Seeing you again

Chapter 37

Francisca's POV

I know eavesdropping is wrong. One can't just intrude on someone else's privacy like that.

But when that someone doesn't close their door properly, they only have themselves to blame.

That was a lot of information to process, what I just heard coming out of Dad's office.

Mom's friend.

Mom's friend, helped her take me, kidnap me. Why?

Did mom give her money to do so? Was it because of a misguided sense of friendship and loyalty? All questions I had swirling in my head as I headed back to the living room where my brothers were.

I couldn't hide the conflicting emotions and confusion that were on my face. So, they easily figured out that something happened. That something was wrong.

And I told them everything.

***

We were probably hasty in out decision to come here. It's just that when I told what I told to my older brothers, they were....well, saying that there were upset is an understatement.

They wanted to come here, to try and understand everything themselves sans Dad who they knew would have tried to protect them from it.

It's why he barley ever let them know what he was doing while searching for me and mom. He never wanted them hurt, and he pushed them far far away from all of the things that can cause it.

So, since dad has always been so secretive when it came to these things, especially things about me and our mother, Ivan and Dan decided to sneak us out of the house and go to Donna Carlyle herself.

Which is why we are now standing in-front of "Carlyle Fashion" . Ivan and Dan with pinched eyebrows and a sense of determination. Me sweaty and unsure.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to be here without dad?" I ask for the millionth time.

My brothers simply throw a glance of irritation at me.

They move to entre the building, and I am right behind them.

Dan and I wait while Ivan talks with a secretary to figure out where Donna's office is located.

I kinda imagined that my brothers would just bulldoze into the building, somehow knowing exactly where to go, ignoring anyone who tried to talk or stop us from going to confront mom's friend. But that's not what happens.

My brother Ivan tells us to wait while he speaks to the secretary and I am disappointed as much as I am confused. I don't know why to bother trying, it's not like the secretary is just going to tell us where to go, she's not just going to allow us to storm into her boss's office.

That is until I see the secretary reach to hold Ivan's hand that was on the counter. She rubs it, her eyebrows scrunch, and  she has a sympathetic, almost pitying look in her eyes.

She says something, Ivan replies. And then they hug.

They freaking hug.

What kind of superpowers does my brother have?

He comes back towards us, grinning, while my jaw is almost hitting the floor.

"All good?" Dan asks.

Ivan nods "all good," he says, confirming.

When we are in the elevator, going up to the last floor of the building. I ask "how did you do that?"

Ivan just shrugs and tells me how he made up a sob story that was half truth and half lie.

Truth: we are the children of Donna's deceased best friend and we came here to see her.

Lie: we missed her so much and and we came to give her a few things of our mother as a surprise so that she can remember her by.

Ivan also gave her a whole story about our mother — who we have lost too young — and that our the grief has been hitting us hard as of late.

The lie hits me in the heart a little. I did lose my mom too young, I do miss her, all the time, everyday, and a lot, a lot more lately, and I can't lie and say that a part of me is not a little bit excited that this Donna character is gonna reveal something that's gonna dampen my anger with my mother. Maybe my mom had a reason for what she did, an incredibly logical one. Maybe she isn't as bad as my father thinks, maybe my brothers will get some closure.

Soon enough we are standing right outside the office door that says CEO.

On the other side of that door, might be the answers that the three of us need.