Chapter 1833 - Stalling For Time

For Sarah, the decision she needs to make is if they will continue this mission until Aiden gets his reward that comes with a position in the Voronin family or if they will leave this base and never look back (at least in terms of infiltration). But if they leave, it would be a waste of all the planning, and they will miss this golden opportunity to get into the system of the Voronin family undetected, and also… Sarah is not sure if Hong will be willing to abandon his revenge, probably not now when he got this close.

"Alex summarized my thoughts.", Sarah said. "It will be a waste to back off now when we are only hours away from our goal. Let's stay alert and get through with this. I don't know what Maksim wants from me, but I am not interested. Unless he plans to drag me by force and face our retaliation, he will need to accept that I'm not willing to play his game. I don't think that he will risk causing a ruckus and damaging his reputation just to score a date with me. I am insignificant."

Aiden tightened his hold on Sarah's shoulder and scooted to sit closer to her. "Maybe you are insignificant to him, but for me, you are the most precious person in the world. I don't care what the reward is, none of that matters without you."

Sarah leaned onto Aiden and sneakily glanced up at the camera. She hoped that someone with enough influence is listening… Someone who can warn Maksim to stay away or they will risk angering Alex, who is currently the top-ranking competitor in this tournament. Actually, she does not believe that will work. After all, Maksim showed persistence and stubbornness of someone who does not know how to take a 'no' for an answer, but Sarah hopes that this little act will be enough to buy them a few hours. They are stalling for time as they need only a couple of hours and then they reached their goal where Aiden gets his access to the Voronin network, and with that, they will get their freedom to call more people by their side and to move around… or at least to leave this base.

Hong gave a concerned look to Sarah and then to Aiden. He is not sure what they are up to, but they obviously have some plan and he will play along. "Alright. Let's sit tight on this one and make it until tomorrow. Do you want to have dinner in the canteen, or should I bring you food here?"

Sarah and Aiden exchanged glances. They know that Hong is giving them a chance to remain in the safety of their room, but… is it safe here?

"We will go to the canteen for dinner.", Aiden responded. "We should be OK if we move together."

Hong stood up and walked toward the door. "Don't go for dinner without me. We need to watch each other's backs. I will return in one hour."

Hong went to his room and contemplated if this is worth it. It used to be only him, and he was driven by his thirst for revenge, but now it's Sarah and Aiden and his disciples and all the other kids, Tashi and his grandchildren included… and he has so much to lose if this does not go well.

Of course, for Hong, it was always about Tashi, but before Sarah and Aiden gave him the proof that Tashi is alive, Hong had only hope to hold onto. Now he knows that Tashi and his grandchildren are out there. With every video he watched and with every photo he stared at until he remembered all the details, the burden of possible error was increasing to the point of suffocating him and making him doubt if the revenge is the right way to go.

Hong can't help but wonder… Maybe he should back off and enjoy what he has. He lives a comfortable life, surrounded by the youth who need his guidance, and in return, they fill his days with joy. He has a solid roof over his head, and a warm bed to sleep on, food on the table... Should a man wish for more?

Maybe Sarah and Aiden can reach out to Tashi without being detected by Simeon, and Hong at least gets to talk to Tashi and let her know that he is alive. He does not hope that Tashi will leap into his embrace and that they will be a happy family, but he wants to tell her how sorry he is… for everything. Tashi grew up without her parents and she will never get to meet her mother, and it was all Hong's fault. That is something he will never be able to fix no matter how many Simeons he kills or how many Voronin families he topples and no matter how many times he says that he is sorry.

Some mistakes are unfixable and he made one of those more than three decades ago, and it cost him his family. He has a new family now, shouldn't he be happy? There is a chance that Tashi will not be pleased to find out the truth. Maybe she is perfectly happy to live as-is, ignorant of Hong's existence and that her own family members killed her mother... and that her father was unable to protect them.

Hong does not know who exactly Maksim is, but just like Sarah and Aiden, Hong believes that Maksim will not give up easily. If Maksim knows that Sarah is rejecting him, it's not likely that he will take it calmly. But maybe it will take Maksim a day or two to figure out that Sarah is not dim-witted Olga who does Natalia's bidding, and that should be enough time for them to leave this place unscathed. Maybe.

Hong rubbed his face forcibly. All this is very stressful, and he is confident that he aged years in a matter of days.

He decided to take a long relaxing shower. There is about one hour until dinnertime, and with every passing minute that they are closer to their goal, his anxiety is increasing. At this rate, Hong is not sure if he will be able to sleep tonight. This can't be good for a man of his age. When they leave this place, he will ask JoAnna to check if he got an ulcer in his stomach. All this stress probably left some consequences.

…

After getting ready for dinner, Hong headed to the room next to his, to pick up Sarah and Aiden.

Hong knocked a few times, and after not getting any response, he wondered if Sarah and Aiden are in the shower. Well, it would not be the first time. He circled on the other side and stopped under the bathroom window to listen carefully.

"Hmm…", Hong hummed with a frown. He does not hear the shower running. Why are they not answering?

Hong returned to the door and gave it a few more knocks before pressing on the doorknob.

"It's me…", Hong called through the crack of the barely opened door. He does not want to risk seeing something he shouldn't.

Hong's frown deepened when he didn't get a response, and there were no other sounds either. It appears that no one is in the room. Would Sarah and Aiden leave without him and without locking the door behind them?

Hong decided to peek inside. The worst case is that Sarah and Aiden are sleeping, but neither of them is such a heavy sleeper.

Hong's anxiety shoot through the roof when he spotted Aiden lying on the floor.

Three swift steps later, Hong kneeled next to Aiden and felt his neck. Hong and exhaled in relief when he felt a pulse.

He shook Aiden and gave him a few slaps on the cheeks in an attempt to wake Aiden up, but he was unsuccessful.

The bathroom door is open, and it's obvious that it's empty.

Hong put his fingers on the inside of Aiden's wrist and closed his eyes while feeling Aiden's pulse.

Hong frowned when he confirmed that someone knocked out Aiden by pressing on his pressure points.

The good thing is that Aiden is unharmed (other than being unconscious), and he will wake up in about one hour if Hong does not speed up the process.

The bad thing is… where the heck is Sarah?

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