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~ Los Angeles, the Cliffside Villa ~

Three months passed in a flash…

December 24

It\'s mid-afternoon and the Cliffside Villa is buzzing with activity, as they are preparing for the Christmas party which became a tradition where friends and family gather for an amazing event that is filled with entertainment and good food, and ends with fireworks.

This is the first time for Vasily to be present, and to say that he is excited is an understatement. He purchased all the presents weeks ago.

Since early morning, Vasily was observing kids from the Cliffside Villa practicing their acts on the stage while the staff was decorating the massive underground ballroom. Sarah told him that there will be singing, dancing, and playing various instruments, and usually, there is a play or two. What was initially a show of talents among kids, now looks more like professionals performing, as everyone grew up and polished their skills.

There are balloons and streamers and a massive Christmas tree that is glistening with ornaments.

The staff is setting up the tables to accommodate many guests who will start arriving late in the afternoon for dinner and dancing.

Vasily recuperated after the brain surgery, and the only signs that he was on the death\'s door a few months ago, are scars on his head where hair is not growing anymore.

Sarah and Aiden gave him an apartment in the Boyle Heights neighborhood, where he can live next to his subordinates, but Vasily is spending most of his time at the Cliffside Villa where he is permanently occupying one of the guest bedrooms.

Sarah and Aiden are not bothered by Vasily\'s presence as he usually keeps busy with work or playing with Hero, Luna, and Bella.

Kitty, Atlas, and Vega still didn\'t warm up to Vasily, but he is not giving up. The leopards are not growling at him anymore and he treats that as success.

Vasily is not always in Los Angeles, as he sometimes goes to the main base of the Lebedev family, and he also spends a portion of his time in New York.

When Vasily is at the Cliffside Villa, he is guiding the youngsters in their training. Since Hong moved to the main base of the Voronin family, they were mostly training on their own and Vasily\'s guidance was welcomed.

Vasily was happy to be accepted not only by Sarah but by JoAnna and Sophia as well who visit often with their kids (and husbands). No matter how busy they are, Saturday\'s brunch at the Cliffside Villa is a standard for everyone.

About one month ago, Sarah took Vasily to see Ivan. Ivan was kept in the main base of the Army of Chaos. They would give him a beating occasionally, but nothing serious that would cause permanent injuries. Sarah wanted to keep Ivan for Vasily to handle.

She came with Vasily to the base but didn\'t enter Ivan\'s cell.

Ivan was shocked to see Vasily.

"They told me you died…", Ivan said while eyeing Vasily.

"I did.", Vasily responded dryly.

Vasily sat opposite Ivan and narrated events that included Ivan and Vasily, since Ivan started working for him. It was a reminder of what they went through together, from Vasily\'s point of view. Ivan was surprised that Vasily remembered so many details, starting from two decades ago.

Vasily told Ivan how he was aware on several occasions that Ivan was doing something behind his back, but he let it slide because it was not a big deal.

"If I knew that it would escalate into you betraying Sarah to the Voronins and me nearly dying… I would kill you a long time ago.", Vasily ended his talk grimly.

Ivan didn\'t refute it. "What will you do with me?"

"I don\'t know.", Vasily admitted. "I tried to let it go, but your behavior escalated. I gave you a beating, but it didn\'t work. There is no point in torturing you, and killing you is an easy exit considering how much trouble you caused."

Vasily looked at Ivan for some time with anger and disappointment flashing in his eyes, and then he stood up and walked to the door.

"I did it for the family…", Ivan said.

Vasily paused. "No, Ivan. You did it for yourself. You sided with the enemy and betrayed the Grand Elder of the family you claim to be loyal to. Maybe you didn\'t like Sarah in that position, but she earned it and you had no right to sabotage her. You know very well how things work in our family; if you don\'t like something and words don\'t work, you challenge them in the arena and if you don\'t have the strength to win, you lower your head and obey. But instead of following the rules, you colluded with the enemy. And out of everyone, you went to Voronins."

Vasily exhaled slowly while shaking his head. He was reminding himself not to lose temper. Ivan was not worth it.

"Ivan, the moment you betrayed Sarah, you betrayed the family. Did you know that she was pregnant? Did you know that she would be tortured and not be left alive? Do you know that you nearly killed her, and you succeeded in killing me? Which part of all that was for the family? How could you do all that behind my back and return the next day to perform your duties as nothing happened?"

With that, Vasily left the room without looking back.

Vasily lost hope that Ivan will change his ways. And the scary thing was that he almost got away with it. If Sarah and Aiden (and Eve) didn\'t penetrate Voronin\'s network and delivered the information on the day Ivan was missing, no one would suspect that Ivan was behind the betrayal.

On the next morning, Sarah got a report that Ivan ended his life by swallowing his tongue and suffocating on it.

Vasily shook his head when he heard the news and didn\'t say anything, but Sarah knew that Vasily was disappointed. Ivan was a man who worked by Vasily\'s side for more than two decades, and they went through a lot together. Ivan shared Vasily\'s passion for the Lebedev family, but they disagreed on how to go about it.

... 

The Council didn\'t make trouble for Sarah and Aiden anymore.

As promised, Jarred and Sinet retired.

Jarred handed over all his dealings to Charlie, and Sinet split her power to her three children and is enjoying with her grandchildren.

Jarred is still vexed at Sarah for exposing the Council (and Jarred\'s involvement) to Donnie and Charlie. Jarred spent a lot of time explaining this to the two people he cherished the most, and Donnie brings it up when she is angry at Jarred in the context of \'you promised no secrets\'.

Sloan is trying to collaborate with the Army of Chaos. Sarah didn\'t reject his requests to meet, but she is not willing to work with him either. Their last meeting ended with Sarah asking him to show his sincerity. That was three weeks ago, and Sloan is now thinking about how to accomplish that.

Ksenia is operating as usually while making sure not to step on anyone\'s toes. Sarah read in several reports that Ksenia was trying to reach Maksim, but Maksim never mentioned it and Sarah didn\'t think it\'s important.

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