Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and Fairy Tail. They belong to their respective owner.

A/N: Thank you to fellow readers, old and new especially imortal12, jenny hotkins, RamenMaker, stalker, Higrol, fictionlover1993, annarochev, RinneSasuke, and Guests for reviewing the previous chapter and also to those who favorite/follow this story. I really appreciate it.

Sorry in advance for any mistake.

Chapter 24

Erza slowly opened her eyes when she regained her consciousness from her slumber. She was still in that damn spacious room. Panic filled her and her eyes frantically looking around for any sign of Jellal. No one was in that room except her. She winced when she tried to move her limbs. Everywhere on her body hurts. She felt the cold against her body and knew that she was lying stark naked on the bed. Despite her body's protest, Erza sat up from the bed and gathered the sheet around her nude form. Tears started to gather in her eyes. She tried hard to control them. She was trying to not let them fall because when it did, she knew she couldn't let them stop.

But she failed anyway.

She failed when her eyes spotted the clothes belong to her lying on the floor, thrown haphazardly by Jellal when he torn it away from her body. Erza cried, securing the white sheet tighter around her body. She couldn't believe that Jellal would force himself against her. She couldn't believe that Jellal was capable of the brutal act.

She was so scared of him. His furious face when he realized that she was no longer a virgin kept playing in her mind.

Jellal thrust himself into her after he tore the last piece of clothing on her body. However, he stopped his ministration when he felt the lack of resistance. He stared at her heatedly with anger on his face. "You've been with him," he hissed accusingly as his hands tightened painfully on her wrist. "You should've save yourself for me Erza," he growled coldly before he thrust inside her forcefully again and again without any care about how much he was hurting her physically and mentally. Jellal was nipping and biting leaving red marks all over across her skin. Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks and she could only whimper in pain. Jellal was feasting on her body and she was helpless to stop him. She could feel herself starting to lose her consciousness. She was so tired and hurting and she just wanted all of this to go away. Black dots filled her vision and the last thing she saw before she blacked out was Jellal's face looking down at her with an unmistakable lust in his eyes.

Her thoughts wandered to her boyfriend. Sasuke, what would she tell him? He must hate her if he ever knew about this. When he knew that she let herself be defiled by another man. Sobs wrecked her body and Erza pulled her legs close to her chest and buried her face on her knees. Sasuke would hate her and Erza knew that he would kill Jellal when he knew about this.

No, Sasuke cannot know about this, Erza frantically shook her head. He will kill Jellal and everyone will know what happen to me and Sasuke's bright future will be over, she thought hysterically. She was still in shock over the fact that she had been rape by her ex-boyfriend. Her mind was still trying to acknowledge that it did in fact happen. So many things were playing on her mind now. She thought of so many things that she could feel herself getting confuse about what to do and how to deal with the situation.

The sound of footsteps caught her attention and the door was opened to reveal Jellal behind it with a paper bag in his hand. Erza turned her head away from him. Angry tears rolled down her cheeks when she remembered his cruelty. She hated him and she didn't want to see his face. Unconsciously, Erza tightened her hold on the sheet covering her body as fear crept through her. Was he going to hurt her more and had his way with her? She couldn't take another abuse from that man.

"Change your clothes, I'll send you home afterwards," came the cold order from him. She felt the paper bag being placed next to her and heard his footsteps trailing away. She glanced at the paper bag once she heard the door being closed and was glad that Jellal chose to leave her alone in that room. Getting up from the bed, Erza winced when she felt the pain on her body. Ignoring the pain, she took the paper bag with her to the bathroom to take a quick shower. Much as she didn't want to take anything given by him, she really needed those clothes for she had none. 10 minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom freshly showered and wearing the brand new clothes consisting of a dark blue skinny jeans and a light blue long sleeved blouse. At least he had the decency to buy clothes that would cover all those ugly bruises caused by him.

Noticing her purse and phone on the bedside table, she quickly snatched it and get out of the room. Ignoring Jellal who was sitting casually on the sofa, Erza walked towards what she thought was the front door to the lavish apartment. She turned the knob and of course the door was locked. The door used a keyless system and she needed to punch in the code to get out of there, the code that she didn't have. She turned to Jellal furiously. "Let me out of here," she hissed, mustering out whatever bravados left in her to face him with hatred in her eyes.

