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He had never seen this coming, not from her, not from himself. But now, here they were. Standing under the dim glow of the parking lot lights, with truth floating between them like a storm cloud waiting to break. Gently, Sandro spoke, voice low, almost tender. "Alexa… I didn't mean for you to find out like this. Not this way." She blinked, her eyes focusing back on him.
"I need to ask something of you," he continued. "Not many people know about me and April and Nikki. And it's… complicated. You know how society and the industry will look at it. If it gets out too fast or the wrong way, it would implicate April and Nikki in a very bad way, and everything they built could get trashed. So, please… keep it a secret. Just for now."
Alexa nodded slowly, almost mechanically. "Okay. Yeah. I get it. I will keep it secret."
But Sandro wasn't finished. He took a step closer, not too close, but enough to be within her world again. His voice softened even more.
"As for you… I don't know what to say. I really don't. I've always seen you like a little sister, someone I wanted to protect. Someone I cared about. But after what happened two weeks ago… after the kiss on the cheek, after that look—"
He paused, eyes searching hers.
"—It's not that simple anymore. It's put a dent in the way I saw you before. You're not just 'little Alexa' anymore. You're… you're a woman. And I can't lie and say it didn't affect me."
Alexa's breath hitched. Her cheeks flushed again, even deeper now. She looked down, gripping her bag tighter.
"But I can't make any promises right now," Sandro said. "Not when I'm still figuring out what this means. For you. For me. For all of it. I don't want to lie to you or mislead you. That's not who I am. I just… need time to understand my own heart. I owe that to April and Nikki, too."
There was a long pause.
Then Sandro gave her a gentle, warm smile.
It wasn't a flirty smile. It wasn't an invitation.
It was a human smile, filled with gratitude, and honesty, and maybe a touch of sadness too.
Alexa stared at it for a moment. Then she nodded.
"I understand," she said quietly.
And without another word, she turned and walked away, her boots crunching softly on the gravel. Her back was straight, her pace steady, but Sandro could tell, she wasn't okay. Not really.
He watched her go until she disappeared into the shadows of the lot.
When he turned back toward his car, he found someone already there.
April.
She was leaning against the passenger side door, arms folded across her chest. Her face unreadable, but her eyes sharp and unwavering.
"How much did you hear?" Sandro asked as he approached.
April tilted her head slightly, the corner of her mouth twitching, not quite a smirk, not quite a frown.
"Enough to know the gist of it."
Sandro ran a hand down his face. "April—"
She held up a hand. "I'm not mad."
That caught him off guard.
"You're not?"
April shook her head. "No. I get it. She's young. She's been around spending time with you a lot since she began her training here. And I have seen the way she looks at you after you begin to feel overprotective of her due to Barry. Honestly, I always wondered when it would come to a head."
He leaned back against the car, folding his arms. "It wasn't supposed to happen like this. I didn't even know she felt that way until two weeks ago."
April's eyes softened just a bit. "And now?"
He let out a slow exhale. "I don't know. That's the problem."
April was quiet for a moment, then stepped closer. She reached out and rested a hand on his chest.
"You're allowed to be uncertain and confused," she said. "What we have? It was built on honesty. You, me, and Nikki, we agreed from the start that if feelings changed, we would talk about it. Not hide it. Not fake anything."
Sandro looked down at her hand, then back up. "So you're okay if…"
April didn't flinch. "If you end up feeling something for Alexa? I'll be hurt. I won't lie. But I'll respect it. What I won't be okay with is being lied to. That's the only dealbreaker."
Sandro nodded slowly, heart heavy with gratitude. He reached up and took her hand in his.
"I'm not sure where this is going," he admitted. "But I won't lie. I promise you that."
April gave him a small, understanding smile. "Good. Then we'll figure it out, like we always do."
They stood there for a few minutes in comfortable silence, the air cooling around them as night fully settled in.
Eventually, April pulled back. "Come on, champ. Let's go. You've got a tornado of internet buzz to ride, and Dusty's probably planning three promos and a sit-down interview already."
Sandro chuckled and unlocked the car.
As they got in and pulled out of the lot, neither of them saw the small figure watching quietly behind a car across the lot, watching their taillights disappear.
Alexa stood up as she saw the car fading away, her hands clenched in her bag, eyes glinting with a mix of sadness and something else.
Not anger.
Not envy.
But resolve.
She had heard everything.
And even though it hurt, even though her heart felt like it had run a marathon uphill, she wasn't going to cry. Not tonight.
Because a part of her still believed that her story with Sandro wasn't over yet. And if there was even the smallest crack in the door, she'd be brave enough to knock.
Even if it took time.
Even if it took everything she had.
Because sometimes… falling for someone didn't make sense. It didn't ask for permission. It just happened.
And when it did? You could either run from it. Or walk straight into the storm.
After that, a week passed by in the blink of an eye, and in that passing week, Sandro didn't set foot in the TNA Impact Zone. Dusty and Steve had made the call, they wanted the fans to keep buzzing, debating, and dissecting his sudden heel turn.
The sudden turn on Kofi and Taylor had shaken the foundation of FCW's fanbase, splitting opinions right down the middle. Some were furious. Others thrilled. But most? Most couldn't stop talking. And that was exactly what Dusty wanted.
Let the dust settle, let the internet work its magic, let the anticipation for Monday night grow like a pressure cooker.
