"I"m gonna kill you if you don"t come down." She said and was running after him for he s.n.a.t.c.hed her book, again.

"You can"t even catch me, idiot." He said and was way ahead of her.

"You both are adults, stop acting like 5-year-old children!" Chloe shouted at them as they ran past her.

"Mom, this isn"t even new now. They both fight whenever they are together." Chrystal said and was sitting on a sofa near her.

"Just like cats," Ryan added and they all laughed.

Aria met Liam on James" birthday party. Liam was interested in her from the first sight but she wasn"t, so he went around teasing her and finding ways to be close to her. They were introduced to each other and had nothing in common and always conflicted over different things. While Liam was more of a chill person, Aria was always dedicated to her work and was a lot more serious than him. At that point, she was still kind of a bright person and thus they both became good friends. She used to talk a lot as she after she became comfortable with him and because he was interested in her, he used to listen to her quietly and tease her in between sometimes. They shared their secrets and he told her every memory of his childhood that he could remember for he knew that she didn"t have any memories of hers, in hope that she would have something as a memory now. Sometime later, he started telling her everything that happened in his day and asked for her thoughts on that. She didn"t like to talk much and used to listen to him attentively.

"...And then dad praised me... What do you think? Wasn"t it great?" He asked after telling an incident that happened that day.

"Idiot, when will your story finish? I gotta sleep." She complained.

"Just tell me what I asked." He commanded.

"Why the h.e.l.l do you bore me every single day like this?" She asked suddenly and was h.e.l.la bored.

"Cause, I like doing this. I feel happy after talking to you for a long time and telling you whatever happened to me. It"s an important part of my life, just like you are..." He said and was surprised that she didn"t give any response for usually, she used to answer him immediately to p.i.s.s him.

*On the other side of the call*

Aria was lying of her bed, on her belly, her head was buried into the pillow and her ears were red for she was blushing after hearing his words. which she usually found cheesy.

"How can this idiot be such a smooth talker?" She shouted and groaned in frustration.

After she gained her memory back, she transformed completely. She became more of a cold person and didn"t talk to anyone. It seemed as if she had built walls around herself, that no one was allowed to cross. She even started living in a separate mansion.

Liam was worried that something bad happened to her when she went to Asia and asked his a.s.sistant to investigate what happened in Asia because she wasn"t telling him anything. From the investigation, he found out about the buildings that she had blasted and that she was behind the leaking of all of Sam"s crime and this led Sam and the others to be arrested. He asked him to investigate her past and how she was related to those people. Because he was powerful, it was easier for him to get that information and in no time, he knew the whole truth. It all happened a week or two after Sam went to jail. He went to her mansion to discuss this.

"Ari, why the h.e.l.l didn"t you tell me anything?" He asked her as he entered her study and threw the file on her table, she was doing some of the office work.

"What?" She asked and was kinda surprised at his sudden arrival and looked into the file, she noticed that he had investigated her past and now knew everything but didn"t react and continued her work.

"About your past." He said ad she paused on hearing his words.

"About what?" She asked him again and was trying to stay calm.

"About what happened to you all these years in Asia, about, Sam and that Noah." He said and stepped a little closer to her.

"I don"t have to tell you everything." She said coldly.

"But we"re best friends and we shared happiness and sorrow." He corrected her.

"That"s what you think." She said and was about to leave the room when he suddenly grabbed her arm and pinned her against the wall.

"Stop lying, Ari, to me and yourself." He said and tightened his grip.

"I"m not." She protested and was kinda angry at him now.

"You know right? I know you inside out, you can pretend in front of other people but not in front of me so just stop this drama." He suggested.

"I"m not lying, this is the real me. I"m this cruel and nothing can change this." She said and looked straight into his eyes.

"Stop..." He said and stepped backward.

"I lied to you all these years. I never even liked you a bit. It was all a lie." She said and had a dark expression. He smiled and she was confused at his strange reaction.

"You want me to believe that after knowing all your history, how you almost died for someone you loved, how you still believed those people who betrayed you..." He said and she was quiet now for he just pressed her open wound.

"You"re just afraid." He stated.

"You"re afraid of getting betrayed again, and getting all that pain back. And that"s why you"re distancing everyone away from your self." He said and she backed away.

"I...I"m not." She stuttered.

"Ari, stop this action, and please remove this mask now..." He begged her and tears streamed down her eyes, all the pain that was bottled up inside her overflowed. It happened not because someone confronted her, but because Liam did it, she didn"t have any hope of being understood by anyone. But even after being rejected, Liam didn"t leave her side and accepted her broken part with open arms. He stepped forward and hugged her. She cried in his arms and let out all the feelings that were trapped inside her. In this world filled with fake people, he was the only one who saw the real her behind that thick mask.

"I"m there for you, you"re not alone in this fight anymore." He said and caressed her back.

Their friendship was the same as before at that time, they talked to each other for a long time and although she was still a cold person, she showed her warm side to him. Without even realizing they developed feeling for each other. They both planned out the way to overthrow Sam and win that battle.

A week after everything was over and she was in his company to make a deal with them. Liam and his father had agreed to it but they still had to convince the board members.

"You want us to help your company?" Liam asked as they were sitting in the meeting room and she nodded in response.

"And what do we get in return." He asked and lifted an eyebrow.

"Nothing." She answered coldly and everyone present in that meeting was shocked.

"Then why would I agree to this deal?" Liam asked.

"Because your reputation is important." She said and handed him a file.

"We have proofs of bad deeds of every one of you and that the scandals against you all are true." She said and was basically threatening him.

After thinking for some time they agreed and signed the doc.u.ments that stated that both the companies were officially joining hands in the business, although they were each other"s rivals in some aspects. The others left the meeting room and now it was only Aria and Liam present there. She got up and was about to go out.

"What do I get for helping you do this?" He asked suddenly and stared at her.

"Anything you want." She said and then turned towards the door.

"Will you marry me?" He asked as he got up suddenly.

"Agreed." She said with a smile and then walked out of the room and he jumped in excitement.