Note: AAI - American Alpha Initiative [fictional terrorist group profiting out of man-made disasters]

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    Dearest Noelle,

    Today, I had roasted garlic lemon broccoli, and it reminded me of you. Scratch that, the point is, everything reminds me of you.

    Do you remember how we first met? Your grandmother had hosted a dinner party for Juliet's birthday, and that's when I saw your seven year old self. You were so innocent and adorable, and then you did something mischievous.  You were tossing the baked broccoli from your plate to my plate.

    It should have annoyed me, but you made me smile. 

    You were so tiny, I started calling you 'little Noelle' just for fun. 

    Your cousin Lyssa saw you what you were doing that on the table, and immediately tattled it to your aunt Jane. I still remember the icy glare she gave you and pinched you hard. That's when I—twelve year old kid—decided to protect you from everything because you were so precious to me. You were always going to be my little Noelle, and I promised that I was always going to protect you.

    But I failed miserably in that, didn't I?

    Ever yours,

    Aiden

― Aiden Summers to Noelle Montcliff after twenty weeks of her disappearance.

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    "Aiden." 

He loved the way she said his name, her voice husky over the rain, a soft lilt on the middle syllable like she was chanting a refrain.

    "Aiden."

    That hint of urgency, as though he mattered, as though she loved him too. As though any moment now she would scoop him up into her arms and hold him tight and never let her go.

    "Aiden?"

    A confused note too. Worried even. He did not like her to be worried. Even a dream could wound his heart, so he opened his eyes to dispel it. 

    It was not a dream.

    Noelle come back and she was here and he was here. She had come back and Juliet was dead and Noelle was Noelle Frostine now and she was not married. He was still in love with her, hopelessly and desperately and had blamed Juliet's death on her. She was mad at him and had been calling him Mr. Summers but then she was mad at the whole world. She was also cold and she had Cecily and Nicholas and five hundred million dollars. She told she did not need him and she was always running away from him, and then she had kissed him and if there was no hope for them, he was never letting her go.

    Noelle has come back.

   Then he realized an important detail amidst his very convoluting thoughts: Someone had tried to kill Noelle. The gun was aimed at her, and he was shot in the shoulder while trying to save her.

   He felt a drop of water on his nose. Noelle's hand brushed across his nose to wipe it away. "It's raining," he sighed, then looked around to see the white walls and the IV and all hospital things. "And I'm in the hospital. It's raining inside the hospital."

   "Yes, Mr. Summers. It's raining inside the hospital," Noelle agreed, furiously wiping her tear-stained cheeks. "It's raining in the hospital and you're a very stupid man and I hate you so much."

    "You are crying," he realized, looking at her moist eyes. "I don't like it when you cry, Noe."

    "I'm crying because I can't laugh. So crying is the noble thing to do in this situation." Aiden tried to sit straight, and managed to do so without wincing or groaning. Noelle immediately tried to support his bad arm, "You were mumbling about Cyclopes in your dreams," A small, rueful smile played on her lips.

    Aiden rubbed his temples, and groaned a reply: "Reading too much Greek Mythology does that, I guess."

    "Is that why you asked me—I mean when you—never mind." She shrugged, and flopped on the seat beside the bed once again.

    Then her words kept ringing in his ears: Odysseus. You were always my Odysseus, Aiden. It was the closest she could get to love declaration after everything that had transpired between them. But it was in the past tense.

     Aiden shook his head to drive away his negative thoughts. "How long have I been sleeping?"

    "It's been seven hours, I think. I told Mrs. Lucinda about the incident, and the police did come to take our statements but you had to get the bullet out so they will be coming back later. I didn't think about calling your family—that is—I didn't know how to call and it wasn't serious. I mean it was a bullet wound but—"

    "You are babbling."

    The doctor—a man in his late forties—entered the room, with charts in his hand. "So it seems. She hasn't slept a wink since you were brought here," he gave a quick glance and smile before turning his attention to the patient. "I hope you're feeling better, Mr. Summers."

    Aiden shrugged, "Yeah. It was nothing."

