"Joshua was discharged this morning." Noah disclosed even before Aria could take her first bite.

"Noah, let me eat first. Okay?" Aria gave him a displeased look, complaining through her eyes about his wrong timing. "I am starving."

​​

"For me," Noah added shamelessly, and Aria glared at him as she took a huge bite of her fried fish. All Noah did was wink at her playfully.

"I never knew you were this shameless before." She mumbled as she chewed on the delicacy in her mouth. "And this is good." Aria moaned, savoring the taste slowly. Once she was done, she licked her lips and took another piece of a fried fish to munch on.

"Thank you and thank you. I became shameless after I met you." Noah added, mischief taking over his entire form. He too started to eat, his eyes not leaving the girl, who was wearing his shirt and her shorts, looking all endearing and cute.

"Should I say that you are blaming me for you becoming shameless?" Aria huffed, and Noah had the intense urge to laugh at her cute puffed up cheeks.

"You can say so. I was born innocent and I was innocent until I met you." Noah stated with such an innocent expression that Aria, for a moment was really convinced by his innocent words. She soon shook her head, scolding herself silently for getting carried away. How could Noah be innocent? Impossible.

"Innocent and you?" Aria pointed her fork at him, and Noah nodded at her immediately. "Oh, please. Innocent and you don't belong in the same sentence. You both are two poles, far away from each, impossible to meet." Aria replied wittily, and Noah did not have any response for her. He just stared at her blankly before his lips curled up.

"Then, what belongs in the same sentence as I am? Tell me." Noah lifted his chair and scooted closer to her.

All of a sudden, Aria regretted changing the topic. They could have as well spoken about Joshua and his reason to be discharged early, though she had a hunch already for his actions. She stayed mum and lowered her head, focusing all her attention on her delicious food, instead of the delicious man in front of her. However, Noah was having none of it. He was not done with her yet.

"Tell me, Aria." Noah probed, not giving her the chance to escape from the predicament she was in. "You know you are not getting out of this. Right?"

Aria sighed lightly and dropped her fork. "What can I say?"

"Say whatever you have in mind and heart." Noah raised an eyebrow at her and Aria rolled her eyes at him.

'How annoying!!' She bit her lip, contemplating what she could say to brush the man off her back. "As I said before, shameless."

"Then?"

"Then?" Aria thought for a while, forcing out her limited vocabulary to find words that could describe her man. However, other than calling him shameless, she had no other word that could show off his weakness or negatives. She even liked his shameless self. So, was it even a negative? She wondered, her eyes staring at the man who was waiting for her response.

"So?" He prompted again and Aria gave up.

"How about handsome?" She changed her route immediately, smiling at him with a teasing glint in her eyes. "Or amazing, maybe even incredible. Wait, I forgot to add fantastic."

"Aria, I would love it if you say the same words while we are having sex. It would only charge me up for sure and I can satisfy you all day." Noah said with such excitement in his voice that Aria's legs trembled. Though she had taken a comfortable bath until her muscles relaxed, her legs still felt sore and wobbly.

"I was right." Noah raised an eyebrow at her. "You are the master of shamelessness. Nobody can beat you at it."

"I love your compliment. Thank you, darling."

Aria could not take his shamelessness any longer and she decided to change the topic. "Why did Joshua get discharged? Is it because of Amber?"

"Yes. She would only be a nuisance and Joshua will never be at peace if she were to disturb him and Ivy daily. It's best if he recuperates at his house, with no one to disturb him." Noah became serious all of a sudden, and Aria wondered if it was only her hallucination. Only a minute ago, he was teasing her and now, his expression turned cold and austere.

"What happened, Noah? Is something the matter?" Aria could sense his distress just by his sudden switch and she moved closer to him to comfort him.

"Don't you think it's weird?" He expressed his concern after thinking for a while.

"What is weird?"

"About Amber. Her timing was impeccable and she made an entry right at the moment was Joshua was the most vulnerable." Noah continued, his frown deepening with every word that left his lips.

"Elaborate, please. I don't understand what you are trying to say." Aria held his hand and ran her thumb over his palm.

"Aria, Amber needed an opportunity to enter his life again and given how Joshua is, he would have neglected her, ignored all her attempts to get close to him. I presume she used this opportunity to enter his life again." Noah iterated all that he had in mind.

"Does Amber know Joshua's address?"

"She does not know where he lives. Joshua switched places after he broke up with her and he is quite secretive about it. Nobody other than people he is close to has access to his address."

"That's interesting." Aria was impressed by Joshua's abilities and thinking and she praised him wholeheartedly, ignoring Noah's jealous expression.

"But that cannot be said the same about his office. Many people know where his office is."

"Considering all that you have said and given how suspicious the girl, it sure is not a coincidence. She must have come prepared. Is there any possibility that she is working with someone? Someone who wants to harm Joshua, perhaps?" Aria queried.

Aria's words made Noah think and the first person he could ever think about was Jared. If he had the audacity to push Mia to him, it did not come as a surprise if he were behind Amber's reentry into Joshua's life too.

'Why is he targeting Joshua? Is it because he is related to me or is he even attacking Ivy in the process?' Noah did not forget the feud between Ivy and Jared and if his hunch was right, which Noah was sure it was, it was both. Jared was attacking Joshua and Ivy at the same time.

"This is bad." He mumbled and this time, Aria did not ask him to elaborate. She had more or less guessed what he had in mind for she too had thought the same.

"Should we warn Joshua about it?"

"Joshua is smart, Aria. Don't worry about him. He would have already found about Amber and Jared and by now, he would have even started a plan to deal with them." Noah assured her and Aria relaxed visibly.

"That's great then. But we need to act before Jared strikes us first."

"Don't worry. Our plan is ready. Once father-in-law gives a nod, we will send Jared and Charles straight away to the execution chair."

Aria's lips twitched once she heard the way he addressed her father. But she chose to remain silent about it. "What are you thinking of doing?" Noah was yet to fill her in about the plan they had come up with during the meeting.

"Oh, it's all simple. Maggie had loads of evidence against Jared and we will just make use of them to destroy the man. It's time he got his retribution for all that he has done."