never seen this before.'

She looked around and found that she was quite far away from the villa. She was at the back of the hill; she had never been here before, because it sort of felt ghastly around this place.

She wasn't a curious person, especially when it came to His Highness, who might have some secrets that would draw fire on her if she found out something that she shouldn't. So, she wasn't stupid enough to get herself into trouble. Hiss... The sound came again.

Ximena listened to the sound carefully. A feeling of uneasiness crept into her heart and told her that something was not right.

Hiss...Hiss... There was a loud sound all of a sudden and the calm lake rippled into a disturbed wave.

Ximena was gripped by fear, her eyes popping out. She stayed still, and her whole body froze when she saw the giant animal that was swimming in the water.

A giant black head slid out of the water, and its scales were shining under the light. It twisted a few times in the water, and stuck out its long red tongue as it swam towards the shore.

Ximena stared at the giant python that was sliding towards her swiftly, and began trembling. Her body was ice-cold. 'Why is there a giant python around the villa?' she screamed in her mind.

The python slithered onto the shore, its head swaying back and forth and its body quickly zigzagging towards Ximena. The snake was huge, around ten meters long. As it slithered towards her, its abdomen wriggled.

Ximena stumbled backwards instinctively. She gasped for air and her body became numb. She hated slippery and creepy creatures, no matter what it was. Frightened and nauseated, her stomach began cramping and she began to feel dizzy. She told herself to run away, but she couldn't move.

"No, no," she cried in a hoarse voice. "Don't come near me. Don't! Stop! Go away!"

The python stuck its tongue out again and hissed as if it were mocking her. It crept across the grass and towards her. The sound of its skin rubbing against the grass sounded creepy. Ximena felt like death was looking her in the eye at that moment, and she froze on the spot.

"Argh!!"

Ximena screamed as it approached closer. She finally stood up and started to run.

Seeing her run, alerted the snake and it moved faster to catch up to her.

"Oh God!" Ximena cried as she lost her balance and fell down. She looked back and saw the python was just around five meters away from her. Ximena tried to move backwards on all fours, staring at the python with her horrified eyes, her face dreadfully pale. "Stop! Go away! Please go away!"

Ximena murmured in a low voice. The black python slowed down as it approached her. It was like he was playing with his prey.

The giant python kept hissing and sticking its tongue out. Breathless, Ximena panted. When she got up and tried to run away again, the python pounced on her from behind. Ximena felt the cold, slippery skin wrapping around her, and she felt like she was about to throw up. Just as she was trying to suppress the disgusting feeling, she saw the giant python open its big month, ready to swallow her whole. "Help!"

Ximena cried in desperation. 00☐☐☐☐☐☐