“The countryside air is different. And I have to admit, I've wanted this for a long time. We'll go back in a week, when my vacation is over. I've needed rest away from all the chaos in the city.”“Well, I miss the chaos in the city…”“I’m sorry this happened, sir. I desperately wish I was here to help.” Richard said, interrupting her without batting an eyelid.“It's okay, boy. You would've only gotten yourself hurt. I'm making my plans though. My horses won't go away just like that. I know some men, gifted in solving cases like these. I'll have a meeting with them this afternoon. My horses might be gone, but those robbers will be properly dealt with.”Richard nodded, smiling. “Totally agree, sir. Can I come to this meeting with you?”She watched her father brush him off with a wave of his hand.“No son. Enjoy the countryside. Enjoy the beach, I'm guessing you've not been there yet. Take Ariel with you, have a good time. Leave the investigation of these bastards to me, huh?”Nodding,

“Good evening. We're your landlords.” Aurora said, glancing at him. He smiled, acknowledging how good it felt to hear her use the word “we.”“And?” The young man asked, trying his best to avoid Lut's gaze.“We'd love to know the caretaker. There's gotta be somebody in charge of the building, isn't there?”The young man's nod was sure. He looked as though he wanted to return to whatever he had been doing before he was disturbed.“Benson. The next door on your right.”Before Aurora could even mutter her thanks, he had slammed the doors in their faces.Lutenant avoided allowing the laughter that threatened to rip out of his system at that moment come out.When he looked at Aurora, he saw that she understood what had just transpired.“Did you have to look at him in that manner?”Lut laughed, staring at her in disbelief.“He was trying to hit on you, what in heaven's name is that disrespect? Couldn't let it slide, you know.”When he looked at her, she had a mischievous glint in her eyes.“

When he ended the call, he felt as though he had been sucker punched in the stomach.“What's wrong?”Ariel asked him again, her hand holding two sweaty bottles filled with the natural and freshly squeezed orange juice.“Just a few worries about me coming back because they need me at work, honey. Nothing much. Come here. Do these things taste as good as they look?”She smiled, and began to speak, but Richard wasn't even listening. He thought of the three men at the hotel further up in the countryside, and how safe they were in the arms of raving countryside men who probably wanted nothing more than to beat them to a pulp.He had to do something.And fast.*“I owe you an apology.”Aurora had never thought she would ever hear her boss say those words. She sat up in her chair, a bit stunned.They had come back from the visit to the apartment buildings a few hours ago, and she was having a hard time organizing files of newly recruited workers in the consortium. After she had left the ca

“That was when I knew that there was something different. Maybe my intelligence didn't matter. That changed my perspective of life. It was later I discovered that the bigger boys did odd jobs. They stole. They brought back a few spare change that helped in running the household.”He paused again, his hand on the rails. Aurora could see how hard it was for him to even tell her these things. At a point, she wondered if she was going to be doing him a favor if she told him to stop.But she had wanted to hear it, so she couldn't stop now.“Things went from bad to worse in the group home after I graduated high school. I was beaten everyday for saying what I thought. That was when I knew it was time to leave. And I did leave, only it became harder outside.”The hospital was silent. Save for a few roars downstairs from a car engine as maybe a patient or a doctor left the hospital, the place was as silent as a graveyard.The moon, up in the sky, cast a dull glow on the man and the woman getti

“Yes, I do.”Chloe nodded again.“All you need to do is treat him with love. Tell him you want to know. If he's still adamant that he doesn't want to share his movements and let you know where he bolts off to occasionally, then you can start telling him your fears. You have a right to be happy, Ariel. Always remember that.”Ariel nodded, swallowing hard.She didn't fancy anything that involved confronting Richard, but she loved him and wanted to marry him.sShe was willing to put in effort to make the marriage work.“Thank you, Chloe. Thank you. Have you ever thought of being a therapist?”Chloe laughed, glancing occasionally at the screen of her desktop.“I have too many problems to even decide that solving other people's own is what I want to do for life, you know.”Laughing, Ariel stood up from the chair she had been sitting on, then turned to thank the middle aged woman who had let her sit down there.“I'll have to go now, Ariel. I need to find a way to make more profit, if not, I