Chapter 184: True love

Aria, Ian and Noah were waiting in front of the restaurant for Ivy and Joshua to join. They had informed them about the dinner plan before they left the hospital. They wanted to call Daniel and Rachel too, but the couple had plans of their own. So, they decided not to disturb them.

Joshua was the first one to arrive. He had finished his meeting with his employees when he had received Ian's call and since the restaurant was closeby to his company, it did not take him long to reach the venue. Now, Ivy was the only one to arrive.

At that moment, Aria saw someone and her eyes popped out of her sockets. She rubbed her forehead thinking that she was going to end up with a headache by the end of the day. The three men did not notice anything weird as they continued chatting. 

'Five, four, three,' Aria started the count down in her mind. 'two, one.'

"Aria." Somebody shouted and all the three men turned to look at the source of the voice. 

"Shit." Aria cursed loudly, making Noah stare at her weirdly. 

"Sorry."

Noah turned back to look at the man who had called his girlfriend. He was wearing black jeans and a black leather jacket with a white shirt underneath. He had a french beard and his unruly hair made him look mischievous and young. He looked more pretty than handsome. Noah wondered who it was and how he knew Aria.

The man walked to the group and without another word hugged Aria to everybody's surprise. Ian and Joshua looked at the scene with their eyes wide while Noah clenched his jaw in anger. He immediately separated the two people forcibly and draped his arm over Aria's shoulder.

"Who the hell are you?" He seethed.

"And who the hell are you?" The man retorted back immediately. "I am talking to my girlfriend. Back off."

Ian and Joshua's jaw dropped hearing his words. What nonsense was he spouting and that too in front of Noah who was highly possessive of Aria? This man must be tired of living. 

"Who is your girlfriend? Aria is mine."

"No way. Aria, what am I hearing? This man is playing a joke on us right?"

"No, he is right. He is my boyfriend." Aria said at once.

"What? Aria, how could you do this to me?" The man placed his hand on his chest as though he was hurt. "We were in love with each other. Just because I had gone abroad for three months, you left me. How heartless of you!"

"Mind your words." Noah stood protectively in front of Aria. He was just short of punching the man's face or breaking his legs. Even Joshua and Ian were about to lose it.

"Aria, how could you forget me? How could you forget the sweet moments we had together?"

"Aria, do you know him?" Noah looked at the woman in his embrace and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. I know him. But he is not my boyfriend."

"Aria, please don't lie. Don't insult our love. It is pure and sweet." The man said, his eyes narrowing.

"Listen, Mister, I don't know who you are. Just back off before you end up in a hospital." Joshua stepped forward.

"Aria, this is not fair. You are trying to protect yourself using three men. You know it's impossible for me to win against them." The man ran his eyes on all three of them before it landed on Aria.

"Aria, do you know him?" Ian asked.

"Yes, I know him," Aria answered immediately.

"Do you love him?" 

"Ian. what are you saying? Have you lost your mind?" Noah shouted the next moment.

"Noah calm down. We need to see both points of view."

Noah glared at him, but Ian was not affected by it. He had seen it many times and it had never fazed him. Noah stood silently beside Aria, his hand still draped against her shoulder.

"Yes, Ian. I love him," Aria stated and Noah's head turned to look at her in shock. "But not the way I love Noah. It is a completely different type of love."

"Aria, what the hell is this?" Ian asked in surprise.

"What? I have known him since my birth and we have been together since long." Aria stated indifferently.

The three men looked at her in shock. It was the first time she was behaving this way with them and what was more surprising was that she was not hiding the fact that she loved the man in front of them. This struck them hard, especially Noah who had assumed that he was the first man to be with Aria.

"Aria," Noah gave her a devastating look.

"Noah, I love you and I love him too. But my love for both of you is different. You are the love of my life while he is just a person I love." Aria tried clearing her stance. She was exceptionally calm and highly unaffected by the turn of events and this surprised the three friends.

'He might be a childhood friend, just like Daniel. What am I even thinking? Aria would never cheat on me.' Noah thought inwardly. However, his thoughts were interrupted when the man spoke again.

"Aria, how could you say this? I am your true love. You cannot do this to me."

"Listen, Mister." Noah clenched his hands and he shot a cold glare at him. "Leave from here before I do something to you."

"I am not going to leave without Aria."

"Please leave before it's too late. You have no idea what will happen to you if you continue staying here." Ian too tried to shoo the man away but in vain.

"Wait a minute. I know you." The man gave a thorough glance at Noah. "You are Noah Allen Carter right?"

Nobody responded. The man continued, "Now that you have Noah with you, you are going to forget me Aria. This is not good. I did not expect you to be like this."

Aria looked around bored. They were still in the parking lot and not many people were present. So, nobody noticed the chaos that was taking place.

"Excuse me, leave before I do something to you," Noah said again, trying to control his anger.

"Why should I leave? You leave. I am not going to leave without my sweetheart." Saying this, the man lunged at Aria and hugged her tightly.

Noah pushed him away and separated them. He then proceeded to punch him in the face. But Aria stopped him to his dismay.

"Aria, what are you doing?"

"Noah stop it and you," She pointed her finger at the man, "Are you done having fun? This is getting too much."

"Aria what do you mean?" Joshua looked at Aria and the man in confusion.

"What I am saying is this idiot is my sister, Ivy."