Is this destiny?

Stella and Edward joined in the room and they saw that everyone is tense.

"Is Sarah fine?", Stella asked Vasily who observed others in silence from the side.

JoAnna called them for an emergency meeting and considering everyone gathered, Stella understood that this is related to Sarah.

Vasily nodded. "For now."

"What happened?", Edward asked.

Vasily exhaled. "Ivan told Voronins who Sarah is and that she is in their base."

Stella's eyes widened and Edward frowned.

Vasily shook his head. "I knew that Ivan is impulsive and that he thinks Sarah is inexperienced, but this… I don't know how he found out that Sarah is there. I didn't tell him."

Vasily suspected that Ivan eavesdropped or maybe used security footage to find out this information, but he had no proof. The information that Sarah is in the base of the Voronin family was known only by a selected few, and even though Vasily didn't tell this to Ivan directly, Vasily feels responsible for this blunder because Ivan is his assistant, yet he went to give information to the enemy. 

The truth is that Vasily is still wrapping his head around this. He can't believe that Ivan went to Voronins. During the interrogation, Ivan claimed how he did it for the benefit of the family and that Sarah does not deserve to be the Grand Elder.

"If you stop obsessing with Sarah and see the big picture, you will see that she will bring us all down.", Ivan told Vasily.

"Ivan... you are the one bringing us down.", Vasily responded. "If you believe that Sarah is not capable, you should bring forward the one who is better. But there is none. How can you claim that you did it for the family when you are the one who turned your backs on us?"

"You turned your back on us, the moment you started believing that Sarah is fit to be the Grand Elder...", Ivan said to Vasily with hatred in his voice. 

Vasily didn't know if this is a joke or a nightmare, but either of those sounded better than a reality where Sarah is in the hands of the Voronin family because Ivan is out of his mind. 

Back to the present...

Within minutes, they had a rough plan in place.

Sophia spoke to people gathered: "Team from Romania can be there within an hour. We need an hour and a half with helicopters. Let's leave in ten minutes."

"Who is going?", Vasily asked.

"Not many. We don't want to alert Voronins.", Sophia responded. "Once there, we will split into several teams of skillful people and slip in and out undetected on a moment's notice. Let's go. We will work on the details on the way there."

"I will come also.", Vasily announced and no one had an intention to stop him.

"You have ten minutes to meet with us in the back, next to the helicopters.", JoAnna told him.

Vasily dashed out to get ready.

"Where is Hong?", Stella asked. He returned on the previous day and she noticed that a number of kids are missing as well.

"He is dealing with another mission and should be back within two to three hours. We don't have time to wait for him…", Sophia responded.

Hong went with Bo, Wing, Souta, Francisca, Azra, and Camila to take care of the surveillance that Simeon set up for Tashi. Hong was not ready to talk to his daughter, but he wanted her out of Simeon's clutches, as soon as possible.

The plan for that mission was to disable all the equipment and eliminate people who were watching over Tashi, including their handlers. It will take at least a few days for Voronins to figure out that their people are gone. Until then, Aiden will be a member of the Voronin organization, and they will make sure that if Simeon plans anything else against Tashi, they will stop him before his men can reach Tashi. 

Back to the living room...

"How are we on drones?", Zack asked Felix. With only a handful of people, drones will give them an advantage.

"I have a dozen ready that can move while ignoring the jammers of the Voronin family.", Felix responded.

They all hoped it will be more, but they will work with what they have.

Stella confirmed that she and Owen are coming with them.

"What can I do?", Edward asked. He wished to join them, but he knows that on the field he will probably be in the way.

Sophia was happy to see that their father is willing to help. They are aware that he is good with technology. "You will be ground control with Beck from here. Nico is in Romania, together with Mishi and the team. We have full access to the surveillance of the Voronin family. Be our eyes and let us know if anything happens. When Hong returns with his team, tell him what is going on. They will be tired, so they should stay here. If they are bored, tell them to take care of the animals and kids. In the best-case scenario, we are overreacting, Sarah and Aiden will not need us, and this will be over by tomorrow this time."

Sophia didn't need to say that there is a possibility they will return sooner because that is a bad option which includes Sarah and Aiden being in danger.

Edward wished them good luck before going with Beck to the basement where they have a room which is filled with computers.

Sophia told Konstantin that he should make sure things are smooth in the Lebedev family until they return.

"Don't tell other Elders what is going on. We don't want them to take advantage of Sarah's situation. With all of us gone, we are relying on you.", Sophia said.

"Don't worry about things here.", Konstantin assured her. "Be careful and make a solid plan that will allow everyone to return safely. I know you can do it."

Sophia responded with a small smile and walked away.

Since they arrived at the main base of the Lebedev family, Sophia got to know Konstantin, his assistants, and several other prominent figures from the Lebedev family, and she finds them to be nice people. She can't match this image with the one she held previously in her mind.

Only a few weeks ago they were demons who chased after them in order to force them into an endless abyss of schemes and illegal activities. Sophia wonders if the demons are real but good in concealing their intentions, or this current picture of decency is the correct one, or maybe it's something in-between.

While Sophia and JoAnna got people moving out, Hong finished his mission related to Tashi and they were on their way back to the base, unaware that they will find it almost deserted.

Hong was happy that the mission went without a hitch and he even got to see Tashi through one of the monitors that were playing video feeds from rooms in Tashi's house.

Hong gritted his teeth while thinking about how Simeon got cameras set up in Tashi's home. He could not allow those cameras to stay there a day longer and that is why they took longer than necessary.

Tashi wakes up early in the morning to drop off her kids at a pre-school care facility where kids get to catch up on their homework and studies before school starts. Tashi does this because she works full-time starting from 6:30 AM and she can't leave the kids in the morning on their own before school. It's a routine they are used to: they wake up at 5 AM, get ready for the day, Tashi drops off her kids, and then she goes to work.

Hong waited until Tashi's home was empty, and they got inside to remove all devices that Simeon's people installed.

Back to the present…

Hong is happy that he got to inhale the scent of the apartment where Tashi lives. He stopped in the kitchen and imagined his daughter preparing a meal for her children. And maybe for him as well… one day.

He is thinking about the best way to approach her. Now that the threat of Simeon reduced, Hong will get to talk to Tashi and tell her the truth.

It will be up to Tashi if she will accept him into her life or hate him, or maybe something totally unexpected happens. Well, Hong does not have high hopes that Tashi will accept him with open arms as part of their life, but he thinks that there are fairly good chances that Tashi will accept his money for the kids.

Over the years, Hong sold a number of paintings and earned quite a sum. He wants to leave that to his grandchildren, and he hopes that will be a way to buy his presence in Tashi's life. He knows that he is shameless, but it might work. If Tashi rejects him completely, he will leave all that to his grandkids in his testament.

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