Beyond Bloodline - Unbreakable Bonds

thirty nine

I think y'all pretty much guessed who they were already

—

Rhett had loved his mother. With all of his heart and soul and being. Her death had crushed him. He'd only been eight. Afterwards, the only thing he let himself remember was her warmth and he searched wide for any connection he could find with her, even going as far as fulfilling her dream of getting on an international runway to feel what she might have felt. One thing he was most obsessed with was finding the child she'd turned away to a distant orphanage on advise of her doctors for the betterment of her mental health.

He'd turned up short for so long, only to come across who he could only feel was him some three days ago when he'd gone to support his younger sister's swimming race. His mother was a classical beauty with rich and flawless olive skin, wavy brown hair he could remember combing out, a pointed nose and the prettiest eyes he'd ever seen.

Warm celery green with flecks of amber that appeared to flicker under the sunlight.

It was like someone had printed a copy of her and put right in front of him, save the more angular edges to his face. Rhett was willing to believe he could mistake anything else but never this. They'd been fooled many times before, people going as far as extensive surgeries to con their way into their wealth. It had taken his elder brother's intervention and soon, they had to put a halt to the public search and get their family out of the limelight.

The guy was gone before he could push to get any further answers and even intuitively, Rhett already knew he was the one they'd been looking for all this while. Nicolas. Tate, who had been with him and just as shocked at the familiarity, had gone asking around and soon unearthed his identity.

Rhett was self-aware enough to understand his elder brother would be better off doing the digging to find his exact whereabouts with his far deeper connections so decided to have a talk with him.

"It's alright," he dissuaded the receptionist who was ready to lead him up as per protocol. "I'll head up myself." Nash wasn't in when he let himself into his office on the topmost floor but he easily caught sight of the little demon of their household slouching in the chair to the side, one leg propped atop the couch and the other stretched in front of her.

"Nana?" he called, taken aback no little bit. He'd been overseas up until the week before when Taylor had dropped on him impromptu that he had to fly back to support her first interschool tournament. Nash's daughter looked the same as ever, prickly, the head of bright purple hair he'd grown accustomed to having switched to a fiery red. "Your hair looks lovely."

She snorted but didn't say anything, expression tightening. Dressed in a variety of her usual attire— dark tank, checkered sleeve shirt tied around the waist of her short, pleated skirt, fishnet stockings and combat boots— she looked anything but approachable.

"Where's your dad, Nan?" he asked, instead of engaging further with her.

"Fuck should I know," she scowled, tone bitter as she crossed her arms tightly in front of her, going back to staring into the distance.

He sighed before coming to sit next to her. "Why aren't you in school?" he asked.

"Don't know," she said, the line of her jaw rigid. "Don't care."

"McKenna, please don't do this with me," he said. "Thought you could tell me anything. I'm your favorite uncle, aren't I?"

She rolled her eyes but her profile softened slightly, arms loosening. "I skipped school to head downtown," she related.

"What for?" he asked, brow furrowing.

"Looking for my mom," she said.

"Nana," he called, helpless. "You know Nash doesn't want you looking for her."