    "One nick at your heart, and you could've died. You were very lucky, Aiden." Noelle admonished, with a glare directed at him.    

    Aiden ignored Noelle's dramatic reaction and asked the doctor, "When can I get discharged?"

    "Your vitals look fine. After the inquiries from the authorities because of the nature of injury, I think it is safe to have you discharged." The doctor replied, and he nodded grimly in response.

    The police authorities did come in five minutes, and Aiden presented the entire encounter with the assailant. He made it clear that the attack was meant for Noelle and not him, from which a clear conclusion was drawn: Noelle's life was in danger.

    The authorities asked Noelle about anyone who wished harm on her to which she replied, "I don't think so. I have just arrived in the town, and I just know the Montcliffs here and Aiden of course. I don't think anyone could wish me dead, that's just too dreadful."

    The sheriff then gravely added, "Okay, but some of the guests did say you were rather in loggerheads with the Ainsleys."

    "It was just a regular familial dispute. I did make it clear that I was not interested in my inheritance so it was just insignificant."

    "We will investigate the matter seriously. It is very possible that the attack was just random, but we would want you to be very vigilant in case of threats or anything perilous."

    Aiden was about to argue about what if the 'perilous' incident happens once again. He couldn't afford to lose Noelle again, but gravely stopped himself. He would take the matter into his own hands.

    The sheriff and his sidekick left the room, and Noelle heaved a sigh of relief. "You shouldn't have pulled off last night's stunt, not on my account." I don't deserve it, she added silently.

    Aiden rolled his eyes, "Don't you remember what I promised you, little Noelle? That I will always protect you. That was me, fulfilling my promise."

   "You were twelve, a kid practically. And bearing the brunt of elders and helping me while I clumsily fall—the little two left feet I was—are few things but you took a bullet shot for me. This is thoroughly unacceptable." Noelle vindicated, then added softly, "And I'm not little Noelle anymore. I have faced more menacing situations, and I have survived them."

    Aiden clasped his hands, and placed it on his chest. "You hear this? It was beating at a monstrous rate last night when I saw—you have no idea, Noe. I was so scared. There's no way I can let anything happen to you. Protecting you is as easy an instinct as breathing to me."

    There was erratic breathing and heartbeats and everything was delicious in that moment. That was until Aiden's brother, Royce Summers knocked at the door and cleared his throat. Noelle snatched back her hand, then gave Royce a demure smile. 

    And without giving Aiden a second glance, she fled.

    "Well, well, that was abrupt. Was that Noelle? She looks hot, big brother. Hotter than I remember." Royce grinned, plopping down on her seat.

    "You were always a cad when it came to her." His brother snarled.

    "So it would seem. I could have a chance with her, you know? But she was always worshiping the ground on which you walked."

    "So did I. It just never felt right, you know? Her sixteen to my twenty one could never feel right, and Juliet was older and I fancied myself being in love with her and married in haste."

    "You rather did marry early," his brother quipped, pursing his lips in grim line. No one in his family knew about the circumstances under which he had to marry. Juliet had coerced him into marrying by lying about her pregnancy to him and her family. Even after knowing about her deception, he wanted to make the best out of the marriage. But it was too late, water under the bridge and all. And there was always his green-eyed best friend with whom he sought real comfort.

    Aiden shook his head defiantly. "I don't want to talk about it, Royce. I wish to discuss something important with you."

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   "You cannot throw that at me!" Too late, angry Noelle threw the vase at Nicholas who missed it by scant inches. "Noelle, Noelle!"

    "You are abominable, Nicholas Brooke. I'm going to kill you, break you, burn you." Noelle hissed at him in anger.

    "I didn't see Aiden, okay?" Nicholas grabbed Noelle by her shoulders, and forced her to sit down on the couch, then drew soothing circles on the nape of her neck. "I really didn't see him. I was waiting for you in the garden, and you were alone. Everything was going so perfectly. We had Douglas Ainsley!"

    "This plan was just the opening move, Nicholas. We were just supposed to ignite the spark that Douglas wants to kill Noelle." Noelle postulated. "Every thing was perfect, the gun shot residue you put on him during your handshake; it was the perfect plan. Of course, he couldn't be jailed for it but it was a grand opening for the end game."

