Searching for my Identity

Chapter 53 What now??

My beloved readers, I know I'm terribly late and I'm sorry that it took me so long to write this chapter, but the whole situation at work, school is really though right now. Especially because of the covid19 crises so stay save and thanks for being so loyal and of course of your support. A big thanks to all of you. 

And I'm so happy to have such a great editor like @amys99999 thank you so much. You had done a really good job as always <3 but now please enjoy the latest chapter :) 

The next morning Norah was awakened by the warm rays of sunshine that fought their way through the blinds. Sleepily, she groaned and turned to her other side, out of the direct rays of light. She pulled the blanket over her head. Her jerky, unexpected movements caused Norah's cat, Luna, to jump up and land next to her owner. The three-colored beauty laid down next to Norah began to meow and gently nudged the teenager. "Luna, let me sleep a little longer; it's Saturday," Norah murmured and felt Luna licking her hand.

"It's okay, you little troublemaker; I'm finally awake now. Come on; I'll give you something to eat," she said, giving in. She sat up and started petting Luna behind her ear. She began to purr leisurely, which made Norah chuckle.

Gently the young girl took her five-month-old cat in her arms and walked with her on soft soles down the stairs to the kitchen. After she had given her cat some food in her bowl, she looked outside the window for a moment. The weather was fantastic that day. Norah wondered if maybe Melinda was awake and up for a run. Then maybe they could have breakfast in her favorite coffee on the Danube Island.

A wave of guilt hit Norah. For too long, she had neglected Melinda and ignored her phone calls, simply because she was afraid that her best friend would turn away from her if she told her that she was adopted and would soon have to change schools because her biological parents came from the States. She had been afraid to tell her the truth.

She sighed softly, took a quick look at the kitchen clock, wrote a message for her adoptive parents, and then went back to her room to put on her sports clothes.

Less than 15 minutes later, Norah met her best friend outside the subway station. Melinda looked her up and down. "Hey, why didn't you take my calls? I was so worried about you. I didn't see you in school either. Did something happen to Liam? Come on, let the cat out of the sack, Emma," she demanded as only best friends can.

With a sober look, Norah lowered her gaze. She felt so awful for treating Melinda as she had. Norah took a breath and forced herself to look at her friend. "You.. you're going to hate me, I guess. I...I don't know where to start, Melinda. 

First of all, I'm so sorry that I didn't take your calls. I was so busy, and I don't know how to tell you the news without breaking into tears again. Everything is falling apart right now.." she began knowing she couldn't hide the fact that she was still angry and sad. And it wasn't her intention at all to burden Melinda with her worries

Meli looked at her best friend, trying to figure out what was happening in her best friend's life. She had known Emma for so many years when they were attending daycare. "Em, please tell me what happened? How about if we're canceling our run today and go to Leo's Café to have breakfast and talk?" Melinda tried her best to get through to Emma. "Yeah, that's a good idea. And..."

Melinda put her arm around Norah. "Sweetie, I don't hate you. I was just worried about you. Miss Peterson, our German teacher, was so surprised that you weren't there in school for the last few days. But we had gotten back our tests, and your test result was the best in the whole class. A straight-A again," she said with a small smile on her lips.

Melinda still felt a little confused because Emma, as she knew Norah, hadn't called back in the last few days. But she knew that Em hadn't done it on purpose. She knew no one who was as loving, considerate, and full of joy and esprit as Emma was. So Melinda was all the more curious about what secret Emma kept from her. She didn't like that they had a secret between them, but if she was honest with herself, she'd have to admit that she didn't tell Emma everything in her life all the time either.

"Oh, okay, I think..we should head to Leo's cafe." Norah nodded absently, and together they made their way to Leo's cafe. ---------------------------------------------------------While Norah was out on the road with Melinda, Logan was in a private breakfast room with Rory, Finn, Colin, his father, and his wife's parents. They were waiting for Katherine and Max. Logan's mom offered to take her grandchildren to see Vienna so Logan could discuss the next steps with Rory and Norah's adoptive parents.

"Logan, I know this whole situation is pretty stressful for all of us. But has agent Delany contacted you about the files yet? After all, we have to do something. We can't let this despicable human get away with this, Logan." Mitchum cleared his throat and looked at his son seriously.

"I know, dad, I know. And believe me, hate is already seething inside me. I want to kill him. But I'm not getting my hands dirty because of this person. Nevertheless, I want to face him and tell him straight to his face that he didn't manage to break us. 

No one messes with the Huntzbergers, and yet it hurt me so much that Rory and I broke Nathalie's heart. Because we told her she had to break up with Jason. Rory and I can't allow her to spend time with him anymore, even though he probably didn't know about the whole situation." Logan told his father while he tried to forget the whole talk he had with Nathalie yesterday. It was horrible, and he had never seen his little dolly, so hurt and disappointed.

Nathalie was usually very rational and level-headed. She was not normally easily upset by any problems. Yesterday's emotional outburst had shocked Logan. He understood her angst, but it concerned him just the same. If his parents had forbidden him to date girls or made him break up with his girlfriend when he was 14 years old, he would have asked them if they lost their minds.

"Can anyone tell me why Nathalie had to break up with Jason? The why is still unsolved. So please enlighten me, son." Mitchum said and tried to ignore the strange feeling in his gut that Jason might be involved in this whole situation.

"Oh, I'm sorry, dad, I had forgotten. Jason is the son of Tristan and..."

"Ahhh... the pieces come together..." Mitchum said, nodding. "That's all I needed to know. It's good that you told her that she has to break up with him. I don't want one of my grandchildren to be in danger, even if it hurts Nathalie. You did the right thing, Logan. But did you guys tell her why? I mean, she must be pretty upset, right?" Mitchum interrupted his son.

"Well, dad, it's not that simple. We don't want to put Nathalie in any danger because you never know what could happen. We figured the less she knows, the better. I could never forgive myself when something bad would happen to Nathalie. Therefore we came up with a half-truth to tell her." Logan sighed and then said, "Maybe I am wimping out, but I don't know if I can tell her that her boyfriend's dad was involved in her twin sister's kidnapping."

Mitchum looked thoughtfully at his son. Before he could tell Logan he understood and approved of his plan, Max and Katherine came into the private room with huge smiles on their faces. Max looked around the room. Nervously, he said, "Good morning, I know we're a little late, but we were up all night. I'm sorry, but we just cannot stand the thought of losing Emma forever. In fact, we won't let that happen."