Love Began with the First Meeting
Chapter 957 Extra Story 95 Of Aaron A Secret of Life

The car ran steadily at a constant speed on the roads of QY Island. Ximena had been silent since she and Aaron had left the banquet hall, and she no longer looked arrogant as usual. Instead, she was spiritless, just like a plant hit by frost. Aaron was staring at her, but she wasn't aware of that at all. Lost in her thoughts, she felt like she was in an endless maze. She wanted to walk out but she didn't know how. Her heart was beating fast. For many times she tried to calm down by taking deep breathes secretly, but she failed every time. When they arrived at the manor, the car gradually slowed down and finally stopped.

Like a robot, Ximena picked up her handbag, opened the car door and got off the car. Then in mechanical steps she walked towards the main house. From beginning to end, she ignored Aaron completely, not saying a single word to him or giving him a single glance. In Aaron's eyes, she was like a flower whose essence had been extracted.

He got off the car too, but he didn't move after that. Standing by the car door, he fixed his deep eyes on Ximena, who was walking forward. Seeing her mechanical footsteps, he frowned slightly.

"Your Highness?" Ken said, not knowing what had happened in the banquet hall. However, he knew that Aaron had to deal with something during the banquet, so he hadn't expected Aaron had left the party this early. But then he noticed how strange Ximena was acting. This was the first time he had seen her act like this. As far as he knew, Ximena had always adopted an extremely arrogant demeanor despite her coming from a humble background, which, at times, seemed inappropriate.

"Check the list of attendees of the banquet today," Aaron ordered, his tone cold and devoid of any emotion. It interrupted Ken's train of thought. "Ask the political commissar of the island for CCTV footage at the Banyan House today. Find out who contacted Ximena during the banquet."

"Yes, Your Highness!" Ken answered loudly, as Aaron was already on his way towards the main house and far from him.

After almost running, Aaron finally got to the house's main doors. Upon opening the door, he saw Ximena walked towards her bedroom. Perceiving the complicated emotions spilling from her back, he felt sad for her.

Tailing Ximena, he also walked towards the bedroom. Suddenly, Ximena turned her head back to look at him with restless, empty eyes. Sighing, she addressed Aaron, saying, "Could you please leave me alone and give me a little peace for a while? Please?" Hearing that, Aaron could not help but fall deeper into sadness. Trying not to show emotions, he pursed his lips, looked at the pitiful expression in Ximena's eyes, and sighed deeply. Never in his life had he seen Ximena like this, and it wrapped a rope around his heart, choking it.

"Okay then, I will," he answered resignedly.

Upon hearing her man's answer, Ximena tried her best to wear a smile. "Thank you," she said, her voice shaking.

Acknowledging Ximena's request, Aaron stepped back and said, "Go to sleep as early as possible." After that, he quickly turned around and closed the bedroom door softly. When the sound of door closing came through, he turned around and gazed at the bedroom door. His eyes were filled with sadness and rage.

Sitting by the side of the bed, Ximena felt weak. All she could do was to gaze at the empty space in front of her.

Time passed and passed. The only thing that was lighting the huge room was the bedside lamp. The said lamp illuminated her handbag, which she was now eyeing closely. After taking a deep breath, she took the handbag in her hands, and opened it. Upon unzipping the bag, she saw the envelope that the man had given her at the party a while back. It made her heart beat faster.

Taking the thick envelope, her breath started to became labored. Pursing her lips into a straight line, she raised her head, stood up and walked to the head of the bed. She took another deep breath, closed her eyes tightly and then opened them. Then she emptied the envelope of its contents swiftly and with conviction.

A thick stack of photos and a few pieces of paper came out of the envelope.

Putting the paper aside, she looked at the photos first with bated breath. The first photo she looked at was not very clear, but she was able to see that it had been taken in a rainy night. It was not until she saw the date and time printed at the top right corner of the photo did she realize that it was in fact a screenshot from the CCTV footage of the road condition.

Seeing that, Ximena started to frown. After gulping down the huge lump in her throat, she began looking at the photos one by one. If these photos told a story, the story would go like this: A car ran on a road steadily. All of a sudden, a truck came from a branching road. The car stopped, and waiting patiently for the truck to pass first. When the tail-end of the truck was about to pass the waiting car, another car appeared in the opposite direction. It was obviously out of control, swerving left and right. Then, it collided with the car that was waiting for the truck to pass by.

When she finished looking at all the photos, Ximena felt her heart was twisting. It made her hyperventilate and she started crying hysterically. She felt how the fear and agony the people in the first car was feeling when the accident happened. It was as if she had experienced the tragedy herself. Truly an unexpected catastrophe. Ximena couldn't help but feel sorry for the people in the car.

Although she could not see the people inside the first car because of the heavy rain when the accident had happened and because of the low resolution of the footage, it became clear to her that the car certainly had something to do with her parents. Otherwise, that middle-aged man would not have given these photos to her.

Thinking of that, Ximena started gasping for air. Her heart broke even more. Staring at the last photo, she started crying even more, now shaking. Sadness did not even begin to encompass what she was feeling. Then she put the photos aside and picked up the paper which had been folded inside the envelope. Wiping away her tears, she took a deep breath and tried her best to calm herself. After a few minutes, she finally was able to open the folded-up paper.

It was a white paper, on which newspaper clippings were pasted. The newspapers looked a bit yellow, indicating that they had been issued many, many years ago.

With her wide open eyes, Ximena stared at a photo on a newspaper clipping. The photo was not very clear, but she could recognize the person being photographed at first glance. The face of the person looked very familiar. Although she had seen her photo only once on the third floor of Aaron's villa, she remembered how she looked very clearly. That person was Aaron's mother.

Seeing that, she felt like her heart was sinking. Due to an inexplicable fear, she didn't dare read the text of the newspaper clipping. However, if she didn't know what really had happened, all the years of heartbreak, sorrow, and anger would never be redeemed. After gathering all her courage, she took a deep breath, and read the newspapers.

"XX/XX/XX (date) XX (name of the newspaper)

A traffic accident that happened on Clear River Road past 10:00 pm has aroused people's deep thinking. They wonder whether some policy should be held in place in order to deal with drunk driving.

A happy family of three was on their way to a house they had just bought. They were looking forward to living a happy life but because of a drunk driver, they suffered an undeserved catastrophe. In order to protect his wife and daughter, the father made a sharp turn in order to get the driver's seat of their car face the oncoming car, which was driven by the drunk driver. The father died instantly. The mother, on the other hand, tried her best to protect her daughter, who is only three years old, with her own body. The injuries she sustained all over her body were too horrible to look at. The child was found under her mother's body, and was instantly in a coma because of the collision. The mother died on the way to the hospital.