Owned?

The roses in the garden were blooming beautifully. The floral scent was refreshing, it made me feel relaxed. I walked through the rose bushes till I spotted Ayaan sitting in the garden hut. He was sitting curled up in the left corner on the round bench.

I didn't walk in, instead I stood there in the middle of the garden clearing.

"The roses have bloomed nicely." I said as I plucked one out. As he heard my voice his head shot up and turned to my direction. I didn't turn my face to him and smelled the caramel white rose in my hand.

He hesitated a bit, his eyes wavering a bit since he couldn't come to a decision but in the end mustered up some courage and walked out of the hut to me.

He tugged my shirt and I looked at him.

He gulped then brought up his hands to speak to me in sign language.

'I'm sorry. It's my fault you got hurt."

I shook my head, "It was my decision to send you along."

'Azalea did such a good job. She's strong and fought so well.' He paused, "Then there's me. I couldn't do anything and even got you hurt so bad."

"You know I'm not the one to lie right?" I asked him and he nodded, "You are weak" I told him the truth, "But you are not a coward. You were brave, you did exactly what I told you. You signaled me in time." I smiled, "And when it comes to my injury. It wasn't your fault. The enemy was too strong."

"Stronger than you?" He seemed rather confused but I nodded.

"There's more to the incident than what it seems." I crouched down on one knee, "There's nothing that you could have done."

He remained quiet. A serious expression on his face as he raised his hands up to speak,

"I want to." He looked at me in the eyes, "I really want to!" He looked down, "You've helped us so much."  He looked at me again, "Helped me and my mother." His hands dropped down by his sides.

My eyes went wide at his words. For a moment I wondered if I interpreted it wrong, "You knew?" I ended up asking him to confirm my suspicion, "About Maria?"

He shook his head softly. This time though, as he was raising his hands I could see the struggle in his eyes. He was trying to fight back his tears, "I wish I did… I found out when you told Azalea. I was standing outside…" I'm really not sure how to react to that. Maria never wanted Ayaan to find out and he did, through me. I understand the feeling where you don't want someone or anyone to find out about the relationship you actually have with a particular person but I did believe that Maria should have told Ayaan that she was his mother.

He shook his head a bit harder than last time, "No! But I wished she had told me. It feels so strange but it doesn't matter whether she was my sister or mother. She loved me like both…" He tried blinking away the tears that had made their way to the corner of his eyes, "Everyone always does their best. Maria did too, she went through dreadful things just so she could raise me." In the end he couldn't hold it in anymore and the tears he had been trying to stop started streaming down his cheeks, "I could never do anything for anyone, especially for Maria…" He sniffled, "I want to change." He stated as his cheeks kept getting wet, "I want to grow stronger!" His hands trembled as he continued. 

I nodded at him, "Mmm." Then patted his head, "You'll have to grow up for that." I said softly.

"I will!" He sniffled, "I will grow up and I'll grow stronger!!" I could see the resolve behind his words. He really had been thinking about this for some time.

"That means you can't skip your meals anymore."

"Okay. I'll eat properly! I'll even do my exercise." He paused for a moment then continued, "I'll become strong enough to even protect you."

I smiled, "Okay." I stood up, "That's a promise then?" He nodded and I held out my hand for him to shake, "No going back on your words once you take my hand."

He took my hand immediately and shook his head. His dark brown eyes clear from any sort of doubt and his eyes were dry now. 

He had taken the first step to become stronger.

Liana was already sitting on the window side seat of a cafe when I reached, so I took my seat across her.

"You never call first, I wonder what's the occasion." She asked. Her plastic expressions clear on her face.

"Well, apparently you couldn't keep the end of your bargain." I glared at her and she was astounded at my action, "I thought you were supposed to keep Ryan at bay and yet you are nowhere near in controlling him."

"What are you talking about?" She smiled again, "Ryan didn't do anything."

I moved forward, placing my elbows on the table and resting my chin on the hand on my hands, "Either you decided to side with Ryan and play his little game." I looked directly into her eyes, "Or he's out of your reach and you can't control him anymore."

The corners of her lips twichtec, cracking her smile for a split second, "What made you come to this solution?"She inquired as she folded her arms.

"I told Ryan that he won't be getting my slaves. Well, not anytime soon, so he decided to hurt and kidnap them, perhaps even kill them." I slid back into my seat, "Or maybe he only intended to kill me so I wouldn't interfere."

Liana's smile was finally gone, "What makes you so sure it was Ryan?"

I took out a picture and slid it across the table to her. It stopped in front of her and she gazed down at the man in the picture, "This was the assassin I fought in Lorelai. She looked up from the picture to glance at me as I continued, "Not just any assassin. Notice the brand on his neck. He's from a tribe of assassins, trained from a young age and are not there for hire yet still exceptions are made for the most powerful of people. Other than the Alucards, only the Blacks could have done this."

She was left pretty much speechless. I could tell she was wondering about what I had just stated, "So?" She finally locked her gaze on me, "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing. You've lost the opportunity I gave you. You failed." I said clearly and she bit her lower lip in frustration, "Tell Ryan that if he messes with me again, he's dead." Then I gestured Lee, my work secretary, who was sitting on the other table over. He picked up a paper bag and came over, then placed the bag on the table.

"What's this?" Liana asked.

"A gift for your dear brother." I smirked at her and she grabbed the gist of it that whatever was in the bag wasn't a pleasant gift but still pulled the bag closer and looked inside to find a box, "Careful now. It's a bit heavy." I said and stood up to leave, 

"Give Ryan my regards."