"Adrien, you know him, right?" Kisa asked.Thomas' eyes sparkled with recognition. "Uncle Adrien, of course I know him. The Tanner family and ours go way back. My dad would take me and Peter to visit him all the time.""Really? Well, he is my godfather."Thomas was taken aback. "What a coincidence! But you know what, Uncle Adrien never agrees to be a godfather. When my dad asked him to be ours, he refused. He must be pretty special to you.""Maybe he just loves daughters," Kisa said nonchalantly. "So, what do you say we pay the Tanner family a visit today?""The Tanner family?" Thomas hesitated. "Uncle Adrien isn't in Oceanville right now, and the only person at home is Mrs. Tanner Sr. She's 80 years old and doesn't even recognize her own shadow. It might be a waste of time.""Come on, let's just go and visit her. I came all this way, and I want to see my godfather's home."Thomas shrugged. "Alright then."The Tanner residence was just a short half-hour drive away from the Webb
As Adrien walked away to answer his phone, Mrs. Tanner Sr. grabbed Kisa's hand and said urgently, "Molly, don't leave Adrien. His sudden change of character must be due to some sort of trauma. Please don't blame him."Kisa's eyes sparkled as she responded in a low voice, "He's becoming someone I don't even recognize anymore. It's like he's a completely different person.""Yes, I know. But he truly loves you. He's just afraid of being looked down upon by your family, so he works hard to make a name for himself, sometimes neglecting you in the process. Don't blame him. He is just so in love with you and wants to make something of himself. He is not only distant with you, but with me as well. He used to be so close to me, so filial, but now it is like he is a stranger. He must be under a lot of work pressure. Molly, please don't blame him, okay?"Kisa nodded. "I won't blame him, Mrs. Tanner Sr. Don't worry, I won't blame him."Mrs. Tanner Sr. had said too much, and her spirits seemed
"Where are you?" Gilbert asked."I'm with Thomas at the moment—" Before Kisa could finish her sentence, a flurry of urgent footsteps interrupted her. Startled, she quickly hung up the phone and darted behind a nearby tree trunk. Suddenly, Harry and a few bodyguards came running in her direction. Harry looked around frantically before fixing his gaze on a particular spot on the ground."You cry every damn day for years, never giving it a rest, as if you're afraid people will forget you exist, right?" Harry snarled, stomping on the ground and barking orders to his men. "Get her some food later so she doesn't keep making a fuss.""Yes, Harry," they replied obediently.Once the men left, Kisa carefully inspected the spot where Harry had stomped and discovered a hidden lock within the grass. The grass around the lock seemed to be slightly loosened, so she lifted it, revealing a hidden iron door beneath it. The sobbing sound from earlier had come from behind that door.'Who's trapped in
"Did he really just fall out of love?" she wondered, but her gut told her something else."Mrs. Tanner Sr. said he changed completely after he struck it rich, but my father says otherwise." Thomas shook his head in response."Maybe his feelings just changed," Kisa mused, though she still had her doubts about Adrien.'It's not impossible for a man to ditch his girlfriend once he becomes wealthy. But even his own mother says he has changed, and that's odd. What if he isn't even Adrien to begin with?'The thought made her shudder, and she hugged herself tightly. It felt like she was on the brink of a significant discovery, but the more she thought, the more her mind spun.As Kisa returned to the Webb residence, she sensed a tense atmosphere in the living room. Before she could get a closer look, Mr. Webb Sr. approached her. "Mrs. Kooper, you're finally back. Mr. Kooper was worried sick."Just then, Kisa saw Gilbert sitting on the couch. His face had darkened, his aura was menacing.
Kisa frantically dug through her bag and pulled out her phone, only to find a barrage of missed calls. She had silenced it earlier and forgot to turn the ringer back on."Kisa, haven't I told you to give me a heads up before gallivanting off? If you weren't carrying my child, I wouldn't care about your well-being. You want to be a loose cannon, go ahead. Once the baby is born, you can go wherever you please and do whatever you damn well want. I won't bat an eyelash!" Gilbert barked."That's not what happened." Gilbert was livid, and Kisa could not figure out why. She quickly took hold of his arm and explained, "I didn't go anywhere today except for Adrien's house. Thomas was super nice to me and made sure I was okay the whole time. You really don't need to worry.""But this is Oceanville, not Calthon. You're off doing God knows what, ignoring my calls. How can I guarantee the safety of my child? Kisa, if something happens to my child, you'll be the one held accountable."Gilbert's
It was dinner time, but Thomas was nowhere to be found. Kisa headed to the kitchen to arrange some grub for him, only to find that the servants had already prepared two portions of food.Kisa flashed a smile at one of the servants and said, "I will take one of them to Thomas."The servant looked at her awkwardly and said, "These are for Peter."Kisa was confused. "Hold up! Isn't this two servings? Is he seriously about to eat two identical meals all by himself?""There's more to it than just Peter," the servant said eagerly, but the older servant cut her off with a quick nudge to the arm."Mrs. Kooper, Peter has been eating like a horse lately. He can finish two servings of food no problem!" exclaimed the older servant."Are you thinking of sending some food over to Thomas? I can cook it up for you right now."With a quick nod to the other servant, she motioned for her to take the dishes away.Kisa furrowed her brows, deep in thought. 'Has Peter been eating well recently? If th
Thomas was taken aback for a moment.Kisa quickly explained, "Don't get me wrong, Peter just said... he said that you both have an identical birthmark on your chest. So, I was curious." Her voice grew softer and softer toward the end of the sentence.Seeing Thomas remain skeptical, she said, "Actually, my mother also has a birthmark in the same spot. And I have an older brother who has never been seen. When I saw Peter's birthmark, I thought he might be my long-lost brother. But he said you have the same birthmark, so I wanted to take a look."After a moment of hesitation, Thomas smiled and said, "Oh, I see. No problem, let me show you."He unbuttoned his shirt to reveal the blood-red birthmark on his chest. It was identical to Peter's and just like the one Kisa remembered on her mother.'But how could this be? Does the birthmark really mean nothing?' she wondered.Thomas stared at Kisa's stunned expression for a moment before chuckling and asking, "Mrs. Kooper, are you looking f
"I might not be able to find it, but Kelvin can definitely get to the bottom of this," Gilbert said.Kisa's heart raced, and she pulled out her phone to call Kelvin.Kelvin was a big shot in the medical world, and sure enough, the investigation results were in the very next afternoon.'No way! Mrs. Webb Sr. didn't have twins at all. She only had one kid. So why on earth did Thomas tell me he and Peter were twins? Or maybe Thomas was bamboozled too? And this con has been going on for thirty years! What the heck was the goal of the person who cooked up this scheme?'As Kisa pored over the info, Gilbert suddenly piped up, "So, your visit to Oceanville wasn't just to see my uncle, was it? You're also on the hunt for your brother, and you think he might be one of the Webb brothers, am I right?""Yep, they have got the same birthmark as my mom," Kisa confirmed."Speaking of that birthmark, doesn't it strike you as kind of fishy?" Gilbert chuckled."What do you mean?" Kisa eyed him sus