Jellal was unfazed by her little display of defiance. He slowly got up and walked towards her with unreadable expression while Erza remain rooted to the floor with her back against the door. She was becoming more and more nervous as Jellal strode towards her and stopped just inches away. He leaned down so that his cold stare was leveled with hers and whispered. "Do you need a repeat of what happen when you defy me, Erza?"

Erza didn't answer him but she still kept her eyes trained on him with a cold glare of her own. She wanted to lash out at him. She wanted to curse at him and hurt him for what he had done to her but she knew that she stood no chance to win against him physically so she kept her mouth shut and hoped that she would get out of this house and stayed as far away from him as possible.

"I said I'll send you home," he said before he punched in the code and a beep sound was heard. Jellal roughly took hold of her left wrist, opened the door and dragged her out of the penthouse. They walked towards the elevator and headed towards the basement. Once they were out, Jellal dragged her to where he parked his car. They stopped beside a silver BMW and he released her wrist when they get to the passenger's side. "Get in," he ordered while he walked over to the driver's side. Erza had no choice but to comply.

The ride to her apartment had been silent and Erza was glad for that. It seemed like Jellal knew where she lived and she didn't want to ask him how he knew of that but she guessed that he must had someone tailing her, probably the creepy guy with the snow colored hair responsible in kidnapping her.

She was so lost in her thought that she didn't notice they had already reached her apartment. "We're here," she heard Jellal said as he stopped his car outside of the gate. Erza quickly took notice of her surrounding and without looking at Jellal she opened the car door and stepped a foot out. A grip to her arm stopped her movement but she didn't turn to him. "I'll call you later," Jellal said monotonously and she roughly pulled her arms and stepped outside without turning back.

She briskly walked towards her home with her head down. She was afraid that everyone would know of what had happen to her if they looked at her. She felt dirty and ashamed and was afraid that they would judge her. With every step she took towards her home, she could feel her heart breaking and tears gathering in her eyes. It was only when she was in the safe confined of her room that she allowed herself to break down. With tears falling on her cheeks, Erza walked straight to the bathroom and hastily shed every pieces of clothing she had on her body, she made a mental note to throw them later on. She turned on the shower and stepped under it turning the heater to the maximum, didn't care that it was burning her skin. She needed to clean herself. She grabbed the washing cloth and rubbed herself raw with it, trying to get rid of the imaginary filth on her skin. But in the end, Erza plopped on the bathroom floor, sobbing and screaming because no matter what she did, she would never feel clean again.

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Sasuke looked at his phone with a frown on his face. He sat on the chair in the changing room while his hairdresser fixed his hair. He tried calling Erza again but it went straight to the voicemail for the nth time. He was getting worried, she had not been picking up her phone since he tried calling her when he touched down, and that was a few hours ago. He wondered what she was doing. Hopefully not overstuffing herself with strawberry cheesecake again now that he was not there to stop her.

"Hey are you ready?" Sasuke looked up to see Suigetsu grinning at down at him. "It's crazy out there. Tonight is bound to be fabulous," his manager said.

Sasuke grinned when he heard that. It was to be expected since most of the world's famous model and designers had gathered here for the runway. "Yeah," he drawled but then his attention went to his phone again and redialed the familiar number.

"Calling your girlfriend again?" Suigetsu voiced out with amusement.

"Yeah, she's not picking up her phone," he said with frustration. "And I've been calling her since we landed."

He heard the snort coming from his friend and he looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Honestly, I don't know how Erza put up with you.

"What is that suppose to mean?" Sasuke demanded, feeling insulted at that remark although he knew that Suigetsu was teasing him and didn't mean no harm.

"You are too possessive and controlling-"

"Hey, I admit that I'm possessive but I'm not controlling," he countered. "Not much anyway," he added. He could be a bit controlling sometimes but his intention was good.

Suigetsu ignored his remark and went on. "Not to mention, you get jealous easily. I bet you always hold her hand and never let her out of your side when you guys go for a date, glaring at any men who as much as look at her."

"It's normal for couples to hold hands," he interjected. "And have you seen my girlfriend, she's gorgeous. Men always look at her wherever she goes and I don't like what those men are thinking when they look at her."

