.........................................,...............................................................................

Like a sky which became calm and quiet after a heavy storm, both of them remained silently in their embraces. He knew that his attempt of making her realize has been accomplished up to some extent and she knew that her confused emotions have been settled.

After another ten to fifteen minutes, Riana slowly moved from him.

“Are you alright?” she heard his words.

“Mmm”

“I never intended to make you cry” She remained in silence.

“But if you realize the reality of our relationship it’s the best out of worst” She silently stared at him. His eyes were both curious and hopeful.

“It’s not I didn’t know; it’s I couldn’t accept” she replied calmly.

“What about now?”

“I am trying my best. Even though I accept our relationship, how come I forget about our family bond? You are my step-brother?”

“I understand. At least are you free from the guilty? You were severely guilty about being with me” he asked.

“Hmmm… As my feelings always grow for you, I understand that I should not be in guilty anymore. It’s not something I am forced and attempt to do but it’s something which happens automatically”

A slight smile came to his lips. Silently he listened to her words.

“But, was it planned?” she asked out of the blue. Her tone was a bit different this time.

“What?”

“Using alcohol and seduce me?” he smiled at her.

“Do you really think so?” he asked with the same smile.

“It seemed to be”

“It’s not. I don’t do tricks with you” A smile came to her face.

“You can’t be trusted anymore...” she said with the same smile.

“Are we ok now? Are we really settle now?” Sean asked while bending little to her face. She scanned his eyes.

“I don’t know...” she said.

“What do you want to do? And what do you want me to do?”

“Even though we came to a conclusion, do you think to behave as a couple is right?” she asked.

“If you don’t feel like behaving like a couple, I won’t force you. For me, in my entire heart, you are a woman. I never looked at you as a sibling. But if you need time, then that’s is alright. As long as we live together under one roof with laugh and peace then, I don’t force you until you come to me”

She was surprised by his self-confident and the self-assessment. But it was not that much easy for her. She sighed.

“Riana!”

“Mmmm…”

“I always wanted to ask something”

“What is it?”

“You always talked about my father but what about your mom? You never mentioned her during our conversations.” A quick sadness filled her eyes without a delay. Silently while gathering some words, she remained while staring at him.

“She died” After few minutes of silence she replied. His eyes became widened and mouth opened with the shock.

“What?” she sighed while looking at him.

“Yes, she died long ago...” she said with the same depressed expressions.

“But, why? How?”

“I never knew she had a tumor in her brain. She wanted someone to look after me. She was a single mother with a terrible sickness” she said in a lower tone.

“Was that why she wanted to get married to my father?” Sean asked fast.

“I guess so” Riana stared at him. She noticed his shocking expressions.

“I didn’t know Riana, I am sorry...” he said sadly.

“It’s alright, young master. I too didn’t know until I grew up. I accidentally found some of her old medicines and that’s how I also got to know”

“Did my father know about it?” he asked.

“I am not sure about it. After she died, we both never talked about her”

“After I disappeared, then what happened Riana?” he asked freshly.

“Are you curious now finally?” she looked at him.

“Hmmm… I guess so. I never wanted to know, but I don’t know why I am totally curious now”

“It’s because you hate father so much” He sighed without giving a reply.

“After I admitted to the hospital on that night, in the next morning father and mother came to the hospital to find me. But we couldn’t find you anywhere. Spending three nights in the hospital we left home. The house was fully lonely without you” she said while recalling her old memories.

“On the same day, both of them supposed to get married. Do you remember? My father at least didn’t remember about my surgery. That’s why you came with me though I disagreed” he added something new.

“I was a little girl. I couldn’t understand what was going on. After we went home, on the closest weekend, my mom and I shifted to your house. From that point, we began living with your father” she replied.

“That means they got married and started living under one roof and they made you became my sister”

Riana watched the change in his face. She softly held his hand.

“They must have their own reasons. And your disappearance affected your dad a lot. He began searching for you everywhere like a lunatic. His small grocery shop became bankrupt and he lost his income as well. He must have loved you that much”

“Then how did you all survive?”

“My mom sold vegetables in the fair. She started grew vegetables in your house garden as well. Until she died, she sold vegetables for our survival. Later on, the father also joined for farming. Both of them work hard and let me study at school. It was a really difficult period. But after one year of their marriage, my mom died”

What kind of life they must have spent until now? After he left home, what would have been happened there every day? He was unable to imagine anything. He was speechless. For the first time, he felt that he did a huge mistake. He abandoned his family.

“Young master!”

“Hmmm….”

“Let’s go to the village and meet father” she suggested.

“Do you want me to go there as your brother?” he asked.

“There is no other way”

“We are going on the same circle Riana and I need time to think about it, I am not ready”

“Don’t take too much time to be ready. He’s not young anymore” It was her advice to him.

She slowly stood up from the bed and walked to the living room. Sean followed her there. Both of their hearts were so heavy.

“Riana!”

“Mmmm…”

“I am going to meet the chairman...” he said out of the blue.

“Why suddenly?”

“I have something to deal with him. I can’t let you be in a danger forever like this” he said with a confident voice.

“But don’t let them know about our past. I even can’t imagine what they will do”

“Yes, I know. There is no way they will know about our matter. But if one day if I am unable to settle with them, I will use this last card. After all, it’s the chairman who kept me with him for his own benefit”

“What do you mean by?”

“It's true I asked him not to send me home. But I was a kid back then. As an adult, he should hav