After sending Sohlia on her way they decided to visit Rubisha’s condo. Xiran was quiet all through the journey, his jaw was tightly shut as he kept staring outside the car window.

It was only him and Rivan in the car, Silver and Rubisha were travelling in the other car. Rivan stole a glance at his friend and seeing him lost in thoughts, tried to pull him out and asked:

"How do you know Silver?"

"He was Aselia’s partner," he answered without looking at Rivan, a sadness cloaked his eyes and shrouded his handsome features.

"But wasn’t her partner that kid we met," Rivan was a bit confused.

"Yes! Yurian. But after she set me free as a punishment they demoted her in rank and switched her partner to Silver Wolf instead of Yurian. He gave her a hard time because remember that woman who infiltrated our party and was killed by my father," Xiran glanced towards his friend.

"Mhm, yes the one I saw on footage."

"Precisely, she was Silver’s partner and he was of the view that his partner died at the hands of a monster and yet Aselia set me free. Silver wanted retribution not knowing how I detested my father, more than him," Xiran concluded with gritted teeth. His heart was extremely restless and his thoughts kept going back to Aselia.

"Interesting and now he was here protecting my sister. Rubisha seemed in awe of him, did you notice," Rivan was not sure how to feel about Silver yet. The man had saved Rubisha’s life and she seemed close to him.

"Last time I visited he was the one who opened her door and I thought he had done something to her, I almost snapped his neck," there was a hint of regret in Xiran’s voice as to how he had jumped to conclusion on that day as he furthered:

"And I am sure they are sleeping together. Sorry buddy," a small smile crept out on the corners of his lips as he patted Rivan’s shoulders.

"What?" Rivan almost cried out in shock, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His heartbeat alleviated and an angry surge took over his body.

"Yeah! I think Rubisha is in love with him. I don’t know what his objective is though. The last time I visited I told her to keep him away from her condo but I don’t think she paid much heed to my warning," Xiran gave Rivan a sympathetic look who was still recovering from the shock the dump of information Xiran had hurled his way.

"I am going to be very direct with him and ask about it. I can’t have anyone playing with my sister’s heart. He did seem concerned about her though," Rivan was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to ask Xiran.

"Don’t do it in front of Rubisha."

"I won’t I am not that stupid," Rivan answered in annoyance and adjusted his hair in frustration.

They had reached their destination so they alighted the car and went upstairs. Rubisha opened the door and welcomed them inside. She seemed pleased and had a warm smile playing on her face. Silver had filled her in on Aselia and her heart was at peace knowing she wasn’t Silver’s love interest.

"Come in, please," she welcomed them and they joined Silver on the sofa in the living room. Rubisha went to the kitchen to fix some food. Rivan hid any displeasure he felt for he wanted to see what kind of person Silver was.

Xiran went back to being quiet while Silver and Rivan began to have small talk as the latter asked about his missions and the former filled him in with details.

Occasionally Silver would peek at Xiran and seeing him all miserable he couldn’t hold himself back. He knew Sohlia’s words had bothered him.

"You do know Aselia is tough and she is in a safe place. And I have personally trained her for years, she can handle herself in tough situations," Silver’s words were meant for Xiran and their eyes met. Xiran’s we’re filled with surprise, he didn’t know that.

"You taught her? What do you mean?" Xiran shifted in his place and turned to Silver, all his attention was on him.

"Yes, I was her mentor. She was always exceptional, especially her speed. It baffled me at times and then she began to kick my ass in training," a deep laugh resonated in his throat as if remembering something and Xiran’s face lit up in a slight smile as well before he blurted out:

"That’s Aselia for sure. She kicked my ass in hand-to-hand combat as well. Without my speed, I didn’t stand a chance against her," Xiran’s admittance had them guffawing in no time. He rubbed the back of his head, remembering when she threw him in water, a warmth cloaked him and soothed his heart.

He closely watched Silver, not feeling any animosity towards him. The way he had slapped Sohlia today, Xiran knew in his bones he did it because of Aselia. Maybe it was time to finally let go of any hostility that existed between them. For once they were on the same side.

Rubisha was soon done with food and the three men got up to help her set the table. After a mouth-watering lunch, they discussed the future of Rubisha’s company and she agreed to be more involved with her brothers and to keep them updated with her life and company matters.

Ensuring she was safe and making her promise that she would keep in touch, Rivan and Xiran took their leave from her.

"I hope we can meet more often and you can visit us in Fritez," Rivan said hugging her.

"I will brother, goodbye," she hugged him back, a satisfied smile plastered on her face.

"I will walk you out," Silver offered as he followed both men out of the condo. They nodded at him and once they were outside Rivan turned to him and said in a serious tone: 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"I would like to speak to you alone and I would appreciate it if you don’t mention this to Rubisha. Can you do that?"

Silver was a bit perplexed, his forehead crinkled a little but he wanted to hear what Rivan had to say:

"I will hear you out first, before making any promises," he crossed his arms and put on a professional look.