"You're not a mind reader," Suigetsu countered.

"Don't need a mind reader to know what they're thinking. I can see it in their eyes," Sasuke said, feeling quite smug that every criticize Suigetsu thrown his way was justified.

"Yeah right," Suigetsu snorted as he looked at his watch. "Time to go anyway, we have five minutes before the runway starts," he said. "Give me your phone, I'll take care of it for you," Suigetsu told him as he held out his hand towards him.

Grumbling, Sasuke hesitantly gave him his phone and get up from the chair.

"Do your best," Suigetsu said.

"You know I will," Sasuke uttered with a smirk before he walked out of the changing room with Suigetsu trailing behind him.

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Erza opened her eyes at the feeling of her phone vibrating on the bedside table. Her head hurts. It was expected since she fell asleep without drying her hair. Her eyes were puffy because she had been crying herself to sleep. Her hand reached out for her phone and she saw another missed call from her lover. Her heart clenched painfully when she thought of Sasuke and another fresh batch of tears involuntarily trailed down her cheek. She longed to hear his voice. She wanted to hear his sweet voice talking to her, fussing over her like he always did. But she couldn't. She couldn't because she knew that she would be a sobbing mess the moment she heard his voice. So she ignored his call. She couldn't face him just yet. Not now.

Another call got through and she looked at it to see Jellal's name on it. Fury filled her. She didn't have his number so he must have put it in her phone when she was unconscious. She quickly rejected the call. How dare that monster tried to call her after what he had done. He violated her body and now her privacy too as well as her piece of mind.

Couldn't he just leave her alone?

A beep was heard and she saw a text message was sent to her from Jellal.

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New text message: Jellal

Pick up your phone

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Erza glared at her innocent phone with hatred. She was just going to ignore him too. But then, a video message was sent and she opened it without thinking. She wished she did. For the content on the video made her eyes widened in shock and got herself in panic. Bile rose up from her stomach and she quickly got up from her bed and dashed to the bathroom to empty her stomach content.

"No," she whispered as she tried to calm her erratic beating heart.

She walked back to her bed and snatched her phone just in time for Jellal to call her again.

"You monster!" She screamed once she pushed the answer button. "How can you do this Jellal? Why are you showing me the recording of you raping me?" She shrieked into the phone, demanding answer from him.

"I want you to break up with Sasuke Uchiha," came the reply from him.

"What?" Erza whispered.

"You heard me Erza," Jellal said. "Break up with that bastard or else," she could hear the threat in his voice.

"So that's what the video is for," she said into the phone. "As a blackmail material against me," she said as it dawned on her what he was trying to do.

"You leave me with no choice Erza," Jellal said harshly on the other line. "If you listen to me and never be with him in the first place, this won't happen."

"How can you be such a monster Jellal?"

She heard the harsh exhale of his breath from him. "You made me a monster Erza. All of this is happening because of you."

Erza couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was he trying to put the blame on her? After everything that she was forced to go through, how was it that it became her fault? Was it her fault for falling in love with Sasuke? Was it her fault that Jellal couldn't move on from her when he was the one who left her in the first place?

"Break up with him Erza. You don't want to know what I'm going to do with the video if you don't leave him," he warned. "And I expect for you to answer every time I call you," he said before he disconnected the line.

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"Good job tonight guys," the director of the runway organizer yelled as he held out a drink to toast on the success of a job well done. Even Sasuke was in a good mood even though he felt very tired. "Now have a drink and get some rest. Some of you still has photo shoot tomorrow."

That was what Sasuke intended to do. His schedule was tight and he really wanted to get as much rest as he could to be in the best shape to do his job. He finished off his drink in one shot and looked around for Suigetsu. He signaled for his friend that he was ready to go back to the hotel and got a nod in return. Sasuke walked towards the door when his path was blocked by none other than Sakura. Automatically, a frown marred his face. A look reserved for everytime he saw Sakura.

"Hey Sasuke," came the overly cheery greeting from the pink head. "Are you going back already? It's still early," she said.

"I'm tired. I'd rather get some sleep whenever I can," he replied lamely.

"It can't be helped then," she said with a shrug. But he could see the disappointment on her face. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," she said instead.

