Chapter 1428 - Incoming Changes (7)

They spent more than an hour in the room, discussing various ways of how Sarah's and Aiden's kids can help Jeff. Then it was Felix's turn to talk about how he can set up his devices through White corp. for additional surveillance. They didn't mention Eve (because Bridgette is there), but they all shared an understanding that Aiden and Sarah will take care of Eve monitoring people and watch for specific trends.

In the end, Sophia summarized while talking to Jeff: "At the White foundation, you have your lieutenants, Mason, Ryder, and Aiden, who are in charge of their respective areas while you are involved in approving of their decisions and providing direction when needed. When looking at the White foundation overall, if there are no unexpected situations, you spend a few hours a week reading the reports. Ideally, we can get White corp. to be similarly structured where you will have a handful of people reporting directly to you, and that you have enough confidence in them to let them operate autonomously. It will be a process, but with increased surveillance, Leah and the kids joining in, you will get a second competent assistant, and reports from the kids can provide you with insight into who from the upper management is loyal to you and to the company…"

After their talk about optimizing Jeff's work at the White corp. was done, Sophia, Felix, and Bridgette decided to return to Los Angeles.

Bridgette and Steve will take care of the work (how much they can) until JoAnna and Jeff return. Sophia said that she will help out as well.

"I will stay here as long as Sarah and the girls need me.", JoAnna informed everyone. "If everything goes as planned, I will be back tomorrow. Biddy, work out things with Steve until then. OK?"

"Don't worry about me and Steve and focus on yourself.", Bridgette told JoAnna while giving her a hug.

Sarah and Aiden left as well, leaving JoAnna and Jeff by themselves, and the room was silent again.

Both JoAnna and Jeff wanted to return to the loving and cheerful mood, but none knew where to start.

It was relatively easy to talk about problems and solutions with everyone around, it appeared more like a business meeting where problems are laid out and solutions are suggested. However, now that it's just the two of them in the room, they returned to the awkward atmosphere from earlier that morning and every interaction between them seemed forceful.

Jeff reached into his pocket and placed on the table JoAnna's cell phone, her wristwatch, and her wedding ring. "You left these behind. They belong to you. If you don't want them anymore, throw them away, because no one else will get to wear them."

JoAnna knew that Jeff is talking about the wristwatch and the wedding ring. She looked at the three items on the table and she was not sure how to respond. So much hurt and disappointment surged within her since yesterday that she does not have warm feelings when she looks at those things. They are just things that remind her of how she used to be happy.

She cursed herself silently. If she stayed home yesterday, she would still be happy. Why did she go to Jeff's office and saw that woman who made the dam break and all her negative emotions surge, drowning the happiness within her?

The silence was interrupted by a knock on the door. It was Stacy, with one uniform for Jeff. He came emptyhanded, so this is the only thing they have to give him to change into.

"Is it OK if I use the bathroom to freshen up?", Jeff asked JoAnna.

Her heart ached at the sight of her husband who is asking if he can use the same bathroom she is. It is still the same man for whom she will bleed gladly, but now he feels so distant.

"Feel free to. I will go downstairs."

Jeff watched JoAnna walk out and he told himself not to lose hope. He will figure out how to spend more time with Anna and prove his sincerity and in time this wall between them will collapse. It has to.

His sight fell on the table with JoAnna's cell phone, wristwatch, and her wedding ring and his heart tightened. The only good thing is that she didn't throw them away.

…

Aiden and Sarah met with the girls who are leaving.

With Sophia's jet available, two trips can be made at the same time, taking away the last two batches of girls who have a safe place to return to (and are not assaulted).

Merve and two other girls wanted to stay initially, but then they decided to go home. Sarah saw that they are insecure, and she gave them drachma's with GPS tracking and showed them how to use it. "Find a safe place to hide. When you push this button, the coin will start sending us your current location. Keep it on you until we find you. It will not be more than a day no matter where you are."

Three girls nodded in understanding, and Sarah added a reminder: "These will last for one month. After that, it's just a coin."

Sarah wants to give them an option to ask for help if their families are not willing to accept them, but at the same time, she does not want to risk this to fall into wrong hands and to misuse it. After all, that is a beacon that will prompt Sarah and Aiden to go to a rescue mission.

Not many people have these, Sarah gives them to the people who did them favors, and members of the Sigma army have one each as well.

The difference between these three coins and all the others they gave so far, is that all others are permanent, while these three will expire in one month with acid being released internally, messing up with the mechanism so that no one can use it to track them.

Sarah and Aiden bid farewell to the girls who left in two vans toward the airport.

One of the vans had Meili onboard, and everyone was glad that she is on her way to China (Meili included). Meili does not know that the two members of the army of Chaos who are accompanying her have letters written by the girls, and that they will give them to her parents (or to whoever picks her up). No one knows what is in those letters, but considering what Meili did, it can't be anything good.

Sarah and Aiden were left with twenty-five girls, seventeen who suffered being assaulted, and eight others. Among them are Xiaohui, Rosa, Pari, Esma, Azra, Harini, Antonia, and Panya. Each of these girls has her reasons not to return, and Sarah and Aiden used Eve to check their backgrounds and verify their stories.

They confirmed by looking at the police records that all twenty-five girls who are currently with them are proclaimed dead. Some of them were missing for more than six months.

Sarah and Aiden gathered the twenty-five girls in the family room, and Imani and JoAnna were there as well. They started talking about the Beach house and what the girls can expect.

"You will all be there for at least eight weeks, but there is no time limit. Try to relax and enjoy your time.", Sarah said with a smile. "There is a staff which will take care of preparing food and cleaning up, but do your best to clean after yourself…"

"That will be your home, and you are welcome to use any facility there present. Besides painting and music, let us know if you are interested in any other activity and we will provide it for you, and that includes tutors if needed.", Aiden added.

"I will visit you once a week to check on your health.", JoAnna said.

"Will your other kids visit us?", Xiaohui asked Sarah and Aiden.

"Yes. I can visit often.", Imani responded with a smile.

Harini nudged Xiaohui with her elbow playfully. "She was asking about Daniel."

Sarah's eyebrows shoot up in surprise at the sight of Xiaohui whose face was red like a ripe tomato and she smiled knowingly. "Daniel? Yes, he can visit as well. We will make sure that over time all our kids visit so you can get to know them all. Initially, they will come in small groups so that they don't overwhelm you..."

JoAnna's attention was on the seventeen girls who were more toward the back. Most of them had some light in their eyes, but few were completely devoid of vigor.

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