Chapter 154 - Secret Meeting

Aera was lying on the bed, unconscious.

Song Ji Hwan and Ji Seo Yun were sitting next to her on bed, worried about her state.

Ian checked her condition and informed them that she lost consciousness due to the shock that she wasn't able to handle.

"When will she wake up?" Song Ji Hwan worriedly asked him.

"In some time, she will. Let her get up on her own, don't forcefully wake her up" Ian suggested.

"Such a young child, and this kind of brutality she is already facing" Ji Seo Yun cried stroking Aera's hair.

"Mom, in times like this we have to be strong so that we can take care of Kiaraa and Aera" Song Ji Hwan tried to make his mom understand.

Then he went out to check on Kiaraa, who was uncontrollably crying in her grandpa's arms.

Seeing Song Ji Hwan, Kiaraa broke even more and he quickly stepped ahead to tightly hug her.

Stroking her back, he tried to calm her down but he knew in this situation no person can stop crying.

He looked over at his older brother, who clearly looked distraught seeing Kiaraa's condition.

The two brothers looked at each other silently. Hwan was not sure how to react and what he wanted from his brother but he felt like only Song Ji Hun could pull them out of this misery and he was not sure why he felt so.

Song Ji Hun could sense his brother's need for him but for now he decided to handle other important things.

The cops wanted Kiaraa and Aera's presence in the hospital to confirm their parents' death and to provide the death certificate but the girls were not in the state to do so.

Out of humanity they decided to wait for a few more hours.

…

Few hours later

Aera suddenly woke up from her sleep as if she just had a bad dream.

"Mom, dad" she shouted calling their names.

Song Ji Hwan rushed inside her room and saw her trying to make sense of the current scenario.

"Aera, have some water" Song Ji Hwan poured water in a glass and handed it to her.

"Hwan, I had a very bad dream. My mom and dad…" she couldn't even complete her sentence and started crying.

Song Ji Hwan immediately went to her side and gently hugged her in his arms. Stroking her hair, he tried to calm her down.

"Hwan, please call my parents. I want to see them. I want to feel assured they are fine and it was all a bad dream" Aera desperately requested him between her tears.

Song Ji Hwan was not sure what to say, so he just hugged her.

"Hwan, please say something" Aera desperately asked him.

"We are all there for you, Aera. We will always be there for you" Hwan managed to say and Aera cried in his arms as she understood what happened earlier was not a dream and she indeed lost her parents.

After some time, Hwan brought Aera out of the guest room. The cops asked both the sisters to visit the hospital and they did so.

Ian, Hwan, Song Ji Hun and their fathers accompanied the two girls.

Kiaraa and Aera submitted their DNA samples and after a few hours, the doctors confirmed the remains found in the car indeed belonged to Lee Myung Soo and Chu Yu Ri.

With this the deaths of their parents were confirmed and as soon as this news came out in the media, the Lee Conglomerate share price fell down.

But right now Kiaraa or others were not in the state to care about business or shares.

Almost for a month, the Lees mourned the deaths of Lee Myung Soo and Chu Yu Ri.

…

One day Kiaraa received a call from one of her dad's loyal men, who requested to meet her.

The past few days, Kiaraa didn't go for work and spent most of her time in her parents'room, sleeping there or just reading some book.

At night, even Aera slept with Kiaraa in her parents' room, as they both couldn't let go of them.

The two sisters didn't talk to each other, they just stayed in that room, both lost in their own worlds.

All this while, Kiaraa's associates were managing her company while Lee Min Seo and Lee Man Sik were managing the Lee Conglomerate.

Therefore, Kiaraa was surprised when one of her dad's loyals called her out of the blue.

Respecting that man's position and understanding the intensity of the situation, Kiaraa agreed to meet him.

But what surprised her was the fact that he requested to meet her at a farmhouse of his, in secret.

Also, he insisted she tell no one about this meeting and to keep it confidential.

Kiaraa felt something was fishy, so she didn't stick to his request and informed Ian about it.

"Kiaraa, I don't have a good feeling about it, are you sure you want to go?" Ian worriedly asked her.

"Even I don't have a good feeling about it, that's why I am sharing this with you" Kiaraa replied.

"Then why do you want to go?" After seeing Kiaraa's parents suddenly lose their lives, a fear was instilled inside Ian and he turned more protective towards Kiaraa.

"He is one of my dad's loyal employees. During my training, dad listed a few people I can blindly trust and he is one of them. What if he has something important to share and what if it is related to mom, dad's death?" Kiaraa shared her thoughts and why she is insisting on meeting this man although it felt fishy.

"I'll come with you then" Ian declared.

"Yeah, I wish for the same. You do follow me and I'll keep some mic on me so that you can hear my conversation with this man. If at any point, you think he is trying to attack me or is dangerous, you can just barge in" Kiaraa shared her plan with Ian.

Heating her words worried Ian even more, "K, do you have to go if it is so risky? Can we not send someone else?"

"Ian, I am scared too, can you please be my pillar of support instead of scaring me even more? I could have gone to Hwan too but you were the first person who came to my mind, when I needed help. Can you please not make it more difficult for me than it already is?" Kiaraa almost begged him.

Understanding her situation, Ian decided to stop worrying a lot and rather be there for her. He already felt happy to know that he was the first person she thinks of when in trouble and he wished to maintain the same.

So, he agreed to her request and the next day, Kiaraa fixed the meeting with that loyal man.

She drove to the location given to her in a car, alone while Ian followed her in his car with a driver.

Kiaraa carried a gun with her to be on the safe side and for self protection. Also, she had a small mic on her through which Ian could hear everything that was happening around her surroundings.

Kiaraa reached the location given to her.

It was an isolated place in the outskirts of the city and there was one farmhouse in the middle of nowhere.

There was tight security before entering the gates and only after driving for a minute, the farmhouse came into her view.

'Why does this man need so much protection?' Kiaraa wondered to herself and after parking the car, she stepped towards the farmhouse.

The door was opened as soon as she rang the doorbell and Kiaraa was greeted by an old man, who was around her dad's age.

"Dear, no one knows you are here, right?" Was the first question asked by this loyal man, instead of greeting her.

Ian heard this man's voice from his location and he didn't find the voice intimidating which made him relax a bit as he hoped this man is truly loyal and harbours no bad intentions towards Kiaraa.

"Yeah, I ensured that no one knows" Kiaraa confidently lied and stepped inside the house.

"Uncle Jeong, what happened? Why did you call me so secretly? Is everything alright?" Kiaraa calmly asked, sitting across from this man.

"Dear, I need to tell you something important but before that you need to promise me whatever I share with you will only remain between you and me" The man named Jeong, worriedly told this to Kiaraa, clearly sweating profusely.

It was evident he was taking a big risk by discussing whatever it is with Kiaraa.

"Sure, uncle Jeong.. I promise you whatever you will tell me will remain between us" Kiaraa promised and Ian too keenly listened to their conversation as he was sure Kiaraa won't repeat all of this again to him and the way Jeong spoke it got Ian curious, wondering what the hell is going on.