    Nicholas nodded. It was actually a flawless plan. Only one thing went wrong: Aiden and Noelle's feelings for each other.

    "Do you want me to approach Ainsley to fill his head against you?" he asked.

    Noelle shook his head in declination. "That will only be done if I'm not capable enough to spite him publicly. But he does not hold me in high regard. I saw how he looked at me last night, so loathsome. I don't think it will be a problem to have a couple of public brawls with him, then serve him a jail sentence he deserves on a silver platter."

    Nicholas puckered his lips, then asked, "Are you still going to join the Montcliffs' company?"

    "Of course. It is important to shake the authority Douglas holds in the company. It will rankle him," Noelle grinned, then added mechanically,  "And I can also retrieve evidence about the company's association with AAI." 

    Nicholas squinted his eyes narrow, deep in a thought before replying, "The evidence will be circumstantial at best, but won't be any waste of time. I want you to insert a drive into any PC which shares network with the server. We can get into the confidential documents easily then."

    "Last night, I was actually burning from inside when I saw him, Nicholas. That man made us an orphan. And the way Jane looks at me, I sometimes wonder if she has any idea he is responsible for killing her own brother and sister-in-law."

    Nicholas frowned. "Just focus on the plan, Noelle, and you should be careful about Aiden. You still have a soft spot for him, but you can't—don't—trust him with this."

    Noelle showed her agreement with a nod. "I don't want any collateral damage in this battle. I have already lost too much, and I cannot bear to lose anyone else. It is the only reason why I insisted that Cecily stay out of this. And you too," she gave him a weary, faint smile. "I appreciate you not hiding the circumstances under which my parents died but I cannot bear to lose another person dear to me."

    "You wound me," Nicholas placed a hand on his chest, as if shot by an arrow making Noelle giggle. "I will be here with you because it's as much as your revenge as mine. He killed my father too."

    Noelle sighed, "It's just crazy; taking innocent lives because of money and power. He was so condescending yesterday. I really do hate him with passion. And he wants me to take a token of the blood money Montcliffs is agglomerating, the gall of that man. Reasons because of which our parents had to suffer. We had to suffer." A small pause, then: "Sometimes I wonder how different things would have been if mom and dad had been alive. Mom was so right in distancing us from the Montcliffs, now I realize. She saw how shallow the bonds between everyone was and refused to be part of the united family farce."

    Nicholas pinched her nose to lighten the mood before asking, "When are you talking about your wish to join the company to Lucinda?"

    "In a couple of days, I think. I just want the investigation to cool down a little before proceeding with my next move."

    "You can meanwhile come to the office, madam. We do have a branch in New Jersey." He gave him a toothy grin.

    Noelle narrowed her eyes at him, then chuckled. "And see you rambling about your tech nerd stuff? I politely refuse."

    "I have to run now. My newly appointed CFO is driving me crazy."

    "You took care of the gun?"

    "Yes, it's safely kept until we can start planting evidences for the end game. Too much fun." He joked.

    "Goodbye then. And no thanks for spoiling the party yesterday."

    "Goodbye, angel of death." He grinned.

    When Nicholas left, Noelle let out an exhale. How will he react when he realizes she actually did kill someone? That it was no joke when he called her an angel of death. Her biggest worry was Aiden though. She shouldn't have kissed him, no matter how she felt about him. He was not part of all this, and most importantly, he would not understand. She was no longer his little Noelle who was made of love and compassion and all things sun.

    This Noelle was made of circumstances. Secrets. Hatred. Darkness.

    Aiden was still so pure. He always saw life in black and white, angels and demons, life and death. But Noelle had come to realize that justice, like beauty, was in the eye of the beholder. Aiden might see Montcliffs as endangered, innocent victims but they will be getting exactly what they deserve. It was the only way to bring justice and end this long battle. It was better to keep Aiden away.

    But to her utter dismay, after the dusk, she found him standing at her doorway with a pair of suitcases, and a broad, broad smile.