In the meantime, Sandro kept a low profile. He trained, but not at the FCW facility. He used a private gym Dusty had arranged, a quiet spot near the arena, away from cameras and eager eyes. It gave him room to think. To breathe. To prepare.
At that time, Nikki called him. Late at night, her voice came in warm and amused over the phone.
"Really? You turned heel without telling me? I had to watch it online, babe."
He chuckled, already hearing the smirk in her voice.
"You're mad?"
"I'm… surprised," she said. "But I'd be lying if I said it didn't turn me on a little."
He raised an eyebrow, even though she couldn't see it. "Oh?"
"That look on your face when you stomped on Taylor? The frustration, the rage, savage, babe. Real savage." She paused, her voice dropping just a bit. "Made me want to hop on a plane to Orlando and remind you who your favorite playmate is."
He laughed softly. "Nikki, stay focused on RAW. You're on the verge of something. You keep doing what you've been doing, and you'll be next in line for the Divas Title."
She sighed. "You're right. Damn it. But once I win it? You better be ready to celebrate. In my way."
"You have a deal," he said, smirking.
That call left him smiling, but thoughtful. Because no matter how crazy the storyline was getting, no matter how sharp the edges were becoming in his character, Nikki's call reminded him why he was doing it all, why it mattered to play both the character and the man right. Not just for himself, but for the people who believed in him.
That same week, Sandro got a message from his father. A business update, but an exciting one. Twitter had just announced two new features, hashtags, and the ability to post videos up to five minutes long. His dad, always in the loop with their stock portfolio and investments, had gotten the news straight from Twitter execs.
Reading the email, Sandro wasn't surprised. Not even a little.
"Hashtags," he thought, scrolling through the announcement. Finally, it appeared, he began to think that the extra funds Nexum Core had given to them would go to waste, but it looks like it pushed the two features Twitter will add much earlier.
In his past life, he'd seen what hashtags would become. How they'd evolve from a novelty into a digital wildfire of activism, virality, and influence.
He also knew how the short form video capabilities would revolutionize engagement on the platform, paving the way for faster news cycles, influencer culture, and real time storytelling. If Twitter played it smart, this was just the start of its dominance.
He replied to his father with a short message, "Double down on our Twitter holdings if we can, Dad, buy it from the small stockholders. This will send the stock flying over the next 12 months. Also, try to keep an eye on Facebook's next move. Zuckerberg isn't going to sit quietly."
A day later, another email came through, this time from Jan Koum and Brian Acton. The WhatsApp founders had just launched the app globally. Anyone with an iPhone could now download it for free.
Sandro immediately downloaded it, testing it out, appreciating how seamless it was for messaging. He added Nikki and April to his contacts, urging them both to install it and use it going forward.
Less reliance on SMS, more on an encrypted platform. He even convinced his father and mother to download it, then told them to spread it across their entire business network. "Get it in every partner's hands," he said. "This will become the standard in a few years."
Now, back in the present.
It was Monday night. FCW Monday.
Sandro stood in front of the mirror inside his locker room, adjusting the collar of his new ring jacket. Black with deep crimson trim. Sleek, cold, and intense. It fit the moment. It fit the storm he was about to step into.
He took a slow breath, then looked at himself fully.
The man in the mirror looked much serious. Wiser. Angrier.
And ready.
His theme would hit soon. But not yet.
He rolled his shoulders, cracked his neck, and walked out of the locker room. Outside, Big E was waiting for him. Dressed in his own gear, black with red accents, matching the new visual tone. It was symbolic. It meant unity. It meant Big E was choosing a side.
"You ready, boss?" Big E asked.
Sandro smirked. "Born ready."
The two nodded to each other, then made their way through the narrow hallway that led to the stage.
Back inside the arena, the show had already started with a bang. The crowd was hot tonight, really hot. The opening match had fans on their feet, as AJ Styles, proudly carrying the FCW North American title, went head to head with Austin Creed, who had stunned everyone by beating Sheamus the week prior to become the number one contender.
Creed was no slouch. He came in fast, creative, bouncing off the ropes with agility and landing precision strikes. Styles, always the veteran, countered with his signature fluidity, like a dancer in a brawl, smooth but lethal. Near falls lit up the crowd. A double clothesline left both men down for a count of eight.
In the end, AJ retained, barely, rolling up Creed with a handful of tights that the ref missed. Cheers rained down. The TNA face champ smirked and held his title high, appreciating the crowd.
But then everything changed.
The lights dimmed.
The riffs of the guitar blared throughout the arena.
Sandro's Cult of Personality boomed through the speakers.
No cheers. Just a wall of reaction, shock, confusion, excitement, hatred, curiosity. He stepped out, bathed in red lighting, his black and crimson gear alongside his TNA World Heavyweight title gleaming under the spotlight. Big E followed behind him, arms crossed, a silent enforcer. Sandro walked slowly down the ramp. No theatrics. No posing. Just focus.
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Name: Alessandro Zhang
Age: 19 (2009)
Birthplace: Orlando, Florida, USA
Brand: FCW
Wrestling Style: Mixed Of All Styles
Faction: Dragon Boom (Tag Team)
Championship History: 1x FCW Tag Team Champions, 1x FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion, & 1x TNA World Heavyweight Champion