After Rina's secretary and Alex were escorted to the waiting room, Rina was left with Aron. They still had a few things to discuss, as they had postponed some of their conversation for when she arrived and they could speak face to face.

"So.... Are you sure you don't want therapy or something?" Aron asked to start the conversation. It was definitely an interesting beginning.

"Not really. I was more angry than afraid, so the fear wasn't really my main focus. And because my safety was assured, I got over it during the flight and can say with assurance that, no, I don't need one," she answered after a brief moment of contemplation to ensure her answer was sincere. "By the way, is there a maximum time that I can stay here after the celebration?" She knew she was in one of the most secret and sensitive places on the planet, but she needed time to decide her next course of action.

"There's no time limit. How long do you plan to stay?" he asked out of curiosity and expectation, something he hadn't really felt for a long time.

"At least a month, as I need to give my brother the illusion that I'm still looking for the culprit and afraid to return home until my survival's guaranteed," Rina answered.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you want," he said with a genuine smile. He had no idea how handsome he was and missed the mild blush that appeared on Rina's cheeks.

"Let me give you a tour of your new temporary home," he continued and stood up from his chair, then walked to the door at a slow pace

Rina easily caught up and walked with him side by side as he showed her the house.

Throughout all of that, Nova was enjoying the show and laughing at Aron and Rina, who were beating around the bush and not talking about what was on their minds.

...

Over the next week, the two spent plenty of time together. Aron even introduced her to his parents, who had joined the young pair.

During the week, his parents seemed to have taken quite a liking to her and asked her tons of questions, like a mother-in-law interviewing a prospective bride. It tickled Rina's thin skin, her having never been treated like that before, and she was constantly flushing red. She was embarrassed by the enthusiasm shown by Aron's parents, and nothing had even happened between the two youngsters yet!

Still, she hadn't offended anyone at all; in fact, she even tried her best to get on their good side, as she could see on their faces that they didn't have any hidden agendas. It was completely different from her family, where people were constantly plotting against each other every day. Trusting a fellow Rothschildespecially a siblingwas a huge struggle and risk, because backstabbing and betrayal was the only constant in that den of villains and thieves. Any display of vulnerability or weakness, like showing trust or true friendship, would only ensure that one would be viciously attacked.

The only way anyone in the Rothschild family would trust each other is if they each held the other's weaknesses firmly in their grasp. A good example would be Hebel and the other board members' "cuck club." The five-person group had formed something of a bond after finding out that their wives actually all shared a lover or, in real terms, bull, though at different times. So they decided to turn it into their own exclusive club and soon started having cuckold orgies together, indulging in their fantasies. They were sure the others wouldn't say a word despite their greed, since they, too, would go down with them.

But Rina saw nothing of that greed in Aron's family, which made her a bit envious. He always seemed to have the best things, sure, but her jealousy stemmed not from wanting to take his place. Instead, she wanted to join his life and enjoy it together with him. He had been nothing but a lifesaver since he'd entered her life, swooping in when she was at her lowest point and was about to give up. Aron had saved her from the husband that she'd been thrown to by her brother, who wanted her out of the competition. It was an especially vicious move, since no Rothschild would want to be led by someone that carried the Morgan family's blood in them, so her line would be permanently disqualified from ever holding a position of power in the family. It would make her even weaker than a branch family, as at least they could sit on the board!

Due to not wanting that, she'd even gone so far as refusing to consummate that joke of a marriage, which had easily been accomplished by just threatening to report the pathetically weak Rottem to the Rothschild family head for abuse. She was sure the old man would do nothing without evidence, but her so-called husband didn't know that, and, in his fear of the possible repercussions, he stopped trying to force himself on her and started getting his validation as a man outside of the marriage. That was exactly what Rina wanted, but she always ended up failing to catch him in the act, due to her brother's intervention... until Aron had intervened and come to her for help, bringing with him ironclad evidence of Rottem's extramarital activities.

She hoped the week would last longer, but alas, time is a bitch and continues on regardless of anyone's begging, wailing, or praying.

...

Present day.

Arieh, who had been quite happy during the last week, was about to get the shock of his life from his secretary, who had just barged into his room with a tablet in hand. He was much too happy, to the point that he couldn't even bring himself to get angry at her, so he just patiently waited for her to say whatever she had barged in for.

Charlotte said nothing, just handed him her tablet. The Pangea app was already open and displaying a live stream from the Department of Defense of Eden showing soldiers marching in quite an advanced parade.

Just as he was about to raise his head and ask what there was for him to see in a third-world country's military, who seemed to have spent most of their time training to march instead of fight, the scene changed. It now showed the president of Eden, Alexander, but that wasn't what attracted his attentionrather, it was the woman sitting just two spots away from him as they watched the parade.

CRACK!

The tablet fell to the floor and the screen spiderwebbed. Arieh felt like he was having a mild heart attack at that moment; all of the happiness he had been accumulating over the past week had completely disappeared without warning.

He picked the tablet back up and rewound the footage to a few seconds earlier, where Rina was looking quite happy, completely unlike the dead person he wanted her to be.

He wasted no time and took his phone out of his pocket. In his panic, he didn't realize he was using his normal phone to call Terry's number, trying to get clarification on whether he was hallucinating or not.

The moment the call was answered, his calm demeanor completely vanished and he screamed, "IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, LAST WEEK YOU SAID YOU WERE QUITE SURE THAT YOU KILLED THAT BITCH. SO WHY THE FUCK AM I WATCHING HER ON A LIVE VIDEO OF HER WATCHING A PARADE FROM A FUCKING THIRD-WORLD SHITHOLE INSTEAD OF READING HER DEATH CERTIFICATE LIKE YOU PROMISED ME?"

When he finished shouting, he waited for an answer. But none came, and the longer he waited, the more his anger rose. Then, adding insult to injury, the call was cut off from Terry's end.

BANG!

The phone in Arieh's hand completely shattered and twisted, sending shards of glass into his palm, creating a modern art piece with the artist being the top-of-the-line cellphone.

Blood dripped from his clenched fist, splattering to the floor beneath him.