71 Atmosphere is heavy

While they held each other, Aiden could feel Sarah's shoulders shaking as she wept silently. He was surprised that previous time when jealousy consumed him, he felt overwhelmed with rage. But now he felt dispirited. He was never this low on energy. The only thing he wanted to do is to hold Sarah in his embrace and never let go. Gently, softly, never let go.

He wanted to see her face, but Sarah tightened her hug. She didn't want him to see her like that. She only whispered, "I'm sorry..."

Both of them felt miserable. Both of them were hurting and unable to comfort each other.

After some time, Sarah realized that she is not getting any better. And how long can they stay like that? She slowly moved away and lowered her head to wipe off her tears with her hand before looking up into his eyes. Aiden's face was desolate, which made the knot in her chest get tighter.

Sarah took few breaths before words started pouring out of her. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I promise not to be this stupid ever again. I will not let anyone come that close to cause any misunderstandings. You must believe me when I say that it was never my intention to hurt you. No matter what, I don't want to hurt you. When I see you hurting, my heart breaks. Because I love you. From the bottom of my heart, I love you. Aiden White, my soul, and my body, they belong to you, only to you...", her words got muffled by his kiss.

She wanted to say many other things, but he stopped her. Sarah is not sure if it was because of downpour of her words, or the warmth of his kiss, but the knot in her chest finally loosened up and disappeared.

They kissed for a long time. Those were not passionate kisses which made her fire up and lose control, they were not light kisses either. Each kiss was an exchange of deep emotions, emotions that reside deep inside chest and are awoken only when true soul mate is found. Through these kisses Aiden's and Sarah's souls resonated in perfect harmony, healing their aching hearts.

~ Hill Family Villa ~

Since Sarah left, atmosphere in the house is heavy.

JoAnna could not meet with Edward without starting an argument about Sarah, so she decided to go to her apartment and spend the rest of the holidays there.

Owen is still occupying guest bedroom in Hill family villa. With the exception for three daily meals, he is not coming out of the room. Stella goes few times a day to visit him, but no one knows what they are talking about.

Sophia is mostly in her room, working on company related documents for end of the year and beginning of next one.

There is a tension between Stella and Edward which is so thick, that can be almost cut with a knife.

...

At this time, Stella is holding in her hand printed out receipt that Sarah sent her in email. She is in front of the study, where Edward is. Stella opened the door and stepped inside. Edward is working on his computer, he looked up to her and forced a smile. "Yes, dear?"

She put the receipt on desk, in front of him. "Look at this and let me know your thoughts."

Edward took the paper, and in an instant, his face frowned. As he was reading through it, his frown got deeper.

Stella was observing him without interrupting his reading.

"What do you want me to do about this?" Edward lifted his gaze.

"We said that she can get a car. For all our girls we provided financially until they finished school and started working. With that in mind, what do you think that we should do?" Stella had a serious expression.

He thought for some time. "I see where you are going. But Sarah left with that young man without a care of who will get hurt in the process. That is not something that can be ignored."

"I can tell that your pride is hurt." Stella said.

"Don't even try to go that route. Sarah is disrespectful. I will not tolerate that. She needs to learn her lesson. Does she think that if she is young, she can act without a care in the world? If she comes back and apologizes sincerely, and stops dating that punk, then I might reconsider." He pushed the receipt towards Stella.

Stella sighed. "How I see it, it does not have anything to do with being young. It has to do with doing what you believe it's right. Do you believe that what you are doing now is right?" Stella pressed her lips and took a deep breath. "You mentioned who will get hurt. I advise you to think about who is getting hurt in this situation."

She pushed the receipt back towards him. "I leave this to you, so you can think about it."

Edward grabbed the receipt, crumpled it and threw it in the trash bin under his desk.

Stella's face frowned. She walked out of the study room without a word. Stella saw Sophia standing in the hallway looking at her with an eager expression. Stella looked down and shook her head helplessly.

Sophia's face saddened. She hoped that her dad and Sarah will fix their relationship. At the same time, Sophia agreed with Sarah, Edward is too controlling in this case and his stance is unreasonable. No one understands if Edward is like this because Sarah is dating, or because she is dating Aiden.

Sophia walked slowly toward the family room. Her phone buzzed, and she checked it. She got messages from Mark.

[Mark]: "What are you doing for New Year's?"

[Mark]: "I've got tickets for a new show from Cirque de Soleil, great seats. After that we can go to a dinner. Let me know."

Sophia looked at the messages with mixed feelings. She didn't need to think much. 'This can't continue. I need to break free from this cycle. There is no future for Mark and me. No matter how many times I push him away, he is coming back. I need to make myself clear... Maybe I can go to our New York office for some time. Distance from Mark will be good for me. They are having some difficulties there. I can stabilize situation in that office, and at the same time get an emotional breather from Mark. That sounds good, I will pull few more resources with me, and announce it on next board meeting.'

...

Back in the study room, Edward is holding his head in his hands. After some thinking he bent under the desk and pulls out crumpled receipt from the trash bin. He smoothened it out and looked at it carefully, '2018 Porsche Panamera Turbo. That is a good car. Sarah has a great taste, just like her dad'. He smiled.