Is this destiny?

Back to the basement, before Sarah heard screams in the hallway…

Aiden is looking at Meili and he would be blind not to see that she is up to something.

"Did you come here to stare at me without a word?", Aiden probed.

"You are the most handsome man I\'ve ever seen.", Meili said. "You captured my heart and I wanted you to know that."

Part of Aiden admired her bold declaration. It takes guts to admit that you like someone even though you know that nothing will come out of it and that rejection is inevitable. "Are you done?"

Meili blinked. "Should there be more?"

Aiden waved his hand dismissively. "Go back up with the other girls and don\'t stir trouble."

Meili looked at Aiden in disbelief. She is pretty and her body is not bad either, everyone told her that she is an attractive young lady.

In Meili\'s mind, things should happen in the following order: she will tell Aiden that she has feelings for him, and he will smile, and maybe even hug her, but definitely not send her away. That is not how things happen in movies!

"How can you reject me?"

Aiden chuckled and propped his elbow on one of the higher boxes. "What do you expect me to do? Do you want me to divorce my wife and marry you? Or are you happy to be my mistress? Or should I abandon everything and become your loyal dog?"

Meili\'s eyes sparkled. "Anything."

Aiden thought that she is bold, but now he is wondering if Meili is lacking in the brains department. Didn\'t he warn her to stay away?

Meili saw that Aiden\'s expression darkened and she quickly said: "I can be whatever you want me to be. Just let me stay by your side. Your wife does not need to know. I know how to keep quiet."

Aiden\'s eyebrows shoot up. The surprises don\'t stop coming. "Is that what you think of me? That I am a cheater?"

Meili shook her head frantically. "No, not a cheater. You are an emperor. And every emperor has many concubines. I can be one of them. Whatever your wife does not do for you, I will do it. Give me a chance and I will show you that I am much better than she is. I am younger, I can learn things. I am ready to devote my life to you…" 

Aiden raised his hand, to get Meili to stop talking. "You are delusional. Did you forget my warning that I will show no mercy to anyone who tries to get between me and my wife? Do you think that I was joking? The only reason you are still standing is because I see you as a little girl, not worthy of my time. Leave before I lose my temper."

"No. I love you!", Meili screamed.

She already told him that she fell for him and crossed the point of no return, and she can\'t bear the thought of backing off.

Aiden frowned at the stubborn girl. It\'s one thing to be stubborn, but her persistence is plain stupid. "Meili, we met less than one hour ago when my wife saved you from the clutches of a man who was about to force himself on you. You don\'t love me. You don\'t know anything about me. What you call love, is a teenage infatuation."

"No!", Meili screamed and lunged herself at Aiden.

He nimbly stepped on the side, and she slammed herself headfirst on the box with tokens, toppling it in the process. Immediately, the cut on her forehead started bleeding.

Aiden tilted his head slightly and frowned at Meili who is sprawled on the floor. "I thought that you are smarter than that."

"How do smarts have anything to do with feelings? I can\'t prevent the way I feel.", she grumbled while standing up.

"This is not about feelings. It\'s about you coming here and causing trouble. I don\'t care how you feel. I don\'t care about any woman\'s feelings other than my wife\'s. Sarah saved you, and if she knows that you are here and hears your words, she would be hurt." Aiden saw that Meili is frowning in disapproval and he was stupefied. "How sheltered was your life so far if you don\'t understand in what situation you were before we arrived? Are you not grateful that she saved you?"

Meili gritted her teeth and Aiden was sure that she will either curse at him or run away. To his surprise, she did neither. Meili slapped herself fiercely a few times on the face, and then tugged her top until ripping sound was heard, and she ran out while screaming.

Aiden shook his head in disapproval, and he was relieved at the confirmation that Meili left the basement. He exhaled and looked at the scattered tokens from Aria casino on the ground. He squatted and started collecting them.

…

Back to the present…

Sarah exited the study just in time to see Meili run toward her.

Meili\'s face is covered in tears and blood, and her appearance is a mess. Her cheeks are red with obvious finger marks, a definite sign that she was slapped.

The girls from the family room heard Meili\'s screams and started crowding in the hallway to see what the commotion is about. Needless to say, after all of them were kidnapped and locked up for months, at the sound of girl\'s screams, they were all anxiously observing the scene in front of them. Some girls started doubting if they were saved or is this just another form of torture and them being used.

"What happened?", Sarah asked Meili.

Meili looked at Sarah and dissolved into hysteric sobs. "You need to help me! Get justice for me!"

Sarah was not sure what got Meili into this state. She came from the direction of the basement. Did she talk to Akmal or some of the other guys imprisoned in there? Did they say something to upset her? But why is her face bloody? "Calm down and tell me what happened."

"I went down to the basement and found your husband moving boxes. There was no one else, so I asked him if he needs help, and the next thing I know, he pinned me down. I barely escaped…"

Sarah glanced at the other girls in the hallway and saw that they are confused, and some of them are petrified.

If there is anything Sarah believes in, that is Aiden. After everything the two of them went through, Sarah is confident that Aiden would never do something so despicable. And that means only one thing: Meili is lying.

Aiden would never betray Sarah\'s trust, but Sarah knew that if she says how Meili\'s story is impossible, other girls will not believe her. So, this is not a simple situation.

Sarah wondered, what is Meili\'s motive? What does she hope to accomplish? There is no way that Sarah will believe in this story, so the only thing that Meili can accomplish is that other girls lose their trust in how Sarah and Aiden want to help them. How is that benefiting Meili?

The only thing Sarah can do is to get more information and hopefully get Meili to expose herself.

Sarah exhaled and turned to Meili. "OK. Calm down. Let\'s go to the family room. You can take a glass of water, and we will get the medic to check your wounds, and then you can tell us everything, slowly from the beginning."

"You don\'t believe me?", Meili asked through sobs.

"I didn\'t say that. I only want to hear every detail. The more you can tell me, the better…"

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