He nodded in return but he had no intention of seeing her unless it was work related. Without bidding her goodbye, he walked around her and met with Suigetsu at the door.

"What does the psychotic bitch say to you?" Suigetsu asked once he was in the hearing distance.

"Nothing important, just trying to get me to stay longer," he replied nonchalantly.

They walked out of the door into the cool air and headed to their room.

"By the way, your photo shoot is at 10 am tomorrow and it is with Haruno," Suigetsu informed and Sasuke made a face at that. "Just suck it up for three hours. Get the job done and get the hell away from her. After that we can go sightseeing for a bit before another photo shoot at 9 pm."

Sasuke sighed dramatically. "I'm in the city of love and I'll be doing sightseeing with you," he mocked a disappointed and hurtful expression.

"Shut up," Suigetsu said before they both burst out in laughter.

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"Excellent," the photographer said as he snapped pictures of Sasuke and unfortunately Sakura standing close to each other with various pose. "Nice posture you two," he complimented. "You two are born for this job."

Sasuke saw Sakura beamed happily when she heard that. "It's nice getting complimented once in a while," she whispered to him when the photographer was fussing with his camera. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and didn't reply to that. They were complimented every time they did photo shoot. He was sure that she was used to it by now. It was just her subtle way to talk to him.

"Change into the last attire please," the photographer said.

Finally, Sasuke thought silently as he walked to the changing room. He couldn't wait to get away from Sakura like Suigetsu suggested. Sasuke already woke up with a bad mood this morning. He still couldn't get a hold of Erza and he was worried sick about her. Seeing Sakura first thing in the morning just made his mood worsen.

He silently changed his clothes and headed to the scene. Sakura was already there with someone dusting her face and fixing her pink lock. He went to her and without wasting any time the photographer was barking instructions to them. Sasuke was back to being professional and did what he was told.

After countless snap of pictures, the photographer ceased his orders. "Okay, five minutes break guys," the photographer said before he instructed someone to bring a chair to the scene.

Sasuke thought it was going to be a long five minutes with nothing to do and Sakura as a companion.

"You should have brought Erza here," Sakura suddenly said.

Sasuke's eyes widened at that. "Excuse me?" He inquired.

He saw the roll of her eyes before she reiterated. "You should have brought Erza, your girlfriend here with you. The place is really nice and the atmosphere is marvelous. It would have been so romantic for couples to be here together."

Sasuke looked at her as if she was crazy. Okay. What is that all about? He thought in confusion. The way she said it looked like she supported his relationship with Erza.

He saw the slight creased of her eyebrows. "You don't like the idea of being here with Erza?" She inquired, probably mistaking the reason behind the look on his face.

"No," he quickly interjected. He regarded her with caution. Is it another game she's playing? He couldn't help but wondered, for she really looked like she was genuine there. "I did ask her to come, but she refused. Saying that she didn't want to bother me when I'm working," he replied, still looking at her with a weird expression.

Sakura let out a soft smile. "She's too sweet," she said.

Sakura's behavior really made Sasuke confused now. Was she planning something or did she really finally let go of her obsession with him? It was a miracle if that was the case.

"Yeah," he drawled.

"I'm happy for you Sasuke," she spoke. "I really do. I was stupid back then to cling on to you. But I've come to my senses now. So I hope you can stop avoiding me like a plague and treat me like a normal person," she said with a hopeful expression.

Sasuke was surprised at that. Did miracle just happen? Sakura did look sorry when she expressed her feelings and she did look sincere to him.

"I'm glad that you've changed somehow," he offered her a small smile. It didn't hurt to act civil towards her when she clearly had moved on. But he was still going to keep a distance in case this was just a ruse. But he didn't see how she would benefit from this. He really wanted to believe in Sakura but after being horded by her for so long, he couldn't help the slight animosity and distrust he felt.

"Okay, back to work guys, the photographer suddenly yelled and they both began to take their place once more and acted like professionals they were.

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That wraps it up for today everyone. "Thank you for your hard work," the person in charge bellowed out as the photo shoots ended. Sasuke was glad that it was finally over. He had made plans with Suigetsu to tour the place and he wouldn't past the chance to buy something for Erza. He made his way to the changing room and Suigetsu there sitting casually on the chair while his feet were propped up on the desk.

