Is this destiny?

Sarah had one question for Edward: "On the Christmas when Aiden was at our home and you were against me dating him. It was because of the information Vasily gave you, right?"

Edward responded with a small nod and Aiden lowered his head in shame. Sarah's question reminded him that Edward knows about his past.

Sarah was focused on her father and she didn't notice Aiden's emotional struggle.

"Why didn't you tell me the truth?", Sarah asked Edward.

Edward's eyes darted toward Aiden before returning to Sarah. "Would you believe it? At that time, you were impulsive and unwilling to listen to reason. If by some miracle you listened, you would ask me how I know about it. What was I supposed to say? That I did a background check on your boyfriend? Oh, by the way, I didn't know he was your boyfriend because you didn't tell me; so technically, it would be me doing a background check on your classmate. Or would it be more believable if I said that your invisible Uncle did it?"

"When you say it that way, it sounds more complicated than it is.", Sophia said. "You kept tabs on our lives. Was there anything we did that you DIDN'T know about?"

"We did that only to keep you safe.", Stella responded. "If something was not related to the Lebedev family, we stayed on the side."

JoAnna narrowed her eyes at her parents. "But you still knew everything. How else would you know if it's related to Lebedevs or not?"

"Yes, we knew." Stella admitted. "However, we didn't want to interfere no matter how difficult it was because you needed to face your challenges on your own so that you can learn and grow from them. By knowing about it, we kept you safe, and by not interfering we gave you freedom. It was the only way."

Sophia narrowed her eyes at Stella. "We thought that only Vasily kept tabs on our lives, but based on your choice of words, it seems that you were an active participant."

Stella puffed her cheeks. "What do you want me to say? Do you really expect me to leave everything to Vasily and hope that others will not try to pry into your lives? The fact that he was watching you, attracted attention of many."

Sophia frowned. "Who are those, many?"

Stella shrugged. "There was Vasily, and other Elders. And me and your father had to watch over you as well so that someone else doesn't take advantage if you are exposed. Over the years, we caught a few more people from different organizations, but thanks to us watching you, we saw them and eliminated the threat."

JoAnna thought that the room is spinning. "Please, stop talking like everything was done for our benefit!"

Stella was losing her patience. "You need to accept that it was either that, or you coming to live with Lebedevs in this pretty prison where you can't decide anything for yourself, or maybe you would end up dead."

Stella saw that JoAnna's fighting spirit subsided and she exhaled in relief before saying: "Your father was unable to read the reports calmly when you reached your teens and boys started showing up, so he stopped reading and told me to let him know if anything looks dangerous. However, Vasily meddled more than necessary. His role was to watch over me, and to make sure that none of the enemies approaches you so that you can't be used to get to me, but he overstepped his watching duty."

JoAnna gestured toward Stella, Edward, and Owen. "At least we knew about the three of you. Why you didn't tell us about Vasily and the Lebedevs?"

"You know why.", Stella responded. "I wanted to keep you away from Lebedevs. If you were aware of them, you would see Vasily and many others who were involved. You would be curious and start asking questions, and once you cross that line you can't undo it. This world sucks you in and there is no turning back."

"How far does this go?", Jeff asked, making everyone look at him.

"How far?", Edward repeated because he didn't understand.

"Vasily knew that we are from the White family and that the Voronins are involved.", Jeff clarified. "What are the odds that Aiden and I would met Anna and Sarah as kids? Based on the video, it seems that Aiden and Sarah met accidentally, but was me meeting Anna accidental? And what are the odds that our grandparents are neighbors?"

JoAnna stared at Jeff. "Are you saying that they planned for us to meet?"

Jeff shrugged, indicating that anything is possible. "Even before Aiden went to that camp to train, White family had connections to Voronins, and Stella was a Lebedev."

Everyone looked at Stella, waiting for her to answer.

Stella glanced at Edward before responding. "I don't know. You will need to check with your grandparents. If your grandparents matchmake you, we were not aware of it."

Sarah frowned and looked at Aiden. "At the University, you were looking for me. Was it only because of my computer skills?"

Aiden understood that Sarah suspects she was his target because she is a Lebedev. He panicked. "Love, you know that I found you because of the job, but before I knew it I fell for you. It had nothing to do with your background… to what I was unaware of."

Sarah smiled at his adorable insecurity and gave his hand a gentle squeeze to tell him that it's OK. "I don't suspect you. But someone told you to find me, right?"

Aiden looked at Jeff and Jeff understood that the ball is in court. "Uhm… It was Oscar who told me about Sarah. At that time Aiden had a lot of work, and I probably discussed that with Oscar. I'm not sure how we reached that point, but I remember Oscar telling me that a good candidate exists at the Tesla University and that Aiden can check her out since he was a student there."

Owen decided to share his thoughts on this topic: "There is a chance that Oscar wanted to reach out to Sarah because she is a Lebedev, and the falling in love part was not planned."

"My parents never objected to me being with Sarah.", Aiden said.

"Quite the opposite!", Owen exclaimed. "Sarah was a model student, and whoever looked a bit deeper could find evidence that she knows how to fight and that her computer skills, as well as skills with electronics, are enviable. Why would they object if you can seduce such a woman? Being a Lebedev means a lot of backing, a union through marriage. And even if you failed, by getting her to work with you, you got her inside your circle where Voronins are. In case Sarah does not cooperate, they can eliminate her and she would not see it coming. Didn't you have a Voronin or two inside your own team, and one of them went crazy and ended up shooting at you?"

Aiden hugged Sarah as if he is afraid that she will leave him or disappear.

"Even if that is true, I didn't know…", Aiden said softly to Sarah with anxiety in his eyes.

Sarah gave him a comforting smile. "If there is one person in the world I trust unconditionally, that is you."

Aiden closed his eyes and tightened his hold on Sarah. To him, it does not matter how they met, the only thing important is that they are together, and he has no intention of letting go. And Sarah feels the same.

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