Test and failure

Ayan finally got his plaster and bandages removed. After a month of confinement, he could move again, albeit with support. During this whole time, Sonia took care of Ayan meticulously like a faithful wife and the bond between them had become much stronger despite Ayan's conflicting thoughts. Like vines intertwining around a sturdy tree, they had grown closer, though thorns of doubt still lingered in his mind.

Days passed and soon Ayan was finally able to move on his own.

One day, Amelia arrived unannounced, stumbling in a drunken state. Her clothes were more revealing than usual. Her steps wavered, but her intentions were clear. She sat beside him, her hands grabbing his shoulders.

She coquettishly whispered, "You're not a small boy anymore. Come, let's have some fun."

Ayan was stunned by her behavior, her words sending ripples of confusion and unease through him. He knew exactly what she wanted to do. His heart started fluttering with unknown feelings but he controlled himself and stopped her advances.

Flustered, he blurted, his voice unsteady, "Stop! Please get off me."

"What will Sonia think if she sees us?"

She chuckled, her laugh laced with mischief. "Don't worry. She went outside and won't be back for at least half a day. She won't know a thing."

She leaned in, her breath warm against his ears but he tried to avoid her. Watching him resisting, she jested, "Oh, come on. Don't shy away like a virgin. I know you spent a night with Sonia."

"I'll make you feel much better than her," Amelia whispered seductively in his ear as she started undressing him.

Ayan felt he wouldn't be able to control himself if he let her advance any further. He gently pushed her back and ran to open the door, only to find Sonia standing there, her expression unreadable.

Amelia burst out laughing. "Well, well. You passed the test."

Before Ayan could gather his words, Amelia adjusted her clothes and escaped, leaving him bewildered.

Ayan and Sonia sat facing each other in silence.

Ayan gave Sonia a questioning look. "Will you explain what that was about?"

With a flush of embarrassment, Sonia explained, "That was Amelia's idea. She wanted to check if you'll take advantage of her… like you did with me on that drunken night."

Ayan frowned and said in a displeased voice, "So, you still don't trust me."

"No, it's not like that!" Sonia tried to clarify. "I don't have doubts about you. But she was continuously nagging me about it and I.. I gave in."

Ayan eyes darkened with frustration. "You think it won't hurt my feelings if you do such things."

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt your feelings." Sonia apologized.

Both became silent while Ayan kept staring at her in anger.

Fidgeting, Sonia pretended to use her smartphone as a distraction to avoid his intense gaze.

Suddenly, in a desperate attempt to dispel the tension, she leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.

Stunned by her actions, his anger melted away and an embarrassed expression appeared on his face.

Noticing the change in his expression, she knew that he just pretended to be angry. She jested, "What's with that embarrassed expression now? You had even bragged in front of Amelia about me stealing your first kiss. Shouldn't you be happy now that your wish is fulfilled?"

Without thinking, Ayan blurted, "But you had really stolen my first kiss."

She felt he was teasing her by being unreasonable. "You mean I took the initiative and stole a kiss from you."

Ayan nodded.

She snapped, "Then, how come I don't remember about it? Did you drug me? hypnotized me?"

"No, no," Noticing the sudden change in her tone, Ayan hurriedly explained about his village's marriage customs and her actions of snatching ice cream that day.

Hearing his explanation, she laughed to her heart's content. "You call that kissing. Your thoughts sure are funny. And you boasted to Amelia just because of this."

Ayan sheepishly replied, "But, I don't remember telling anyone about it. I was rather afraid that somebody would notice it."

Sonia nonchalantly said, "Maybe you just blurted it to her in a drunken state. I wonder if she knows the real reason behind this."

Sonia stood up, still chuckling. "I'll go prepare some food for us"

A sound of notification rang out and Ayan noticed that Sonia left her phone in his room. He picked it up to find it was unlocked. He felt the impulse to check her phone.

'Since she dared to test my loyalty, I could at least check her phone, right?' Ayan thought.

He looked at her recent message notification and frowned. It stated,

['What's taking so long? Why hasn't the mission been completed yet?']

He clicked on it and scrolled for previous messages which were someone urging her to complete a mission and Sonia giving excuses to delay it. His eyes frowned as he looked at another message,

['You aren't growing attached to that boy, right?']

He scrolled further, curious about this mission. His eyes flared with anger the more he looked at the earlier messages. Finally, he found more messages about the mission:

[Amelia has found that the boy has a powerful bloodline from the world beyond. Your mission is to bear his child with the bloodline.]

[ If you're able to complete this, I'll directly send you to that place where you can cultivate and become strong like your parents. You know how difficult it is to get a spot to enter that place. This might be your last opportunity. Don't miss this.]

[Also, don't talk with Amelia about the world beyond, she's already doubtful about it.]

The date of the messages was a few days after the drunken night incident when Sonia's attitude suddenly changed.

Ayan recalled all the moments he shared with Sonia, how he tried to please her, and her slow shift in attitude towards him. He felt deceived by her. He lamented about how he tried to save her with his life despite Brone's warnings.

His expression became cold as he remembered Brone's exact words, 'Remember this: women who have great ambitions in their heart don't know love, they only make use of men.'

Ayan also recalled all the interactions he had with Amelia: a girl scared of gunshots walking around carrying a gun. Also, her scared expression after the bus incident but her confident expression when fighting off the thugs. He found more doubtful things about this girl, the more he thought about it.

Upon thinking further, he realized the drunk night incident might be a ploy to make him feel remorse about Sonia and fall into their trap. Amelia strangely took his side when she should be helping her aggrieved friend and she even guided him to court and please Sonia.

'How did Amelia find out about my bloodline and the thing about the first kiss? How come I don't remember telling her about it? She's definitely hiding something,' he thought.

He clicked photos of Sonia's messages using his phone and scrolled more. They were about several different missions Sonia had completed.

He also found that Sonia's primary mission in that adventure trip to climb the mountain was to protect Amelia while keeping tabs on Jaxon.

He realized he had deeply fallen into the trap set by the mafia.

He thought for a while about how to get out of this situation while digesting these information. He finally stood up with a determined look.