Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

3"Why are you looking at me that way?" Oliver questioned, trying as hard as he could to seem innocent. Even if he knew why the men had such expressions, he did not show it on his face. Seeing the men look at him with such bizarre expressions was quite amusing, and he could not help but want to tease them more.     1

"Dad, where is the rest of the video?" Joshua could not sit still anymore and his eyes told that if Oliver did not start speaking, he would not let go of him.     

Although Oliver wanted to prolong teasing the men, he dropped his act when he saw how aggrieved the four people looked.     

"That..." He pressed his forehead as he let out a helpless sigh. "I do not have the rest of the video. I only received this part from your Grandpa."     

Oliver too was dying to know what happened next and what the old Carter had told his audience. But he only had until this part of the video and could do nothing about it. Although he wanted to ask the old man himself, he was now in the hospital, and it would take him some time to gain consciousness.      

"But why did he give only half the part?" Joshua was filled with questions that he so desperately needed answers to.     

"I do not have the answer to this as well." Oliver shook his head and sighed again. "By the time I saw the video, Mr. Carter had fallen sick and I have no one to ask about this."     

"Since the time I watched the video, a lot of questions have occupied me and they are killing me from within. I had no one to speak to. But now, I am glad I have you guys." Oliver's relieved expression did not lie and Noah saw how stressed the man had been over the past few days.     

"What do we do now, Dad?" Noah finally mustered all the strength in him and asked his opinion. "Have you thought about it?"     

"Since you already know that Theo is alive, you must have already found ways to contact him." Oliver gave Joshua a knowing look and the man nodded in return immediately.     

"Yes, we did. And Theo is on his way back." Ian affirmed.     

"Great, that makes things easier." Oliver mused and thought about it carefully for a few minutes. "Theo will give us the answers we need."     

Silence ensued in the room, with everyone lost in their thoughts. Except for the birds chirping outside and the faint hum of the washing machine, there was no other sound until they heard the door open.     

"Dad, where is my coffee?" Aria's sleepy voice fell on everyone's ears and they turned in the direction immediately.     

Noah especially looked for her and his lips arched up in love when he saw the sleepy lady with her sleepy hair rubbing her sleepy eyes. She looked so cute and lovely that he wanted to take her back to bed immediately.      

But he controlled himself immediately and stopped himself in time before he got carried away by his emotions. Neither the time nor the place was right for him to do as he pleased.     

"I am yet to make coffee, Aria. Before that, I think you would want to see who is here." Oliver chuckled when he saw his daughter's state and shook his head lightly.     

Aria opened an eye and looked at her audience, who was smiling at her in amusement. Instead of being embarrassed and running back to her room, she just rolled her eyes and plopped on the chair beside Ivy, who was stifling her giggle.     

"They are family. I do not have to appear presentable before them." She mumbled and stifled a yawn.     

"Agreed." Joshua snapped his fingers and winked at Aria, who smiled in return. "And Aria, you look adorable. So, we do not mind you having messy hair."     

"Whatever." Aria scoffed. Even though she had an I don't care expression, her hands still went for her and she smoothened them out until she looked presentable.     

"I presume you guys are here to watch the video." Aria scratched her neck and looked at everyone before her eyes stopped on Noah. "Did you watch already or are you yet to?"     

"We finished watching it a few minutes ago."     

Aria nodded and bit her lip. "In that case, what have you found out?"     

"Nothing much. Other than the fact that my Grandpa and Theo may not be involved with Mission Code X and Jared, we found nothing substantial." Noah's eyes did not leave her at all and he wished she was like this before him in different circumstances.     

'What the fuck are you thinking?' Noah chastised himself when he realized where this matter was going. He could not believe his thought process at all. They were in a serious setting, discussing a serious topic and he was thinking about Aria. How despicable he was! He thought and cursed himself until he broke out of the spell.     

"I see." Aria yawned again. "I seriously need to have some coffee."     

"I'll prepare." Noah offered and Oliver raised his brows, not expecting him to jump in immediately.      

This young man really loves my daughter. He thought and smiled faintly, his heart filled with relief and joy.     

"If you are preparing, I'll have some too." Joshua chipped in and smiled at his friend when he received his glare.     

"Me too. I would love to have some coffee." Ian added and smiled cheekily when he met Noah's questioning gaze.     

"Let me just make it for everyone here." Noah, for once, did not reject their request and went ahead to prepare coffee for everyone. At the same time, he tilted his head and gestured at Aria. But the lady in question started massaging her neck as she closed her eyes, ignoring Noah completely, much to his disbelief.     

While Aria did not get the hint, everyone else did and they smiled to themselves.     

"Let me help you." Ivy offered when she saw that Noah was struggling. "Aria, why don't you help Noah?"     

"I would love to." Aria stood up and smiled at the man whose face was filled with gratitude for Ivy.     

Oliver watched the two love birds leave the living room and he shook his head at Ivy.      

"What?" Ivy shrugged and donned a poker expression even though she wanted to kill herself in embarrassment for the stunt she had pulled in front of her father.     

Meanwhile, the love birds had no idea they had become the topic of everyone's teasing. They started preparing coffee immediately and did not dawdle around, even though Noah had all the intentions of messing around with Aria.     

His father-in-law was just a few feet away and it would not look as if he were to mess around with his daughter when they had important matters to discuss.     

Without wasting much time, the couple prepared the coffee and returned quicker than everyone had expected.     

"That was quick," Joshua commented and Oliver choked on his coffee. Joshua snuck out his tongue when he realized what he had said in a moment of excitement.     

Guiltily he lowered his head and sipped the coffee, hoping his father-in-law's impression of him did not change. From the corner of his eye, he observed the older man. But he could not make out much from the man's expression, and eventually, he gave up.     

Anyway, he was just teasing his friend. It should not evoke any reaction from the older man.      

Aria did not give a damn about Joshua's words and turned the laptop towards her. She was the only one yet to watch the video and ignoring the curious gazes, she started playing the video.     

At first, there was no reaction. There was no change in her expression whatsoever. When the video ended, she leaned back on her chair thoughtfully.     

Noah, who had been watching her, noticed the subtle change in her expression, her frown significantly and his curiosity was spiked.     

"What happened, Aria? Did you find something we may have overlooked?" This caught everyone's attention to him before they stared at Aria.     

Aria, who was lost in thoughts, broke out of her trance immediately when she heard Noah and she pursed her lips immediately.     

"Let me confirm the matter first. I'll tell you once I am sure." She placed the mug on the table and picked up the laptop. "Ivy, could you get me a notepad and a pen?"     

Though confused, Ivy did as asked and Aria started her work immediately, ignoring everyone's curious gazes around her.     

None of the people understood Aria's actions and they kept staring at her questioningly. However, they did not get any response from her for a long time and it was only when they could not tolerate the suspense any longer that they gave up.     

"Aria, what's the matter? What's wrong? Did you find something?" Ian was the first to break the silence and the others were glad that someone at least did. The suspense and her silence were killing them.     

"Give me a minute. I am almost done." Aria did not lift her head from the laptop screen and kept looking at it. "Done." She pushed the laptop back on the table and shut her eyes briefly before meeting everyone's inquisitive gazes.     

"I am sure all of you know most of the men here in the video and the ones we don't, we can find out about it." Aria glanced at Joshua and he nodded in return, even though he did not know where this was going.     

"I just did a quick search on some of the people I recognized."     

"And?" Noah probed when he realized that there was more to it. It was her next words that set off an explosion in everyone's minds.     

"And all the people I recognized are either dead or their lives have been destroyed, except Theo and Grandpa."