Episode 3 : The First Meeting

The airport was loud, filled with the echo of hurried footsteps, rolling suitcases, and scattered goodbyes. Arya stood in the middle of it all, holding tightly onto her small suitcase. Around her, people were crying and hugging their families, but she didn’t cry. Her heart felt heavy, yet strangely calm. She was leaving Bangladesh her mother, her friends, her entire life for a place she had only seen in photographs.

Russia...The word itself felt foreign on her tongue. She was chasing a story, chasing secrets of her grandfather’s past. Her mother’s words echoed in her mind: “Go if you must, Arya. But if anything goes wrong, don’t stay there. Come back home.”

With that promise tucked into her heart, she boarded the plane. Hours later, when the wheels finally touched Russian soil, Arya exhaled a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.

The airport here was colder, more silent. She looked around, half expecting to feel lost, until her eyes fell on an elderly man standing tall with a cane, an assistant by his side. His sharp gaze locked onto her immediately, as though he had been waiting for her all along.

“Arya Choudhury?” His voice was firm, yet carried a certain warmth.

She nodded, recognizing him instantly from the picture her mother had once shown her. The Mealid family...her grandfather’s best friend.

“How was your flight, child?” he asked.

“It was good. Smooth,” Arya answered politely, forcing a smile.

The old man Victor Mealid studied her for a moment, his eyes calculating, as though measuring every inch of her presence. Then, without another word, he gestured for her to follow.

The ride from the airport was quiet, but nothing could have prepared Arya for what awaited her. When the black car stopped in front of the mansion, her jaw nearly dropped.

It wasn’t just a house it was a kingdom. The towering iron gates opened to reveal sprawling gardens, statues, fountains, and at the center, the Mealid mansion. Its grand pillars and marble walls stretched so high it seemed to touch the sky.

As she stepped inside, Arya felt small. The living room alone was bigger than her entire home back in Bangladesh. In fact, she thought, she could probably fit three houses inside this single room.

Victor walked beside her, his cane tapping lightly against the floor as he spoke. “This is your temporary home. To the left, you’ll find the dining hall. Upstairs, the guest rooms. The kitchen is down this hall, and the washrooms are to the right.”

Arya nodded politely, though her attention was drifting.

“And,” Victor continued, “we also have a private library. It is one of the largest in this city.”

At the word library, Arya’s eyes lit up. “A library? Could you show me the way?”

Victor’s lips twitched in amusement. He pointed toward a long corridor. “Go straight and take the second door on the left. You will find it there.”

Eagerly, Arya followed his directions. Her footsteps echoed as she pushed open the heavy wooden doors and froze.

The library was magnificent, walls lined with towering shelves filled with books from floor to ceiling. But that wasn’t what made her stop in her tracks.

Standing in the middle of the room, with his back to her, was a tall man dressed in black. His broad shoulders and striking posture radiated an aura she couldn’t ignore. Slowly, as though sensing her presence, he turned around.

Arya’s breath caught. He was breathtakingly handsome, his sharp features softened only by the depth in his dark eyes. She knew him instantly. Everyone did.

Adrian Mealid. The award winning actor. A living celebrity.

But what was a man like him doing here, in this private mansion?

And why, as their eyes met, did he look at her as though the world itself had just shifted?

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***