This sudden encounter with Stephan seemed strange to Ariana but Athena did not pay it any mind. As the day went on normally, Athena was happy with her little company of friends.

Ariana was gladly chatting with Sarah and Max. Speaking of Sarah, she gets along with Athena well in front of others but Athena knew that she does not like her very much.

Max had become her best friend along with Brittany. Rest of the class deliberately treated Athena better than Ariana as they all like her personality. It was not something that Ariana minded. Athena is a warm person who gets along with everyone while she herself is unapproachable and appeared mean and she liked it that way.

"Athena! I'm having a pool party tonight at my family's farm house. You are invited, so please don't say no." Brittany chewed on a gum as she spoke with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Don't even think about saying no. You always do that whenever someone mentions fun. But not today, you got it?!"

The tips of Athena's ears turn red at Brittany's exclamation just as she is thinking about saying no.

"I will be inviting Max and Ariana too. So you gotta come!" Brittany was all set to convince her today.

"I will confirm with my brothers first." Athena reluctantly agreed.

Gaining her cousins' permission was easy. They agreed readily to her surprise.

At 7 in the evening, everyone invited had arrived. Ariana and Athena's personal chauffeur had brought them here.

"Athena! You came!" Brittany came running towards her. She pulled her into a tight hug.

Not soon after, Max and Sarah arrived. Max smiled at Athena and sat beside her.

Almost all of their classmates were present.

"Athena! You comin'?" Ariana called out loudly from the edge of the swimming pool, over the loud music.

"You go first!" Athena answered and took a sip of her lemonade. She watched Ariana with a smile as she dived into the pool.

Ariana was dressed in one of her best swimsuit, not caring about the scars on her body. She had embraced them well. On the other hand, Athena's swimsuit was pretty modest. She was not comfortable showing skin, thus she wore a shirt on top of it.

Sarah was clinging to Ariana as they clicked pics and posted them on her social sites.

Max did not look at them. His sights were fixed on the girl beside him.

Feeling his eyes on her, she turned to look at him. He smiled.

Athena smiled back and offered him the lemonade, seeing that he had not even drunk his whiskey.

"Have a sip?"

She was about to put in a new straw for him but he moved quickly.

He took a sip from her straw.

"Tastes good."

"Let's go for swim." He offered his hand when she finished her drink.

Athena nodded and grabbed his hand. He pulled her up and they both went towards the pool.

From the side, Ariana snorted seeing the whole ordeal.

"Athena is literally blind. Max can't become more obvious."

Sarah heard her words but she did not respond. Somewhere inside, she was feeling jealousy.

Max was her bestfriend first but nowadays, it was only Athena in his mind. Ariana did not seem to be bothered but Sarah was.

Thus, she moved to grab Max by his arm and pulled him away from Athena.

"Let's click pictures, Maxii!"

She pulled Ariana too.

Athena had fun playing games with Brittany and her other classmates but feeling a little cold, she was the first one to get out of the pool.

She dried herself with a towel and went inside the house to take a shower and change.

As she got out of the bathroom, her phone started ringing.

"Hey Athena! The pizza guy is at the door. Can you recieve the order?" Brittany asked. She was literally yelling due to the loud music.

"Ok."

Athena answered and went to the front door. At the same time, the doorbell rang.

Without thinking much, she opened the door. As Brittany said, there was a delivery guy.

She took the order from him but was asked to sign on the receipt.

Athena found it strange but she did so.

Wasn't it a contactless delivery?

The strangeness in the air increased.

In the past months, she had trained with her brothers intensely and she had gotten much awareness about reading her surroundings.

She could feel that he was trying to discreetly look inside.

Athena straight up said goodnight and shut the door.

But he stuck his foot in the middle.

"What's the hurry?" He grinned sickly.

Athena looked at his foot and then back at him. Her face went blank as she felt a gun pointed on her forehead.

"Is there anything can I help you with?" She was calm, not panicking which the man was expecting.

"Yes, you can my dear."