Is this destiny?

~ Eastern Asia, undisclosed location ~

Oleg, aka Stella's brother Owen, is in an underground facility. He is chatting casually with two men who are wearing dark green tight fitting tops and camo pants.

After some time, two men said that their sentry duty starts in few minutes, and they walked away toward the exit at the end of the hallway.

Oleg glanced at the time and waited for two men to get out of sight before taking the staircases to descend two levels. He does not have access to levels below this, only few people have, so he needs to be stealthy.

He remembered instructions given to him by Milena to move while keeping his back close to the wall on his right for three meters, before at exactly full minute switching to the left wall and proceeding in the same manner down the hallway. He knows that these instructions are so that he uses blind spots of the security cameras, but he didn't know how Milena found out about this. And in such detail!

He reached his target door and entered pin that Milena gave him. To his surprise, door cracked open soundlessly, and just how Milena said, there was a tall cabinet in the room on the right with number of servers in them. He placed an USB from his pocket into third server from his right on the second shelf and followed instructions to start file copy. 'Two minutes and seventeen seconds until completed', he silently read the progress from the screen in front of him.

It might be only two minutes, but to someone who is trying to steal information under dangerous circumstances, every second feels like an eternity.

He saw what he is copying. It is the information that King collected on Hill family. Oleg knows that Milena is concerned about her family, especially her daughters. And she is concerned about Edward also, because he is useless. Oleg will never understand what could a magnificent woman, like Milena, see in that good-for-nothing-foreigner. Edward is not outstanding in any way… even he, himself, is so much better partner for Milena.

Oleg remembered when Elder Jovanovic brought him to village of Lebedev family when he was eight years old. Milena was six at the time.

Oleg was originally from the branch family, and because he was a healthy young boy with promising start in martial arts as well as strong results in math, Elder Jovanovic took him in. It's like an adoption, but without required paperwork to make it legal. That is a common practice, and anyone from the branch family is honored to have their member join the main one.

Oleg was very confident in his skills. Why wouldn't he be? Those skills were the reason why he was brought into the main family.

Few days later he met a delicate girl. Three elders observed their sparring match, and the girl wiped the floor with him. That was the moment when he realized how much he is lacking. He can't even take down a girl who is so much smaller than him. His confidence took a hit while she looked unphased.

After that incident, he found out that girl's name is Milena, and she is two years younger than him.

Oleg admired her. She always practiced diligently. No matter how many times she fell, she would get up. No matter how much she got hit, she would brush it off and say in a stubborn voice: 'снова!'* He smiled. In his mind he can still hear that voice.

Oleg's initial talent was exceptional, but he didn't want to get hurt. Pain… that is something he feared more than death itself. That delayed his progress in training, and he ended up falling behind others.

He wished that he can get closer to Milena, but she only cared about training. He was able to get close to her only when they sparred, so he challenged her often. And no matter how many times he suffered a defeat, he would come back again. No matter how much he feared pain, when it was coming from her, it was bearable.

Oleg watched her grow into a beautiful young woman.

He still remembers the beating he got from three boys from the main family when they caught him following her silently. They warned him to stay in his place because someone adopted from branch family with such a low talent, can't even dream about her. Milena heard the commotion and came to his rescue. That tall and slim girl stood between him and three bullies and told them off. Oleg watched her back and at that time he made a silent vow to always be by her side and protect her, no matter what that means.

Oleg was anxious when Milena went to United States for her education. And he was heartbroken when he heard that she fell in love. And he panicked when he found out that she is defying her family because of that man.

He wanted to tell her to drop such a crazy idea, to leave that stranger because he is not worthy of her, whoever he is… because no one is worthy of her. But what right he had to say anything, when for years he is watching her from the distance, without the courage to express his feelings?

He firmed his resolve: no matter what happens, he will stay by her side and continue doing what he did so far… watch her from the distance. He requested to move to United States as her support, and his request was granted. After all, family didn't put much importance on him because of his lack of skills and they wanted to keep an eye on Milena. Elder Jovanovic even seemed relieved when Oleg told him that he will take care of his own expenses, so he does not need any support. He was happy that in exchange for occasional reports on Milena, Lebedev family approved for him to be by her side.

Milena didn't like that, at first. She didn't want anyone from her family near Edward. She was always so protective of her worthless husband, that it was frustrating. But eventually she accepted Oleg as her 'brother', Owen, and even Edward didn't object having him nearby. Of course, Edward didn't object. He is so useless that he didn't see that he is letting a dangerous man close to his family. That useless trash of a man who does not even know what a gem Milena is!

After all these years, Oleg still does not understand what is so outstanding about Edward. Yes, he built a company from ground up, but did he really think that the Orion Enterprise would be so successful without King pulling strings from the shadows?

When Oleg thought about King, he could not understand his motive. Why did he allow Milena to marry that man who is good for nothing? Milena told King more than once to stay out of her family life. Oleg can understand that King is watching them, but why is he not making any move to get Milena's daughters into the family? Three of them would make Lebedev family stronger, there will be no loss there. The Elders voted multiple times about this, and every time decision was that they should bring Milena's daughters in, but King stopped that. Why? What is King waiting for? Also, by getting Milena's daughters into the family, maybe Milena comes back as well…

File copy was done.

Oleg wondered how Milena found all these details about this supposedly invisible facility which is virtually cut off from rest of the world. Only a handful of people know this place exists. She must have hired a powerful hacker, that was the only explanation.

Oleg took the USB, closed the cabinet door and sneaked out of the room while following instructions from Milena.