"Finally," his friend muttered taking his feet off the desk, ready to move. "Let's go."

"At least let me change first," Sasuke barked in annoyance at him. He quickly changed back into his own clothes and then walked out of there.

"Hmm, where to first," Suigetsu mused to himself racking his brain for tourist attraction he read while waiting for Sasuke back then. "Do you have specific place you want to go?"

"Nope," Sasuke replied without taking his eyes off his phone, dialing Erza yet again. And of course it went straight to her voicemail. "What the hell is happening with Erza?" He bellowed out in frustration, catching the attention of some passersby near them. He really didn't know what was happening. Was her phone broke or something or did she lose it? There was no way that she purposely avoided him when they parted on a good term. She was okay when he last saw her so her not answering when he called confused him.

"Yo chill out man," Suigetsu hissed at him while sending apologetic face towards the people around them.

"I can't take this anymore," Sasuke yelled. He saw that the people around them were looking at him funny but he ignored them. There was more pressing matter at hand. He couldn't get a hold of his girlfriend and his gut said that something had happened to her. Suddenly he grabbed Suigetsu's collar in his hand and clutched at it tightly in his hand. "Erza is not answering her phone," he yelled.

"Quit your mental breakdown. You're drawing attention to yourself," Suigetsu reprimanded, giving a hard knock on his head for his irrational behavior.

"Ow. That hurts idiot," Sasuke complained, massaging his bruised head while glaring at his friend slash manager.

"Stay at least a good 10 foot away from me. You're embarrassing," Suigetsu said while he looked around to the passersby, distancing himself a little bit from Sasuke.

Sasuke only glared at him in return while cursing the cold man for not understanding his emotion at the moment. He quietly sulked while walking a few feet from Suigetsu while his mind was occupied with the thoughts of Erza. He really missed her. He wanted to hear her voice telling him that he was okay.

"Stop sulking you big baby," Suigetsu scolded, walking beside him again. "She must have something important to do for not answering your call. I'm sure she will call you back once she notices hundreds of missed calls from you."

That did not ease his feeling one bit, but Sasuke forced himself to cheer up for the sake of his friend. Furthermore, he didn't his down mood to affect his job later on. Erza wouldn't want that to happen. "So, where are we heading?" He asked Suigetsu.

"The closest attraction is the Louvre," Suigetsu said with a hint of excitement. "Then we can go find something to eat. I heard there's this famous café in the alleyway which served the best spaghetti in Paris. Then we can go shopping for souvenir afterwards."

"Sounds good," Sasuke agreed. He made a mental note to buy some chocolate for Erza. A strawberry flavored chocolate if that thing existed, probably the white chocolate one with strawberry flavor.

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It was a little crowded at the Louvre. It was interesting to see many people from different countries gathered to see the famous pyramid that was featured in many movies. Sasuke and Suigetsu also took pictures at the site and toured the museum. He couldn't wait to show it to Erza and his friends back at home. After visiting the Louvre, they ended up at the café Suigetsu wanted to go and Sasuke must admit that the food there was excellent. The coffee was also good. It was a worth journey to go to for aside from the food, the environment was also good.

It was already 6 pm when they moved from the café to find some place to buy souvenir to bring back home. Sasuke saw a chocolate shop and both him and Suigetsu entered it. Much to Sasuke's amusement, he did found a strawberry flavored white chocolate for Erza. After buying different kind of chocolate to go, they exited the chocolate shop.

That was when someone bumped into him.

"I'm sorry," he heard the apologize came from the young woman in front of him. Somehow, the voice was familiar.

He peered at the girl wearing a white hat and sunglasses and noticed the pink lock. "Sakura?" He voiced out. He wondered if this was purely coincidence or she somehow found a way to trail after him.

She looked up and saw him. He saw the genuine shock on her face so his suspicion that she was somehow following him flew right out of the window. Maybe she really had move on from him.

"Sasuke?" She uttered. "Fancy meeting you here. I also come for the chocolate."

"Sure," he said awkwardly, didn't really know what to say to her. "Are you alone?" He inquired seeing that her manager was not around.

