Love Began with the First Meeting

"Wait," Aaron stopped him. When Ken turned around to face him, he continued, "Fulfill both their wishes one by one." His eyes became dark and distant as he said that. "Put them both in a higher, happy place. So that, when they fall off the edge, one of them will be willing to be the other's crash pad."

Ken looked solemn, but he nodded nevertheless. Then he turned around and left the office silently.

Aaron had lost his appetite. Slowly, he leaned against the sofa and lit a cigarette. He took a slight drag and blew the smoke out. The smoke curled upwards in front of him, making his handsome face look shadowy.

If and when the two of them fell from their happy place someday, Freya would willingly be Ximena's crash pad in order to protect her daughter. But if Ximena found out his intention, he knew that she would probably hate him for the rest of her life. Nevertheless, for the time being, he could not figure out a better way to make her happy while fulfilling her wish to be with her "Aunt".

The mistakes that had been made by their parents in the past, had jointly resulted in the current situation they were in. It was like an invisible vortex that he had no control over.

Time flew especially fast since Ximena was extremely happy. Summer was left behind soon, followed by autumn. Winter was not too far away now... Sometimes, life changed in the blink of an eye. Only a moment before, Ximena had been miserable because she had been an orphan in the world; but now, she was immersed in pure joy as she spent her days with her blood relative-her own Aunt.

Half a year had passed since Ximena had found her Aunt Freya. During this time, for Ximena's sake, Freya had quit her previous job as a nanny, and also stopped working at the Grand Night Casino after a while. Now, she mainly looked after Ximena at "Only Memory", and cooked lunch for her employees there. Ever since she had joined them, the store had become warmer, just like its name.

Freya had never been to Aaron's manor for her own reasons. Ximena thought that it was because she wasn't accustomed to such a grand house. So she bought for her a two-bedroom apartment near her store. Sometimes, when Aaron was away on business, she would go to the apartment and stay with Freya.

With Freya as her aunt, she felt like she couldn't be any happier. The life which she had been missing since her childhood was now made up for by Freya's existence. Under this circumstance, her relationship with Aaron had undergone a qualitative leap.

However, the progress in their relationship hadn't fully developed because of a certain reason. But such a reason was something neither of them was willing to talk about.

"It is raining outside..." Freya said, her voice filled with emotions as she looked at the haze outside. She turned back to look at Ximena, who was drawing a design sketch. "The temperature is down today. Why didn't you wear more clothes?"

"Aunt Freya, have you forgotten that we make clothes here in this store?" Ximena raised her eyes to look at Freya with a childish expression in her eyes. She smiled and asked, "How could I catch a cold because of a lack of clothes? Besides, I come and go by car. I don't really spend time outside."

Freya sighed and finally agreed with her.

"By the way," Ximena said as she kept her eyes on the sketch, "Aaron has invited you to his manor for dinner tomorrow." She chuckled lightly. "There will be a surprise for you," she added, keeping Freya in the dark.

Freya frowned and looked at Ximena in confusion. However, Ximena didn't say anything else. She had said enough, and now she had to keep her aunt guessing, or there would not be any surprise left for her tomorrow. She winked and continued her work with the design sketch.

The next day, it was raining heavily again. Despite being located in the torrid zone, QY island was quite cold during the rainy winter days.

When it was time to get off work, Ximena covered Freya with a coat, and grabbed her handbag which was on one side of her design table as always. "Let's go," she said.

Freya nodded. She walked out of the store with Ximena. Sitting in the passenger seat, she looked out the window at the rain. The whole of QY Island was now covered by the relentless downpour. She felt uneasy. She could not tell where the uneasiness came from. She thought that it was because she was headed to the manor for the first time.

She had been grateful for being able to stay by Ximena's side for the past six months, though all of this felt like a jig. However, as time went by, she had become greedy and wanted to stay with her daughter for a longer time. But at the same time, she was afraid that Ximena would find out what had happened in the past. If that happened, how would Ximena face it?

She took a deep breath to control her growing fear. Ximena's childish voice rang in her ears as she got into the driver's seat. She was always behaving like a child in front of her. Everyday, she shared her moments of happiness and sadness with her dear aunt. Ximena started the car, and it slid smoothly in the rain. Ximena drove slowly because of the rain and also because she didn't like speeding up when her aunt was in the car. She was afraid of scaring her. Even though she drove slowly, when the car passed by, the rainwater in the roadside puddles splashed onto passers-by.

Click!

The sound of the camera shutter was overwhelmed by the thunderous noise of the rain fall. The man with the camera was wearing a dark green trench coat and he kept capturing more pictures of Ximena's car until it disappeared from his sight.

He looked at the images in the camera and then stared in the direction of the car which was nowhere in sight now. A treacherous smile played at the corners of his mouth. He took out his cellphone and dialed a number. The call connected immediately. "I checked the photos. I'm sure that the woman by her side is the one in the photo you gave me. Just that she is much older than in the photo..." he said with a smirk.

"Then, it's true," the person on the other end of the phone sneered. His voice was filled with greed. "We are going to make a fortune. Ha!"

"I hope what you're saying about this fortune comes true," the man with the camera said, "If it doesn't, I will end up with a lot of losses over a bunch of useless pictures after risking being found by those two women or the owner of this camera, who is my boss' mistress." "Set your heart at ease. I'm sure the photos will be extremely useful," the man said from the other end. "If Ximena Mo wasn't Aaron's woman, I would not have dared to guarantee it, but she is!"

A gloomy laughter came through the phone. Hearing it, the man with the camera rolled his eyes. He turned around and left. "I hope so..." His words went unheard because of the loud sound of the rainfall and he disappeared into the darkness.

*

Dinner was served in the garden house. Even though it was already winter, the roses in the garden house were still in full bloom. They looked delicate and charming, making people forget about the cold air and heavy rain outside. I