Family Ties

Cara's POV

"You have to be more careful Cara. Adonis wouldn't be happy about this when he wakes up." Nadia said to me as we filed into the car, the men shutting the door after us.

I bit down on my tongue to stop myself from giving a silly reply.

It turns out that people at the restaurant do not appreciate a crazy pregnant woman and her friend trying to harm an unarmed civilian.

At least that's how they described Tina. Hence, we were arrested by the police.

Out of habit, I had picked up my phone to call Luca over to bail us out but remembered that he was the reason we were in the current situation in the first place, so Nadia was our only choice.

Cecelia hadn't said a word ever since we got to the station.

We were unable to get anything out of Tina, so it was safe to say I only made her feel worse. It was confirmed that Luca wasn't only cheating but with a mutual friend at that.

My mind churned as I tried to think of a reason why Tina would stoop so low, but I couldn't find any. I'd have to see her in such a light to even have assumed one.

Which seemed impossible. I was still having a hard time trying to believe that she had actually pulled on a sinister smile when were pulled away into the police van.

I had no choice but to conclude that I was a magnet that attracted fake things.

Fake parents.

Fake identity

Now fake friends?

Only this time, it affected someone closer to me.

The moment we got home, I escorted her to a room on the second floor to get some much-needed rest. She wasn't in the mood to talk, and that was fine with me. 

I had other things to do anyway. 

So after tucking in a depressed Cecelia, I dragged my tired a** up to the third floor, opening the door to Adonis's study to begin my search.

There had to be some sort of explanation for what was happening. Adonis might have been kept in the dark, but he must've unknowingly had a clue that could give me answers.

I searched and searched until I was practically dead on my feet but found nothing, and just when I was about to give up on my aimlessness, I remembered that there was an actual safe in the room.

A safe to which I knew the password.

Mentally chiding myself for not starting with the obvious, I walked over to resume a new round of my search.

Luckily for me, I didn't have to do much. Each file was arranged in a kind of code order. I didn't understand how, but I knew it had something to do with their specific dates. 

I had two questions that I had come in search of answers for:

1.) Adonis's birth father and sister.

2.) Luca's shady attitude.

The first one I doubted if there'd be any lead in the safe. The second was very simple; if it wasn't because of the confessions about my lineage, then he must have seen something in his boss's safe.

After all, I was the one who gave him the password, but it seemed like whatever Luca may have stumbled upon wasn't here anymore.

Frustrated, I let out a string of curses, combing my hand through my fingers. A sudden wave of burnout crashed upon me, and my eyes watered.

I felt so alone. 

Perhaps it was better I took a rest and checked again later; I might achieve more with a clear mind, so with a sharp intake of breath, I began placing back all the files I had taken out. 

I was almost done and about to place the last one in when a small note fell out.

Leaning down to pick it up, I realised it wasn't a note but a picture. It looked so old and tampered with but was still manageably visible.

It was a picture of a young boy and a girl. The boy looked to be in his early teens and had a big smile grin on his face as he held the hand of a little girl with a toothless grin.

I immediately recognised the girl in the picture. Spending time with a girl like Tina, who liked to dote on her childhood self, must have imprinted the picture in my mind that it would take a memory wipe not to know she was the one.

What was a picture of her childhood self doing in Adonis's safe? 

My question didn't remain unanswered for long as my eyes scanned the boy in the picture. He had a striking resemblance to Adonis—

My jaw dropped open.

No way. This should be impossible.

Adonis and Tina are siblings?

At that precise moment, the door to the study burst open and Cecelia rushed in, out of breath.

My heart dropped to my stomach.

Whatever got her to drag her a** off the bed probably wasn't a good thing, and she confirmed my thoughts the moment her mouth opened.

"There's a woman here looking for Adonis. She says she's his mother."