Sarah saw that Ste is not willing to answer her question.


    "Secrets again?" Sarah looked at Ste with disappointment. "Do you know how much trouble and pain you would save us only if you told us about your background? If we knew that there is someone watching us, waiting to kidnap us, to get his hands on us, to hurt us…"


    "He will not hurt you.", Ste persisted.


    "What makes you so confident?!!", Sarah snapped.


    Ste nced at Edward and then looked at Sarah. "Let''s all sit and calm down..."


    Ste sat next to Edward and looked at Sarah and Aiden. "My birth name is Milena Lebedev. King''s name is Vasily Lebedev."


    Sarah''s mind exploded. "He is your brother?!!"


    Sarah was nauseated at the thought that she should call that horrible man <em>''Uncle''</em>.


    "Cousin. Our fathers are brothers.", Ste rified. "Vasily became an Elder of Lebedev family at the age of twenty two. That was soon after I came to the United States. Elders are ranked based on power they have, and I''m not sure what his ranking is, but he is among the top five. If he wants to hurt us, any of us, he can do it without leaving his office. Also, when Vasily''s father passed away, he is the one who stood in front of the council and demanded that they respect the deal I made with his father and to leave us alone."


    Sarah can see that Ste is not lying based on the body indicators tracked with Eve-vision, but she is not convinced. "Maybe he changed his mind."


    "Vasily was always thinking about the Lebedev family first, and he justifies his actions by making the family stronger. Hurting me or my children is going against everything he stands for because we are Lebedevs. I know that his goal is to get us to return to the family amicably. Forcing us or hurting us will work against that because if we are not willing, there is a chance that we will turn against the family and cause harm from the inside."


    "How can you be so sure of that?"


    Ste exhaled while thinking what other argument she can give to convince Sarah. "Vasily is in charge of the North American region. He has numerous people under hismand. You cleared up the California and he didn''t retaliate only because he suspects that is rted to me or any of you three."


    Sarah thought about Ste''s words. "You said that his drive is to strengthen the family, and that he probably suspects that current changes in the California are because of us. Is the goal of this meeting on Saturday that he confirms how we are behind the army of Chaos? Will he try to add it as a force working under Lebedevs?"


    "That is the possibility, but I will not know until I meet with him. You know that unless I go there, he wille here, and I don''t want him in my backyard."


    Sarah thought how her mother''s actions don''t make sense. "You can''t give him what does not belong to you. Eventually, he wille here, and we will need to face him."


    Ste didn''t deny that. "I am ying this game since I married your father. And there was always a chance that the family will send their experts and wipe us out or force us into submission by shutting down ourpany, holding our friends hostages... they have plenty of ways to get their way. But here we are, thirty yearster, still having the freedom to live our lives."


    Sarah snorted. "You call this freedom?"


    Ste shrugged. "It''s the closest we can get to it, unless you n to go and eradicate them."


    "You are against that?", Sarah noticed that Ste does not want to confront the family she left behind.


    "Not everyone is bad, sweetie. There is a whole vige full of people with thest name Lebedev who are living their lives, and there are numerous other viges and families who are depending on Lebedevs. It''s a whole ecosystem. Those vigers go about their business, trying to make the most out of their lives, just how we are. But if you go and kill an Elder with a goal to get them to stop pursuing you, that Elder is someone''s father, a brother, a mother or a sister. You will trigger a reaction where numerous people wille at you, looking for revenge. And it will not be limited only to you… if you kill someone''s sister, they will go after your sister. You will not know who it is, or how many of them are out there lurking in the shadows, waiting for their chance to hurt you and your loved ones. The only way to make sure you are safe and free, and your family as well, is to get rid of all of them. That is a lot of people and you will never know if you got each and every one of them."


    Sarah listened to Ste and she can''t deny that she is right. But…"I only want them to leave me alone."


    "You want them to leave you alone, your family and your loved ones.", Ste gestured toward Aiden. "That is your goal. And my goal is to keep you safe, away from the grasp of Lebedevs. And King''s goal is to make Lebedevs stronger…"


    "You are justifying his actions?", Sarah cut off Ste.


    "No. I''m just acknowledging that everyone has an agenda. And sometimes, two agendas will sh, or you might find that you can support each other. Honey, people are not ssified as good or bad. They are differentiated by how far they will go to achieve their goals. Depending from the angle you are looking at a person, you might see someone''s viin as your saint."


    Ste saw that Sarah is confused and decided to give an example: "Your father and I are NOTpatible with nor and Oscar. Our personalities and ways of dealing with issues are very different. However, we have the same agenda, to keep our children safe. Because of that, we are coborating and supporting each other, and we don''t care if we offend anyone else in the process. That is how far we are willing to go in order to ensure your safety. And you might see us as great parents while people we destroyed along the way see us as unreasonable and ruthless."


    Aiden held Sarah''s hand in his and observed her expression changes. He knows that Sarah is processing things her mother said, and that she ising to her own conclusions.


    Aiden is happy that Ste finally talked to Sarah. He knows that it means a lot to Sarah because she was hurt by the fact that Ste is refusing to talk about Lebedevs.


    "What can we do to help?", Sarah asked Ste and Edward after some time.


    "What do you have to offer?", Ste asked.


    Sarah knows that if anyone is capable of dealing with King, that will be her mother. There are many unanswered questions, and Sarah will not forget that King hurt her and Aiden, but she will get her chance to even out the scoreter. Right now, she needs to help her mother.


    Sarah reached into the backpack and got four small boxes. She gave two to Edward and two to Ste.


    "These are lenses and ear studs that are connected to Eve…", Sarah exined features avable and asked Edward and Ste to put them on and to try using them.


    Edward was unable to hide his admiration. His daughter is amazing!


    Sarah can see that both Edward and Ste are happy with Sarah''s (and Aiden''s) contributions.


    Sarah and Aiden had to confirm that they will not follow them to New York.


    "If King has any bad intentions, it will be good that the two of you are away from us. We will count on you to rescue us.", Edward said.


    Sarah and Aiden agreed with this. They will be at Jeff''s birthday party.


    "We will not go with you in person, but we will know what is happening.", Sarah told them. "If things go South, Eve will notify us and we can use lenses and ear studs to locate you. Don''t remove them. The two of us will stay here and help you train. We start tomorrow morning..."


    Ste was happy that Sarah and Aiden will train with her. She has a lot to teach them, and at the same time she is eager to see how much the two of them progressed.


    ---


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