Zayn Malik's Long Lost Sister (Unedited)

11. Alyssa

"Marley," Edward called to me. "This is my sister Alyssa. Alyssa, this is-"

"I know who she's is." Alyssa interrupted, holding out her hand for me to shake. "I know who you are." She giggled.

I took her hand and we shook in greeting.

"Your the one with the links, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for the persistence of it." She said, scratching the back of her neck. "It's just, I'm so sure that your her. I mean, when I made the connection, I couldn't believe I was so blind! I'm one of your biggest fans and a huge Directioner, so making the fit should've been a lot easier for a brainiac like me, but it took me forever to sum it all up into one and-" She shook her head, taking in a deep breath. "You must be her."

"You didn't have an description of what Zayn's sister looks like." I stated, motioning us all to walk into the tunnel.

"But the eyes. And you all share the same mom, it noticeable-"

"I'm not adopted. My parents are Emily and Jason Richards."

"Where were you born?"

"Uh, England. Moved here when I was six." I answered.

"Why'd you move?" Alyssa pressed.

"I-I don't know. My parents wanted to. I didn't have much say in it at that age."

"Maybe you all moved because your adoptive parents didn't want you to even see your birth parents."

"No, I'm not adopted." I strictly said, turning my attention away from Alyssa and watched the fish swim over us, exotic colors to each rainbow-throwing scale. I held onto the cold metal railing going all the way through the tunnel, from beginning to end.

"Marley, how do you know?" She asked slowly and sadly, coming to stand right behind me. I felt as if I was in a interrogation. May I have a lawyer, please?

Where the hell is Edward?

I turned and saw him standing in the tunnel entrance, his fingers gliding against the glass as he looked at a saw-fish that laid against the bottom of the aquarium.

"Why is everyone trying to convince me that I'm adopted?" I finally spoke up, turning to face her. "I'm not. My parents are who I have lived with, my mom conceived and carried me. I've lived with them my entire life. I'm sorry to disappoint you, Alyssa, but you've got the wrong girl."

My teeth gritted and grinded together and my hands started to shake with what I could only label as 'frustrated'. I turned away, jogging away from the siblings and towards the exit, stretching out over a hundred feet, before I emerged into the sun light. My eyes stung, and I knew tears weren't far behind.

Footsteps were heard running up behind me, but I power-walked through crowds of people and the sound of an advance was lost in the noise of the day.

"Marley." Edward said, placing a hand on my shoulder to stop me. "I'm so sorry about-"

"Forget it." I said, quickly wiping my eyes of the tears that blurred my vision of his face. "I'm gonna go home early, I don't feel good."

"I'll let boss know-" Edward was cut off by his sister.

"Marley, I-"

"No, Alyssa." Edward stopped. "That's enough."

"I'm sorry if I'm being rude, but my life is turning upside down. It was nice meeting you, Alyssa." I said before quickly turning away.

"I know you didn't DM his twitter, so I did it for you! Check your email, I sent him a link to your YouTube!" Alyssa's voice rang as bodies compacted between us.

I shook my head and headed for the main office, center of the park. I arrived almost ten minutes later in suppressed tears, trying to hold back any emotions as I butted through the front doors to expose Martin having hooked his digital camera up to his laptop that connected to a printer.

"Doing the pictures already?" I asked, sounding stronger than I actually felt.

"Almost done, actually. Wanna see them?"

"Well, it turns out I'm not feeling well right now and-"

"Edward texted me, saying his sister brought up the adoption thing. I understand if you want off for the rest of the day. We've all been kind of riding this on you."

I nodded, walking past the back doors to the employee's place. I threw my bag over my shoulder and walked back into the main office, Martin immediately handing me paper-sized pictures of Martha's birthing.

"You took good pictures." Martin complimented and I flipped through them.

Now everyone will see the birth of the seal pup. These photos were pretty decent.

"Martin," I said, handing them back and taking a deep breath. "I'm gonna ask them. I-I'm gonna get to the bottom of this so I can go back to my life. I'm gonna ask for the birthing photos, pregnancy photos even. I'm gonna get my answers today."

He placed a hand on my shoulder, patting softly. "Good for you, Marley. Give me a call if you need support. I'm sure Edward would even available himself for you." He said, sending a wink.

"Of course I would." Edward said, startling us both. I turned to see him in the office doorway. "I couldn't imagine how hard all of this is for you."

"I want to apologize, to you and your sister. I felt as if I was rude and-"

"Don't sweat it." Edward brushed off. "We understand."

* * *

I walked back home from work, slow and in no hurry. Edward and Martin offered me a ride, but I needed this time to think things over.

If I bring this up to my parents, it could put everything on edge, cause tension. But so many things have been adding up, things I couldn't even pick up on. If all of this is true, I have never been who I thought it was. My parents wouldn't be my parents, my home wouldn't have even been my home, my family wouldn't even be my family. I wouldn't be Marley Richards. All of it would've been lies, all the way down to my name.

I reached my hand up to my hair and pulled out of pure frustration, wanting to sob out. I felt lost, but not in the literal sense. I knew where I was, the neighborhood was open and friendly, but I feel as if I've lost my mind.

I lifted the neck of my shirt and wiped at my eyes of the salty tears and to dry my lashes. Ugh, this wasn't even my clothes. I left mine in the back office, wet. I'll get it tomorrow.

I didn't know what I was expecting when I finally came around to my house. Something different, physically and noticeably different, but it was the same home I have called mine since moving to Florida. The same six-foot rock wall concealing a white-painted, three-story house sitting on an acre and a half of land with lush green grass all around with sprinklers here and there. The physical appearance was, devastatingly the same. But there was a gloom hanging over it, from roof to basement. There was a different feel in the atmosphere surrounding this place, a place I'm not so sure I can call home right now.

Since I didn't have keys, I walked over to the metal gate and, on the left side of the rock wall, punched in the five security code numbers. A loud beep sounded for three seconds before the lock unlatched itself and the gates fell apart. I pushed my way past them them then pulled them back together, allowing the sensor to find its starter and lock the gate all over again. Usually when mom and dad are home, the gate is left open. So, they're probably both gone which will leave me until they get back to look for anything that will tell me all this crazy adopted shit, is real. Or fake.

I punched in a different combination of five numbers before opening the front door. I changed shoes absentmindedly and rushed upstairs to my room. I dropped my bag to the floor, threw my clothes off to put on something more comfortable, put my hair in a messy bun, then took a deep breath.

It's time for a search.

(Hope you had a nice and safe 4th of July x

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