"Yeah," Sakura replied with a deflated tone. "My manager got sick and I don't really know the other girls that come here with us."

Sasuke nodded. "Will you be okay by yourself?" He asked. He was a little concerned for her wellbeing. She was a girl and alone in a foreign country. She could get into trouble and no one was there to help her.

"I guess but can I tag along on the way to the hotel?" She asked timidly. "I mean it's getting dark already."

Sasuke looked to Suigetsu and his friend rolled his eyes exasperatedly before he walked away without saying anything. Suigetsu clearly didn't like Sakura but he didn't know that Sakura no longer liked him. "Sure," he replied to her before they walked away towards the hotel.

It was quiet on the way to the hotel. No one said anything. Suigetsu didn't bother to make a small talk for his dislike towards Sakura was obvious. Sasuke simply didn't have anything to say and Sakura was also quiet for her own reason. It was when they walked along the Seine in the 5th arrondissement that he heard her gasped in excitement.

"Hey, is it possible if we stop for a moment to see these people dancing?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke stopped on his track and looked on to his left. People had gathered at the place and dance with their partners. The atmosphere was incredible and he had to admit that it was mesmerizing to watch. He looked at his watch and noticed that he had another two hours before his photo shoot so he might comply to her wishes. He just couldn't leave her alone here.

"30 minutes," he replied shortly and she squealed in excitement. He motioned for Suigetsu to come along much to the displeasure of the other man and sat at the empty bench near them while Sakura went closer to the people dancing in the crowd.

"Are you out of your mind?" Suigetsu berated once Sakura was out of hearing range. "Dude, what happen to avoid the annoying psychotic bitch at all cost?"

"I don't think she's that into me anymore," Sasuke said.

"Seriously?" Suigetsu made a face, not one bit convinced at what he was hearing.

"Yeah," Sasuke replied. He then proceeded to tell him what had happened earlier during the morning photo shoot.

"It's hard to believe that she's finally move on from you. This might be just a ruse to get your trust," Suigetsu uttered, unconvinced that Sakura was completely moved on from him. "That girl was obsessed with you Sasuke. It won't go away just like that," he tried to reason.

Sasuke sighed. "I don't know. She looks convincing enough. I mean she hasn't tried anything with me," he said.

"Not yet," Suigetsu said pointedly.

They saw Sakura coming towards them with a delightful face, bouncing in her step because of her eagerness. "Come on you two, join the crowd and tango," she said breathlessly.

"I'll pass," Suigetsu quickly declined.

"I've never attempt to tango in my entire life," Sasuke said.

Sakura rolled her eyes at them. "So do I, so what?" She asked. "You need to live a little," she pressured. "Come on." Without any warning, she grabbed a hold of Sasuke's hand and dragged him away from his comfortable spot on the bench.

"Wait a minute, Sakura!" He protested in panic. But she paid him no mind and continued dragging him towards the crowd. She suddenly stopped in her track making him bumped into her. Without taking her hand away from his, Sakura twirled around with a smile making it look like they were dancing together.

This is troublesome, he thought.

She faced him with a big smile on her face. "This is fun," she exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Sasuke said with an annoyed face. "I think it's time to go. I still have some photo shoot to do at 10 pm," he said sternly, leaving no room for argument.

"Owh," Sakura uttered. "Okay then," she said with a shrug and they walked back towards where Suigetsu was sitting, waiting for them with a scowl on his face.

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Sakura couldn't stop smiling as they walked in silence towards the hotel. Her plan worked. She couldn't believe that it went without a glitch. Sasuke fell for her trick. Unknown to the youngest Uchiha, Sakura had planned everything. From their meeting at the chocolate shop and the stint she pulled on the bank of the Seine. She had a photographer she hired to follow them and took pictures of them getting chummy and she was confident that the photographer was successful in getting a few pictures that would look well on the front page of the magazine.

She could already imagine the look on Erza's face when she looked at the news. Her face contorted into an evil smirk.

Half of phase two is already a success, she thought to herself. With how things are going, Sasuke will fall right into my hand. And when he notices it, it will already be too late, she grinned with amusement. You will be mine Sasuke, she thought, staring at the back of his head intently as she walked behind him on the way to hotel.

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To be continued