Although Ian tried to comfort her, Aria was still crying hysterically. She was scared and the fact that she had killed a person was etched in her brain, heart, and soul. It was eating her alive and she was losing it quite badly. Killing a person was nothing to Ian, not when the man was a traitor. But that was not the case for Aria and he knew about it. Aria was an innocent soul and never would she thinking of hurting anyone.

Ian could understand how she was feeling as he too had felt the same when he had first killed a person who had tried to harm his mentor, Theo when he was still young. But it was his mentor who had told him that it was nothing wrong in killing a person who was trash and an unwanted baggage to the earth. The man whom he had killed was a serial killer and a rapist. So, Theo did not scold Ian for what he had done. Instead, he had even praised him for his bravery and his skills.

Since then, Ian did not get that affected whenever he did kill someone. He never took it to heart as the person he was killing was a criminal, a beast who had to leave this world for all the bad deeds he had done. But Aria was nothing like Ian. She had taken it to her heart and now she was unable to come to terms with it. As every second passed, Aria was having a panic attack and she would start screaming like a madwoman. She was getting too agitated and exhausted.

Ian had to do something. So, without further delay, he induced a sedative in her blood and within minutes, Aria stopped screaming. She became drowsy and eventually fell asleep. The entire pavilion had got alerted with her screams and now everybody knew what had happened to Aria and why she was behaving that way. Just like Ian, they too did not hesitate to kill as they were soldiers and it was their duty to protect the innocent and their motherland. Their job called for them to kill. However, they could not help but sympathize with Aria and curse themselves for failing to do their duty correctly. Only if they had taken good measures and had found out about Kevin, Aria would not have suffered this way.

The one person who was filled with remorse more than anyone was Ethan. He had witnessed the way Aria had broken down and his heart had shattered into pieces seeing her this way. The woman was as pure as snow and now she had been tainted with blood on her hands. The fact that he could not prevent the situation from happening was killing him from within and he wanted to slap himself for his mistake. Indirectly he had been the reason for her emotional breakdown.

Ethan did not know how to salvage the situation. He could only observe the situation as Aria finally fell asleep after being induced with a sedative. Ian carefully laid her down and wiped her tears before he placed a consoling kiss on her forehead. Stuart too was heartbroken to see her this way and just like everyone else, he too was helpless. They could only provide her the moral support, but only she could fight and come out of it herself.

Ian left the pavilion and went outside with Stuart closely behind him. He stared at the starry sky, deep in thought as he tried to form the next course of action. Stuart observed his face for a while before he spoke to him. "What are you thinking?"

"Today, Aria was supposed to call her sister and her boyfriend. But seeing her state, I don't think she will be able to speak to them properly without breaking down. I don't know what to do now. It's almost time and we cannot delay the calls too."

"I understand." For the last few days, he had heard everything about Aria's sister, Ivy and her boyfriend, Noah. Though he knew some things about Noah, Stuart did not how much he adored Aria. Aria had never missed even once and had talked to both of them every alternate day. How was she supposed to do it now while she was deep in sleep? And even is she was awake, it was highly impossible too with the state of mind she was in.

"I guess I will have to talk to them." Ian sighed. "And I am sure that they are bound to panic after not being able to speak to Aria. Noah will definitely go bonkers."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a miracle that he had even allowed her to come till here. If he had the power, he will never allow her to leave his sight. That man is very possessive and as far as I know, he has fallen for Aria deeper than I actually assumed him to. And given his skills, he will definitely guess something to be wrong."

"Why don't you tell that Aria is sick and she fell asleep after she took the medicines? If you see technically, this is not a lie." Stuart suggested although he knew that this suggestion would not work out.

"Guess, that's the only option available now. I am going to make the calls now."

Ian left Stuart to stay with Aria while he went to the main building to make the calls. The phone operator did not question him on seeing him alone when every time there was another man and a woman with him. He knew what had happened and what condition the woman was in. Like all other soldiers, he too could not help but chide himself for his negligence.

