Chapter 737 - Is she a friend or a foe?

For lunch that day at the table were Sarah, Aiden, Sophia and Felix.

Earlier, Bridgette arrived with change of clothes for JoAnna and two of them headed to the resort in order to handle their tasks.

Hill and White parents decided to leave Cliffside Villa.

Stella summerized her chat with Sarah to Edward, Oscar, and Elanor. She didn't tell them all the details, but they understood the main points.

Elanor told Oscar that she is not comfortable staying and that they should leave. Whenever she is close to Sarah, she feels the urge to speak her mind and say what she knows, but at the same time she is aware that would upset Stella.

"We should not get in-between mother and daughter.", Elanor told Oscar while packing their things into the suitcase.

"You will let this for Stella to handle?", Oscar didn't voice his opinion so far, but Elanor knows that he also supports the idea of them sharing relevant information with the kids.

"For now, we will let her handle this." Elanor responded.

"They are our children also.", Oscar gave a gentle reminder that the situation implicates Jeff and Aiden as well, and they also consider Hill sisters (and Felix) as a family.

Elanor understands and shares Oscar's concern, so she decided to explain herself: "With everything we know, Lebedevs are now sorting out this incident from their side and regrouping. Considering how things turned out, they will probably increase their surveillance on the girls, especially Sarah. Aiden might also be in danger. After their flashy display, I'm not sure if they will see Aiden as someone who can be used for their goal, or as someone who is in the way… Kids will be safe next few days, and that will allow us to focus on the wedding. After that, let's revisit this topic."

…

Not long after Elanor and Oscar left Cliffside Villa, Stella and Edward followed.

"Don't be so harsh toward your mother.", Edward advised Sarah as they watched Stella get inside car.

Sarah could not hide her emotional turmoil. "I understand that considering the circumstances, harmless lies will exist.", Sarah said with a sad voice. "For years I knew that mom has some background, and I never probed into it or questioned her decisions. But if her lies and silence are putting us in danger, it makes me think if she is a friend or a foe… regardless if she is my mother. For someone who can watch me getting in harm's way and refuses to help, blood bonds don't mean much."

Edward didn't know how to respond to this.

His troubled expression told Sarah that he is struggling.

…

In the car…

"You are alienating Sarah.", Edward told Stella as the car drove away from the Cliffside Villa.

"I am doing this so that I don't lose her.", Stella responded.

Edward sighed. "Like this… you are losing her."

…

"It will be fine…", Aiden told Sarah when she leaned into his embrace while watching car with Stella and Edward depart.

Back to present…

Sarah, Aiden, Sophia and Felix are seated at the dining table.

"I thought we decided to take time and think about it. Why did you have an argument with mom?", Sophia asked Sarah during lunch.

"She approached me and started asking questions.", Sarah explained. "I could not avoid it. She is not willing to talk about it regardless of the mess we ended up in yesterday. Even if I had a month to think about it, that discussion would still end up in the same way."

Sophia sighed and continued working on her food.

Two bites later Sophia looked at Sarah. "I'm sorry you are shouldering this for all of us."

Sarah was surprised to hear this.

Sophia continued: "You told mom what all of us are thinking. We all feel that she should not hide things from us. Our ignorance is putting us in danger randomly and if she tells us what she knows we would be wiser about the whole situation. I'm sorry… I should be the one talking to mom."

Sarah was touched by Sophia's words.

"It's OK. I can handle it. If you have the courage to talk to mom, maybe you should tell her about your move to Los Angeles."

Sophia slightly frowned as a response and returned to her meal.

After lunch, Sophia went to finish some work for Orion Enterprise, Aiden got busy with work as well, and Sarah took Felix to her underground workshop.

"You have a lot of things here!" Felix was impressed.

"Yes, we got all the equipment I need to work on gadgets." Sarah was happy with Felix's reaction.

Felix observed few machines before asking: "Do you have a high temperature furnace?"

Sarah pointed in one direction, and Felix's eyes lit up when he saw it.

Felix made a slow 360-degree turn on his heels and his expression was one of a child in a candy shop while taking in his surroundings: from high-spec computers and custom touch surfaces for designing gadgets to equipment to handle micro-parts… 3D printer for creating quick prototypes… a generous supply of spare parts and raw materials… and now even a high temperature furnace! He could spend a year in this room without running out of things to do!

Felix smiled while thinking that this workshop has all the equipment he needs to create wedding bands Aiden ordered. He will get the materials here and he can get busy! The only question is if he can do that without Sarah noticing what he is up to… because it should be a surprise. He took a mental note to ask Aiden about that.

Felix approached one screen which showed rotating round shaped and slightly curved object while some specification descriptions were flashing on the side. "This is…?"

"Eye lens I'm working on." Sarah explained shortly. She saw that Felix's eyes are glued to it, so she added: "It will be connected to Eve and provide variety of functionality such as: X-ray, night vision, heat source detection, magnification… camera functionality is provided with an idea that people can wear two of them, one on each eye, and then team members can share sight without using additional devices. Totally hands-free… and I'm working on changing colors. I almost got that part figured out."

Felix looked at Sarah with a complex expression. "All those technology challenging things implemented into a small, thin, transparent lens, and you are adding color changes?"

Sarah giggled. "I am a girl, after all. Besides being functional, it should be cute! I'm making it work like one of those mood rings where color of the lens changes with your mood. It will react to a mix of readings such as body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate… Jealousy is green, happy is yellow, when focused it switches to blue… rage red. Yes. Rage is definitely red, glowing red… So, if you bump into me when my eyes are glowing red, you should run away as fast as you can." Sarah laughed when she saw Felix's silly expression. "Don't worry, it is an optional feature which can be turned off when not in use."

Felix sighed while thinking how Sarah is brilliant and silly at the same time. Her silly side is definitely inspired by all the games she is playing.

His expression lit up at the realization that he will be living close to Sarah going forward. That means two of them can collaborate and create who knows what together! And her bringing him here means that he can use this workshop!

He got pulled out of the daze when Sarah almost yelled to get his attention. She was showing him the network opener prototype he needs to improve.

Oh! Felix was excited. Another fascinating thing she created… and they get to work on it together!