A lightning bolt seemed to have hit Irlana at the thought of his ex. She had been so consumed with him that she had completely forgotten about her. Irlana remembered the amount of pain she saw on his face when he spoke about her in the restaurant.

’What if she returned to his life?

Where would I stand?’ Ireland thought to herself and a shiver ran down her body. Xiran’s hand tightened around her waist, keeping her steady. She didn’t need to tell him what was going through her mind, Xiran knew it too well from her body movements and facial expressions.

"It will be alright, Irlana. I won’t let her hurt you," his voice was low but agitated, the dark shadows which danced in his eyes told her he was not happy with the progress and Irlana remembered Rivan telling her how Xiran detested Layna.

"I swear I am going to lose my mind if he accepted her back in his life and she left him messed up like the last time," Rumail had moved closer to where they stood and grated out.

"Let Rivan make his decision Rumail, he is wise enough to not do something stupid," Xiran answered but his body was tense. He didn’t have a good feeling about the turn of events and more importantly, he feared for his sister. He knew she had gotten close to Rivan.

"Señor! You and I both know he is pretty stupid when it comes down to her. It’s like he loses all sensibility," Rumail shook his head and groaned.

"What has happened?" Elrine had joined them. She could sense everyone had been tensed the moment Rivan had left with a random girl.

"A slight complication but Rivan is handling it. Let’s get back to the party, nothing to worry about," Xiran cleared the air and ushered everyone to keep enjoying the party.

Elrine peeked at her daughter who seemed extremely tensed. Xiran was still holding her close. She had never thought that someday Irlana will have a brother who would be so protective and will shower her with so much affection.

"Frila! Serve food to everyone. I will be right back," Xiran ordered and she nodded, springing into action. He then focused his attention on Irlana.

"Go eat something kiddo. I will be back in a jiffy, don’t worry. I will bring him with me," he then slightly ruffled her hair, making her smile and nod her head in approval. He walked out of the hall, everyone stared at his receding figure.

Xiran made his way out and heard Rivan’s voice. It was coming from Frila’s office. He walked towards it and stood outside, leaning against the wall.

Soon the door opened and Layna stepped outside followed by Rivan. A victorious smile played on her perky lips while he seemed distraught.

"Eavesdropping is not a gentlemanly thing to do Mr. Xiran," she proudly eyed him.

"I am not a gentleman when it comes down to my loved ones. Why are you back in his life Layna? You bring nothing but chaos," Xiran’s left brow was raised at her, the warmth he carried for his close ones was missing both in his words as well as in his orbs.

"I want him back because he is mine. And I will not let anyone stand in my way. I don’t care how long it takes or whose heart I will have to break in the process," she fiercely replied earning a grunt from Xiran and his eyes flickered to his friend who was silently watching the exchange between them.

"Is that what you want? To get back with her so she can trample all over your heart again?" Xiran could sense his anger was rising to a boiling point.

"Layna, you need to go. I will call you later," Rivan calmly asked her without taking his eyes off his friend.

"I will wait, my love," she lovingly touched his arm and smirked at Xiran before turning around and clip-clopping away. Her heels made a loud noise which echoed in the corridor and filled the silence that hung between these two friends.

"Get in," Rivan asked in an agitated manner. Xiran pulled himself off the wall and after glaring at him for a few more seconds entered the office. Rivan followed and shut the door behind him.

He went and sat down on the executive seat and crossed his arms, Xiran lurched forward and placed both his hands on the table before leaning forward towards his best friend and shouting:

"Tell me you didn’t accept her back."

"She needs protection Xiran and I can’t turn her away. I didn’t accept her back but I am going to help her," in comparison to Xiran, Rivan was still very much in control of his emotions.

"Protection from whom? Don’t tell me you are falling for her pathetic schemes."

"It’s not a scheme. She got involved with some wrong vampires and they want her dead now. I won’t let her die. Fifteen years is a long time to spend with someone, you can’t expect me to forget her. You have known Aselia for two, can you forget her?"

Rivan’s words surged a firestorm inside Xiran and his eyes blazed in rage.

"Keep Aselia out of this."

"I am not getting back with her Xiran. I am just offering her protection."

"Uhh! And soon she will be moving in and spreading her legs for you. Do you think you can resist her? She is toxic for you," Xiran grumbled, shaking his head. He couldn’t believe his intelligent friend would fall for petty tricks.

"Says the man who literally fell for a vampire hunter, whose literal love life is nothing but toxic. Compared to Aselia, Layna is a harmless kitten, at least she never tried to kidnap me, torture me, or destroy my body or hair. Remember when I told you to think about getting involved with Aselia and you weren’t even ready to listen to me."

His words hit Xiran like a spear, impaling him where he stood, he blinked at Rivan, not believing his ears. He stupidly blinked at the man who has been his constant support and yet he said something like that to him.