Ian smiled at him faintly and decided to call Ivy first. She was easy to handle and she would understand the situation compared to his devil of a friend. He waited for some time for her to pick up praying the heavens to be with him and help him not to lose his composure once the call connected.

"Hey Aria, I was waiting for your call." Ian heard Ivy's chirpy voice and he could not help but close his eyes and apologize silently for the lies he was going to tell her.

"Hey Ivy, this is Ian." Ian tried as hard as he could to keep his voice in check.

Ivy was stunned for a second, hearing Ian's voice. She could not help but worry now. Something was amiss and she was not wrong, something must have happened to Aria.

"What happened to Aria?" Ivy asked, her voice changing all of a sudden. Not only Ian, even Joshua who was sitting beside was startled by the sudden shift in her demeanor. He had never seen such a fierce yet panicked expression on her face. Even when she had got the news of Tim breaking into her house, she had not been this agitated. But now, just the thought of Aria being hurt brought of this unseen side of hers.

Ian too was surprised at hearing her question. He had never expected her to guess everything this accurately and for a second he was envious of Aria and Ivy for having each other. They were so good to each other and loved each dearly and he too wished to have a sister on whom he could shower all his love.

"Aria is just sick, Ivy. She is alright." Ian gritted his teeth and lied to her.

"What do you mean by sick? What happened to her?" Ivy stood up suddenly and almost shouted on the phone. Aria very rarely fell sick and every time she did, Ivy had nursed her until she got better. However, now when she had fallen sick again, she was not with her sister and this was making her irked.

"Aria has a fever Ivy. She has taken her medicine and is asleep now. So, I did not wake her up and called you myself to assure you. She is a little exhausted from overwork and this has affected her body, that's it. There is nothing to worry about."

After hearing his words, Ivy calmed down a little and she started believing Ian's reasons. This had happened once before. So, it did not come as surprise for her to hear that Aria was sick due to exhaustion and overwork. Once, Aria had worked until her body could not take it any longer and had come down with a fever. It was the time when she was still working as an intern in the hospital.

"How is she now?" Ivy asked, her voice lowering one octave. Ian could sense that she had bought her lie and for now, he relaxed a little. Though he did not want to hide the truth from her, he did not want them to worry about it either. They would be returning home in three days and until then he would try all he could to bring Aria back to normal.

"Aria is fine, Ivy. It's just a fever and will go once she takes a good rest."

"Take care of her then."

"Also, we will be returning home in three days from now."

"Really? That's great." Ivy got excited all of a sudden and she exclaimed loudly. Again, Joshua was startled by her sudden shift in personality. Her anger was gone and now she was excited like a small kid. "Aria and Ian are returning home in three days."

"That's awesome news." Joshua too yelled in happiness and his voice was so loud that Ian too heard him on the phone.

"Ivy, may I speak to Joshua?"

"Sure."

"Hello, Doctor. What's up?"

"Listen I have something important to tell you and please try not to react or tell whatever I tell you to Ivy."

Joshua could sense that something was wrong just by Ian's serious tone. So, he got up and went away from her. "I'll be back." When he was sure that he was far away from Ivy's reach, he continued talking. "What happened?"

Ian recalled whatever had happened to Aria and Joshua was too dumbfounded to even speak. Aria had gone through so much and the killing had affected her and now she was blaming herself for it. Joshua was stupefied beyond belief. He now realized why Ian had lied to Ivy and immediately, agreed with him for hiding the truth. It was not a matter that could be handled easily and they did not want an overly anxious sister and an extremely berserk boyfriend to worry about it, not until Aria returned at least.

Joshua and Ian talked for some time and Ian thanked him for understanding him. He was relieved that he had not hidden this matter from one of his friends at least.

"Best of luck." Joshua wished him as he knew that Noah was the next person Ian was going to call.

"Thanks."

The call ended and Ian took a deep breath to calm his raging heart. He then dialed Noah's number, it was time to have a chat with the devil.