Love Began with the First Meeting

Tap-tap!

The sound of somebody knocking at the door came through. Without waiting for a response from the people inside the room, Tony let himself in. Seeing that Brian looked absent-minded, as if deep in thought, Tony announced, "Shawn says that they have found information about the remnants of 'Y." "Hmm," Brian answered, barely paying attention to the man he was talking to. "My cellphone was attacked as soon as I finished a phone call with Aaron." While saying that, he took a slight glance at the cellphone that was now laying on his desk. It was still hacked by Hugo.

Upon hearing what Brian said, Tony walked to the desk and picked up the cellphone. Upon seeing the "Y" on the screen, his lips contorted to a frown. "Do we need to handle this?" he asked.

"Well, yeah!" Brian answered, raising his eyes to look at Tony. "Aaron personally asked me for help. And besides, this who thing concerns Ximena."

It took Tony a few moments to acknowledge what Brian said, but after he did, he nodded, signalling that he understood Brian's sentiments. After that, he walked out of the office with the cellphone in his hand. Discovering that Ximena was concerned with the whole issue actually took Tony by surprise. After he gently closed the office's door, he stood outside the room, silent. What Brian said echoed in his mind. Mindlessly, he looked at the phone again and the imposing "Y" on it made him shiver. Suddenly, sadness colored his usually emotionless face. Somehow, he felt the grief that Brian was feeling like it was a tangible object. He also felt it spreading from inside the office to the world outside of it. All Tony could feel was sympathy for Brian. He knew that whenever Brian heard of anything that was even a bit related to Molly, he would torture himself by all means.

With these thoughts in his mind, Tony took a deep breath and his best to regain his focus and composure. After getting himself together, he walked towards the elevator. Inside the lift, his thoughts continued to bother him. 'So what if Mr. Brian Long had already set Mrs. Molly Long free? The two of them are still unhappy.

Perhaps letting her go was the best course of action that Brian took for Mrs. Molly Long, mainly because it would prevent her from being damaged by the darkness that surrounds the Long Family. But should her wishes be ignored? What about the wound in her heart? Everybody could easily come to the conclusion that Mr. Brian Long and Mrs. Molly Long loved each other the moment they saw them together. However, they chose to torture each other in such an intolerable way. Love looks so excruciating that I don't want to experience it myself. I would rather stay by Mr. Brian Long's side all my life, just like Antonio! Perhaps love has a beautiful side and it is natural for people to yearn for it, but I'm sure that it isn't suitable for me!' he thought to himself, firmly deciding.

*

On the top floor of the building of the Leng's Corporations in QY Island, Aaron stood in front of the French window in his office with both hands in his trouser pockets. Looking out the window, he saw that the lives of the crowd down below didn't change one bit as a consequence of Hugo's malicious hacking attacks. The road in front of the building was still bustling with activity. People were strolling and walking as usual.

All of a sudden, the wireless intercom beeped, and it disrupted Aaron's thoughts. With one last look at the people living their lives normally, he turned around and walked towards his desk. When he got to it, he took a deep breath and picked up the intercom.

"Your Highness, we've gotten in touch with Hugo!" Ken said on the other end of the line, his voice full of urgency. There was no other device in the whole island except for single frequency wireless communicator that could be used over a certain distance. "He is in Channel 3."

"Hmm," Aaron answered. He then adjusted the frequency to Channel 3. Before he spoke, he took a deep breath and made sure his voice wasn't projecting any kind of emotion. "I'm Aaron Leng." "Hello..."

a dull and hoarse voice came through from the other end of the line. The voice was really harsh that it hurt Aaron's ears and made him wince. Obviously, Hugo was using a voice converter. "You can put forward whatever condition that you want and I will agree to it," Aaron quickly said, his voice truly devoid of emotion and all business-like. "However, I have a condition. I don't want anybody to know what happened next in your little story."

"Whatever condition? Aha..." Hugo's distorted voice truly sounded like a ghost. Once again, it made Aaron wince. In an eccentric and cynical tone, he continued, "Your Highness, the controller of the dark world in QY Island, the CEO of the Leng's Corporations, the controller of the economic lifeline of QY Island... Aha... What a big thing to say! Truly brave of you, Your Highness. Aha..."

Hearing Hugo's response, Aaron couldn't help but feel angry. Due to this, his heart started beating faster, and his breath started becoming labored. It took a moment before he replied, but he, once again, made sure that his tone was devoid of any hints that he was riled up. So, in a calm and apathetic voice, he said slowly, "Say your condition. What do you want?"

"My condition..." But before he could finish revealing his condition, he once again laughed in his dull and hoarse voice. "My condition is very simple, Your Highness," he finally said, after pulling himself together. "And that is, I have no condition. Aha..." "Are you playing tricks on me?" Aaron asked coldly, his eyes narrowing.

"How dare I play tricks on someone like you, Mr. Leng, 'Your Highness'?!" The dull and hoarse voice sounded agonizing, as if Hugo was suffering great pain. "I'm just unhappy. Gravely unhappy, Mr. Leng. I'm unhappy because God is unfair. At that time, obviously I performed better than my brother in every aspect, but no one paid attention to me. I was not given anything, I was not able to get anything. Why did God treat me like that? Why, Your Highness? What was it about him? He got everything just because of that handsome face. He didn't deserve anything he got! None of it!"

Hugo talked about what had happened in the past in an incoherent manner. The more he spoke, the more emotional he became, as if the reason why he was willing to talk to Aaron was not because he wanted to put forward a condition, but because he needed someone to listen to his story, to his trials and tribulations, his anger, which he had been saving up in his heart for who knew how long.

Aaron listened to him whine and shout patiently, not interrupting him or making any comments. Hugo didn't stop speaking and he just kept on talking about his grievances. As seconds dragged by, Aaron could feel frustration building up in his chest. The atmosphere around him was becoming more and more volatile, and his eyes became narrowed more than ever.

Soon, a dangerous sneer graced his lips. Looking up at the clock, he checked what time it was already. It had been ten minutes since he had adjusted the frequency to get in contact with Hugo, and it had been ten minutes since they started talking.

Ten minutes was not a long time, but it was enough for XK Intelligence Agency to gather whatever they needed to gather.

*

XK Intelligence Agency had a high working efficiency. With the help of ten minutes' worth of wireless frequency connection that Aaron was able to give them, they were able to determined the location of Hugo. He was in an abandoned building, a jerry-built construction in QY Island that had been stopped by the council hall by force.