"It"s good to see you Ang," Xhemin expressed as they continued to talk while Ziggy and Willow went out."It"s good to see you too Little Miss…I mean Miss Leigh," Ang smiled at her meaningfully "You have grown into a fine young woman and seeing you now, I couldn"t anymore see ithe old Little Miss I grew up with. So strange to be honest. However, I"m also glad to see you fine and well,"
Xhemin understood what Ang"s last statement was. He was not okay leaving her alone previously and when he heard that she had suffered depression, Ang was ultimately worried, "Those were hard days Ang. I fully thought you and Ziggy had been doing well abroad only and so I was okay with how I had been back in the forest Mansion. Turned out things also didn"t work out for you and you had been on the run,"
"Yes, those were rough and hard days," Ang bitterly recalled, "But the youngest sire stood strong. We first stayed in Hawaii, and then there was Africa after, then Denmark, New Zealand… a very good place, then Switzerland. We were always on the move back then for two years until you intervened. Thanks for your help,"
"It was my obligation to keep you safe Ang. You don"t have to thank me for it," Xhemin replied, "If not for me, our family should have been—"
"It was not your fault," Ang cut her off, "It was never your fault remember that. Loving someone you shouldn"t was never a sin,"
Xhemin quieted at this. Instead of answering, she went to one corner table and served Ang and herself some wine. She handed Ang one gla.s.s and drank from the other. Most of the times, the taste of wine help her get on with the emotions especially on times like this.
"Ang I was wondering," Xhemin spoke again, "Why did you help Willow this time? I mean you know she will seriously be in trouble yet you hid the fact from Ziggy and help her,"
Ang looked at Xhemin in way that was rather complicated to describe "I a.s.sure you Miss Leigh that I wasn"t aware we were coming here, Willow also deceived me at first. I only found out we were heading here at the airport. I always thought she was serious when she said she didn"t want to work with those who scouted her."
"But you could have turned your back and went home from the airport, right?" Xhemin emphasized.
"Yes," Ang honestly replied, "Truth was aside from I am very fond of her, I had always took pity on her. I felt like she was held back from what she"s about to become just because we were afraid danger would come on her. Shutting her off without giving her a chance to try I think is very unfair. After all, Willow has her own share of sacrifices even at a young age and she has a life to live"
"I understand," Xhemin sighed heavily, "I"m sorry it had taken me long to solve all of this. If only I"ve been a little competent, I should have bought L Empire by now and had the identified the culprit of all this,"
"As I keep reminding you Miss Leigh, nothing of this is your fault," Ang repeated hoping Xhemin will just stop blaming herself, "Our enemy was just real brilliant that even until now, we don"t know who he is. He was invisible and our only clue was he had something to do with L Empire,"
"And that is why I wanted L Empire so bad," Xhemin expressed fully. No one understood this, not even the board of LGC and not even Darryl himself. They thought she was greedy and ambitious, what they don"t understand is that only when she can have L Empire will she be able to secure the life of the family she had left. "It would be easier for us to know the culprit if we control L Empire,"
"I wonder what he really wants," Ang took another sip of his wine, "I understand why Martin had to kill Dr. Miles and hunted you. What I don"t understand was that why is someone after the child you bore. What does he get by killing a child?"
It was a long time ago when they were all able to connect the dots that lead to Dr. Miles" death. After Xhemin learned from Ziggy about Dr. Miles secret, she decided to confirm it all from the one person who had witness everything from the start and that was Mr. Cheng. It was him who took a share of guiding Dr. Melvin, her real father and also the same person who witness how she came to Dr. Miles" care and protection, so he was able give her enough answers to her questions. As soon as the learned of the truth and knew of Ziggy"s dilemma abroad, Xhemin had to rose on her feet, fought her depression and started livig again for one ultimate reason—protect the family she had left.
Previously, she thought once Ang and Ziggy crossed the borders, they will all be safe and they can already move on from everything but she was wrong. Someone was following them, hunting them like helpless prey and Xhemin realized by then that nowhere is safe, not this country and not abroad. That was also the same reason why she had to come back as Ava Leigh, become powerful and strong so she can find the one that had been hunting them down for only then they can find peace, only then can her family be safe.
"Darryl said his family wanted the child that we buried. That they also mourned for him and that they don"t mean my Winter any harm," Xhemin told Ang the words that Darryl uttered in the Loch.
"We can never know," Ang was doubtful. Of all that he had witnessed, he can never trust any man"s words anymore. "By the way I heard L Empire had health problems,"
"Emilia told me but she didn"t know what health problems they were suffering," Xhemin answered.
"I guess it"s with infertility," Ang revealed to her.
"The Lagdameo family had always been infertile, that"s not new," Xhemin stated the obvious fact.
"No Miss Leigh, the infertility is severe this time, no one among them can bear any more children,"
Xhemin was shock with the news and she turned to Ang immediately to confirm it. "Ang are you certain?"
"I heard some L Empire elders talking about it accidentally," Ang narrated. "The time when Willow had her demo, they were praising her and were regretful that there will be no more new generation to come in their family. They also mentioned that it was rather shame that your son died because no one, not even their President can bring forth another,"
"That"s a shocking news Ang," Xhemin gasped in incredulity. She wanted to talk more about it but then the door flew open as Ziggy and Willow came back already.
"We have to go," Ziggy announced and then went to specifically address Xhemin, "Fix yourself up, it"s time to meet him,"