Fourty Five

"Isabella? Are you listening?"

Isabella gasped. It was as if she had seen lightning on a bright, sunny day. The news was completely beyond her expectations. She blinked in disbelief before finally shouting, "What? A niece? How do you know it's… Irene's daughter?"

Nicholas let out a short sigh, as though he was tired of answering rhetorical questions like the one Isabella had just asked. He pulled out his phone from the pocket of his suit and busied himself for a moment before showing the screen to Isabella. "She registered her as a daughter, Bella."

Seeing the phone pointed at her, Isabella quickly took the smartphone from Nicholas’s hand. She examined the data displayed on the screen thoroughly, reading from top to bottom carefully. She still couldn’t believe the data until she looked at Nicholas again. "This doesn't make sense, Nick."

"What do you mean?"

"She just got engaged."

"You know, in America, you can have a child without being married. What's the problem with that?"

Isabella