A week passed since Aria had gone to the border. The number of soldiers getting injured or killed had reduced drastically since the time Ethan had found out about the traitors. Using the handheld radio from the man he had killed first, he had lured around sixty more traitors and had killed them mercilessly. He did not feel even an ounce of remorse killing them. They deserved it and he had given them what they deserved. Now that he had eradicated a lot of them, he had to be careful to not raise suspicions among the others as he did not know how many more were in the army.

On the other side, Aria would call Noah who was sulking like a little boy in her absence. He had lost his mind thinking about her every time, every moment. The distance between them was killing him. Time was crawling like a snail for him and all he wanted to do was to run to her and hug her tight. He did not want to stay away from her at all. It was killing him slowly. Aria's calls every alternate day was what keeping his sanity in check. Otherwise, he would have gone berserk long ago.

Ivy too had accustomed to staying with Joshua. It was surprisingly pleasant and she was slowly liking his presence around her. He was an amicable man and she never felt out of place. He had given her a tour of his house and she had been utterly blown away by its grandeur. It was simply an amazing place. Though at first, she had been very uncomfortable, she had come to like it gradually.

Joshua too was enjoying his time with her. He had learned a lot of things about her. She had told him that she had started to learn cooking after watching her father cook for her mother. She had all the time in the world during her university days for her to do so, unlike Aria who did not even have time for herself. Unknown to him, a feeling of liking which was slowly turning into love was budding in his heart. Ivy too had taken a liking towards him. Whenever they were away from each other, they would look forward to the time they would meet each at the end of the day.

While he was giving her a tour of the house, he had warned her to never enter the basement. It was his lab and he did not like anybody to come and go whenever they liked. Not that he minded Ivy taking a look at it. But he had a lot of data and information lying there and most of them were about her father and his mentor. Ivy too had respected his wishes and had never stepped a foot in there. She knew the meaning of privacy and had not given him any sort of trouble.

Whenever she would leave the house, Kaito would follow her secretly. The only place she had visited during the week was Max's house. Though she wanted to return home to get back a few things, she never had the time. The planning process would take up most of her day. By the time she would be finished with the work, it would be dinner time and she would rush home to cook dinner.

It was Ivy who prepared dinner every day. At first, Joshua had denied her entry to the kitchen. He had maids to cook for him and he did not want to trouble her during her stay in his house. However, Ivy had insisted on doing so. She was grateful for his help and hospitality. So, she wanted to at least cook for him. Seeing her being stubborn, Joshua had relented to her wishes. However, she was only allowed to cook dinner while the maid would cook the breakfast. Their lunch was taken care of when they spent their time outside.

That day, Ivy's work had ended early and she had returned home before her usual time. She knew Joshua was not at home as she had noticed one of his cars missing in the garage. Since Joshua did not like his maids walking around when he was at home, they usually came to clean in his absence in the afternoon. Since it was evening, the house was empty. Ivy was all alone.

As she climbed the stairs on her way to her room, her eyes fell on the luxurious pool. Since the day she had seen it, she wanted to go for a swim in it. But the opportunity had never come to her as she returned home the time Joshua came back.

Now that she was alone, she wanted to take a dip in the inviting pool. Without wasting further time, she changed into her black swimsuit which she had brought along with her. She also did not forget to bring her bathroom just in case.

The cool water against her body felt amazing. She felt all her worries and tension getting dissolved in water as she swam across the pool. The adrenaline in her kicked and she swam a few laps before she took a break. She got out of the pool and rested for a while on the pool resting chair. After taking a break for twenty minutes, she went swimming again. Only this time Joshua was watching her above.

Joshua had returned home as he had to retrieve a file he had forgotten in his laboratory. It was a detailed documentation of his new project. He had been surprised when he had found Ivy's vehicles in the garage. He wondered why she had come home earlier than usual. Thinking her to be in the kitchen, he had gone there first only to find it empty. He then searched the entire ground floor for her, but she was nowhere to be present.

'She must be in her room.' He thought and then proceeded towards her room when his feet halted suddenly on noticing a figure in black on the poolside. On the first glance, he assumed it to be one of the maids. Only after taking a closer look, did he realize that it was not a maid, but Ivy. She was resting on one of the poolside chairs as she took a sip from the glass of juice. His feet automatically took him closer towards the glass window to take a clearer look.

His eyes were fixed on her. Seeing her clad in the black swimsuit, his eyes widened in amazement. The suit was hugging her body closely and he could make out her amazing curves. She looked incredibly hot and alluring. He watched like a hawk as she stood up and jumped into the pool once again. Seeing her swim so fluidly, he had only one thought in mind. She was a mermaid who had come to take his heart away. His heart was thundering loudly as his eyes took in her swimming body. A feeling known to him erupted in his heart.

Succumbing to those feelings, he padded towards the pool. His mind and heart were already not in his control. They had long stopped speaking to him the moment he had seen Ivy swim. He was right in front of the pool when Ivy swam towards him and rose up with her hair making a perfect flip when she stopped swimming.

Ivy was shocked to see Joshua staring at her intently. His gaze did not waver even for a second as he watched her silently. The situation was completely awkward and she could not swim any further with him being here. The only option was to leave the pool silently. But the problem was she was clad just in a swimsuit and she was uncomfortable walking in front of him in just that.

Clearing her throat, she closed her eyes before she started speaking. "Could you pass me my bathrobe?"

But there was no response from Joshua. He stood still as a statue. Neither did he move from his place nor did he speak a word. However, his eyes were fixed on her. Seeing him not moving, Ivy had no choice but to retrieve her robe herself. So, she got out of the pool not having the courage to meet the man's intense gaze. However, to her horror, he was standing right in front of the chair where she had kept her robe.

'Oh, God. How much more embarrassing could this be? Ain't it enough already?' She cried inwardly, yet she did not show any expression on her face. It was as blank as a canvas. However, Joshua could sense her anxiety and he stifled a smile.

"Can you move a little?" She pleaded and prayed that he would. To her relief, he did just that and Ivy smiled faintly. His eyes followed her as she bent down to pick her robe. Without wasting any more time, she hurriedly covered herself with the robe and tied the sash tightly lest it should open suddenly. She had read a lot of novels where it had happened and she had found the scene to be romantic and hot at that time. However, this was something she wanted to avoid now. It was anything but romantic. She was in a hurry to reach her room. But there was another problem.

The only door to the poolside was behind Joshua. So, if she wanted to leave the place, she had two options. Either she could walk past him which right now was impossible with the way the man was standing still in front of her blocking her way. The other option was to walk around the pool. Not wanting to prolong her stay any further, she turned around to take the longer route when Joshua held her robe sash from behind.

Ivy's breath hitched and she gasped loudly when he pulled her towards him suddenly. Her back was pressed against his front. Her heart was racing at a speed she could not comprehend while her mind had gone blank. Joshua made her face him and her eyes widened seeing the intensity in his eyes. She could not make out what it was. Lust, love, infatuation? She was not sure. His intense gaze made her avert her eyes.

"I..I" She stuttered. "What are ..?"

Before she could even complete her sentence, he pulled her closer to him. This time Ivy could feel his breath on her. Their lips were just inches apart from touching. Though she wanted to push him away, his strength on her was too strong. He did not even budge with her meager attempt to protest. Wanting to complain about it, Ivy met his eyes only to get lost in them. Before she even knew what was happening, his lips had met hers and they were kissing fervently at the poolside.