"Don't worry. I know what I have to do," said Aston soothingly. Then he and Anaya walked away to have a private talk.
Tammy stayed near, looking at Robert directly in the eyes. While Georgia was curious about Tammy and Anaya's appearance, Tammy spoke first, "It's difficult to see you guys. I am your cousin, Georgia. And you, Robert, in some ways, I am you relative. You two don't have to hide from me."
Georgia looked at her with a sneer. Tammy didn't even think about what she had done to Georgia. She had taunted Georgia about her marriage. She had wanted to see their divorce and had tried to provoke Georgia by her sweet memories with Robert. Every time Georgia thought about what Tammy had done, she was disgusted.
Georgia said nothing and threw a furious look at Robert to tell him to deal with this woman. Robert smiled bitterly for Tammy got him into trouble again. He had lost his memory. So, he was unable to judge the words about his past were true or not. "You're overthinking this, Tammy. I am not avoiding you. I just don't want to see you for I hate you. Get it?" Robert answered flatly.
Robert thought Tammy would go crazy to hear that, but to his great surprise, Tammy's face went white and tears came to her eyes. She didn't say a single word and walked away.
Not far away, Aston and Anaya stood opposite each other and were all silent for a while.
Finally, Anaya spoke first, "Why did you choose her over me? Am I worse than her? Is she prettier than me? Or is she more brilliant than me?"
"You two are totally different, Anaya. Of course, she is not that nice, but love couldn't be explained clearly. You have no need to compare with her. This is nobody's fault but mine. I am so irresponsible to say yes to your love. I failed you and I don't know how to fix all the mistakes I have made. Sorry, Anaya. I need to apologize to you," said Aston earnestly.
Anaya was looking pale. For a moment, she made herself smile but tears started falling out of her face, "Do you know how long I've loved you, Robert? Six years! I hung on for six years! I keep following in your footsteps from your student days! I've been trying to for so long but you didn't even give me a chance. Yes, I'm not a good girl. I kept haunting you. I swallowed my pride to pursuit you. I didn't give up as long as there was a glimmer of hope. Eventually, you accepted my courtship. You didn't know how happy I was. All right, all right! There's nothing I can do about it. You even don't care if I live or die. You hate me, right?"
"Sorry," said Aston in a dull voice. He didn't know what else to say.
Anaya began to laugh but the tears began again to start. Suddenly, she walked forward and smacked Aston right across the face. Aston stood perfectly still, unresponsive. Anaya struck him in the face two times more. Then she took a step back and growled, "I hate you, and I wish you and your lover be apart forever!" At this, she ran off.
Aston stood for a moment and walked towards Robert and Georgia. "Well, it's done. Let's go inside to see Emilia," he said.
Robert and Georgia looked at his red and swollen face and couldn't think of anything to say to comfort him.
When the three went in, they found Casey, Emilia, Ivan and Mr. Brown sitting in the room.
Emilia noticed Aston's red face and asked curiously, "what happened to your face, Aston?"
"Anaya did it. She was right outside and had a talk with Aston. Don't worry. He has resolved the issues between them," Georgia answered.
Emilia gave Aston a glance and said reproachfully, "You deserved it. Why did you accept her advances? That's not funny to take love lightly."
"I know, I know. I was wrong. She had planned to kill me, but now she just slapped me. So, I am rather lucky. I have learned from my mistakes and I will take love real seriously from now on," Aston said earnestly.
Emilia did not blame him anymore, "Ice packs could dull pain. I'll go and get some. Wait for me." Then she headed for the fridge.
Aston nodded and chatted with others.
Ivan spoke first, "Long time no see, Gigi. You're so thin. Are you too busy with work?"
"Yes. I'm really busy these days, but I'm extremely happy, for we are making new breakthrough," Georgia answered. Then she turned to Mr. Brown with a smile, "It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Brown. I'm Georgia Lane."
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Brown. I'm Aston Powell, Emilia's cousin," said Aston.
Mr. Brown nodded a greeting. Then Casey asked, "Were you able to look over Travis' test results? How is he?"
Georgia turned to her mom with a bitter smile and answered, "Not well, Mom. This kind of drug could affect his nerve cells in the brain and will eventually lead to nervous necrosis. Now, Travis' condition isn't severe, but there's no cure for it. My lab has been working on the neurological recovery for a long time and developed an efficient method, but it hasn't undergone clinical testing. So, I have to do several rounds of tests on human before using it for Travis' disease. It will take some time."
"I got it. I was rather worried these days. You two need to watch out for yourselves and keep a good distance away from those bodyguards. I don't trust them," said Casey anxiously.
Georgia and Robert nodded their head. At this moment, Emilia came back with an ice pack in her hand. She squatted in front of Aston and put the ice pack over his face.
After a while, Mr. Brown stood up and said, "I should go and have a rest. If you have any questions, you can find me in my stateroom."
After Mr. Brown left, Emilia said, "Ivan and I will go to meet my parent, Gigi. You knew that already, didn't you? We are leaving here tomorrow."
"Yes. Robert has already told me about it. If you are so anxious to meet them, I won't stop you. Ivan and some bodyguards will go with you. I think nothing could go wrong. By the way, do you need to call your father in advance?"
Emilia shook her head and said, "No need to tell him. If he knew I am going to find him, he may hide away from me. Yeah, that is my dad. I know where he is and I will try to settle the matter amicably."
"It's OK if that's what you've decided. Anyway, you can't be away alone. Especially, you are not in very good condition now. So, you need some people to protect you," Georgia said.
Emilia nodded with a smile. Then she and Aston went upstairs to have a private conversation. Georgia and Robert started to talk with Casey about their cute kids.