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t w e n t y f i v e

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Yifan had been back in contact with Fu Jian, and their plans had resumed soon after. Tao had been required to return to his house, this time to work as a gardener so that he could keep an eye on Iva Fu. Tao was at their house every day, pretending like he knew everything there was to know about gardens and their care. He would spend most of his time watering the plants and trimming anything that seemed to have overgrowth. 

Everyday he was out in the garden and everyday Iva was out in the garden too. Always silent, always disheartened, almost like she had lost her will. She dressed in sweatpants and a crewneck, her auburn hair pulled back into a messy pony tail. 

Her face was pale and lifeless and her shoulders always slumped. Her red lips had lost a lot of their color, as had her once brilliant blue eyes. He had been given specific instructions to watch her, but not have any other contact with her. He couldn't talk to her, couldn't even get close to her. It was like he was watching her slowly fade away and he was letting it happen. She didn't try to talk to him, mostly kept to herself until one of the servants would come get her, announcing that it was time for her next meal. Her husband was always nowhere to be found. 

Tao had heard from Yifan that nowadays he lived in another residence in Beijing, with another woman he was seeing. Tao didn't see the point in him having married the Russian beauty, if he was going to abandon her like that. But his duizhang had explained that Fu Jian was only in that marriage for the money. Iva's family had a bigger wealth than the Fu family, and being their only heir, her father didn't want a woman to manage the family fortune. He had married his daughter off to a Chinese business man and had essentially thrown his daughter away. He had not visited her once since her move to China.

Tired of seeing her so lifeless, he had gone over to one of the rose bushes and snipped the most beautiful flower he could find. A single red rose.

He walked towards her purposefully and stopped just a few inches short of where she sat. She looked up at him from the book she was reading. A hard covered book in a brilliant red color with the title in gold lettering. Las Golondrinas by Gustavo Adolfo Becquer. On the stone bench beside her were two more books. One a deep navy blue with gold lettering--Nocturno a Rosario by Manuel Acuna. The other green with gold lettering as well--A Kiss in the Rain by Samuel Minturn Peck. The last black with gold lettering Sonnets of the Portuguese by Elizabeth Browning. He didn't know what the first two titles meant, but he knew it was neither in Chinese, English, or Russian. That meant that she spoke more than just those three languages.

He nervously ran a hand through his hair before offering the rose he had cut for her. 

She looked up from her book as he said to her, "I haven't seen you smile once since I returned, so I wanted you to have this rose that is the most beautiful in the garden, only second to you."

Iva couldn't help but blush slightly.

"Thanks." She took the rose from him and brought it to her nose, inhaling its scent. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen her husband--all days were like a blur to her now--much less could she remember the last time he gave her a rose. It made her appreciate Tao's gesture even more. "Its very beautiful."

"What are you reading?" Tao asked her, sitting on the empty space at the bench beside her.

"Some of my favorite books." She said with a small sigh, closing the red book on her lap. "Nowadays I read them to forget that I can't leave this house."

-

Though Jagi was injured from the fight, the pain medication she was on made it easier for her to move around, even though it was still slightly painful. She went around her room packing her belongings with Kyungsoo following after her, trying to help her so that she wouldn't make much of an effort.

They finished packing her things in about two hours and Jagi woke her brother since it was early in the morning. He had been surprised to see her out of bed and urged her to get some rest, but she would have none of that. She urged him to wake their leader, so that he could remove the shock collar from around Kyungsoo's neck. Jin got out of head sleepily and went to find Namjoon.

With her bags already in the living room waiting for them, Namjoon met up with the three. The other members of the Coyotes' pack had been there to see her go, excluding Jimin. He had stayed in his room, refusing to be there the moment that Jagi was to leave with someone else. He thought it was too painful to watch.

Taehyung and Jungkook said their goodbyes with a hug, while Yoongi and Hoseok stood off to the side. The two of them hadn't gotten close with either Jagi or Kyungsoo like the younger boys had. As Namjoon got closer to them, Jagi watched how Kyungsoo's hand balled up into a fist and he tensed up beside her. She grabbed his hand, and he relaxed slightly, tangling his fingers with her. "Soo, don't." She whispered to him a short warning, knowing what he was tempted to do. He sucked in a deep breath to control himself.

Namjoon clicked a few buttons on the collar, since it needed a code to be removed. A small green light flashed and the collar loosened, and Namjoon was able to remove it. He tossed it onto the ground, the control along with it. Jagi immediately wrapped an arm around his waist to prevent him from doing anything that might set off a fight.

She said goodbye to her brother next, pulling him in for a hug. His arms wrapped around her  carefully, "Promise you'll visit. I don't want to be apart from you again." He said, sad to see her go.

"I promise." She said to him.

"I have a car waiting to take you right where our territory meets the Jackals' land." Jin let her know as they pulled away. She nodded gratefully, taking his hands in hers and giving them a light squeeze. From the corner of her eyes, she kept her attention on Kyungsoo. He was standing off to the side by their bags, waiting for them to be able to leave the house that had been like a prison to them.

They loaded Jagi's belongings into the waiting car and were on their way. Jin had been the one to drop them off at the edge of the Coyotes' territory, right where it met with the Jackals' land. He had promised he would look into her divorce from Jimin, and he would send her the paper work once it was ready. 

Jagi gave him a final hug goodbye and the two walked into the Jackals' territory together.

-

i should have posted this last night, since i wrote it last night. but i was tired after the chivas game. they lost to tigres at the campeon de campeones tournament. but they played a good game so im proud of them.

also, we got the best seats in the house. 

we were right in front of a sky box, and it happened to be the sky box chivas owner jorge vergara was sitting at, with one of his executives el tio higuera. and some of the players were there too. i took some pictures of them. i wish i would have taken a marker to get autographs. 

thank you all loads for reading.

-clary