Isabella rolled her eyes, hugged Anna’s arm tightly and said, “No! You’re only a little older than me and you’re nothing like my mother.”
“Yes, you’re right. I would not have had a daughter at your age. But I did adopt a daughter your age.”
“You already have two kids!” Isabella was an expert at arguing with others. She said nothing else after that.
Anna was aware of what she was thinking. She then lay down and hugged Isabella tightly, saying softly, “Yes, I have two kids. And I take you as my child as well. Mike, on the other hand, does not have any children. Remember the time when I asked if you wanted to see Mike and say goodbye before I left Birmingham? At that time, you were furious and said he wasn’t your father. You were right. He’s not your father. You’re about to become an adult now. And I think you have the right to know the truth. I’m so sorry that I didn’t tell you this earlier. I was pretty torn back then and I always flinch the moment right before I was going to reveal the truth to you. Isabella, please don’t blame me for not telling you the truth all these years, okay?”
Isabella said, “Okay, I forgive you. Well, even if you had told me at the time, I would not have believed you. I’d wanted to leave that shithole since I was a kid, and no one could stop me.”
“It was your uncle who didn’t let me tell you. He was the one who let me go, so I have no choice but to agree to his request. Go to sleep, we have to get up early tomorrow.”
The next morning, it rained lightly, cooling down the city. Anna waited for Isabella outside the suburban jail after dropping her off. The prison’s visiting room had a lot of thick glass, and the phone was the only thing connecting the inside to the outside.
Isabella sat in a chair, her face tense. Her figure was reflected on the dirty glass. She asked Anna to take her to remove the single braids from her head before she arrived. And she looked refreshing in a simple white T-shirt and denim skirt.
Isabella waited a while before seeing the guards bring Mike out. He had lost so much weight that she almost didn’t recognize him. She paused at the doorway for a moment before becoming less shocked. Then she sat down slowly, looking at the man in his prime and trying not to cry. After that, she picked up the microphone and gestured for Mike to speak to her.
Mike immediately asked, “What are you doing here? Is Anna treating you badly? “
They hadn’t seen each other in years, but Mike’s first question was not how she was doing but whether Anna truly cared for her.
“Anna is good to me; she’s like a sister to me.”
Mike had no expression on his face and simply said, “You should call her ‘mom’ from now on because she adopted you. I’m relieved if she truly treats you well.”
“This is my own business. Do you have anything to say to me after five years?” Isabella asked, her gaze fixed on him.
“What are you talking about?” Mike asked.
Isabella shuddered and tried not to cry. She asked, “When are you going to tell me that you are not my father but my uncle? How long will you keep this from me?”
Hearing that, Mike looked up at Isabella and noticed how much she resembled her mother. He was in a trance and believed he had seen his sister in a flash.
“Anna told me that you are not my biological father. You took us to the island to protect my mother from bad people in our village. You didn’t expect us to stay long, so you introduced her = to others as your wife. But Dragon was drunk that night, and you weren’t on the island. So the accident occurred.”
Isabella’s voice was muffled by electrical noise, but every word was audible. Mike was heartbroken as he listened to his niece say what had happened in the past.
At the same time, Anna had been waiting outside for Isabella. She thought it was time for her to come out, so she started the car. Just as she was about to buckle up, she noticed she got a new text message. It was from Nancy, and she said, “Don’t forget what you’ve promised me.”
A shiver ran down Anna’s spine. She knew that if she didn’t go on that blind date this afternoon, Nancy would hunt her down with a scalpel.
After replying to Nancy’s text message, Anna sighed and looked at the exit in front of her. Her phone then rang again.
Anna frowned and picked up the phone, saying, “I replied to your text message, and I’ll be on that blind date for you. You don’t have to keep telling me that. “
Then Anna heard a man ask, “What? A blind date?”
Anna was taken aback and looked down at her phone. It wasn’t Nancy’s number.
Anna recognized the caller and asked, “Wayne, is that you?”
“It’s the weekend, so why don’t we go to dinner?” Wayne said after a brief pause.
Anna froze and said, “I’m not available right now. Besides, you don’t have to invite me to dinner. “
Wayne asked unhappily, “Oh? So you’re going on a blind date? With who?”
Anna was at a loss for what to say. When she looked up, Isabella was already walking toward the car. So, she said right away, “A lawyer named Joshua. And it’s none of your business.”
After that, she got off the phone. Wayne had been sitting in his car for quite some time under Anna’s apartment building. He frowned as he looked at his phone. He thought, Joshua? A lawyer?! Is it possible that Anna’s going to have a blind date with Joshua Davis? I’m gotta find it out no matter what!
Wayne then returned to the office. Noel had just left the finance office when he saw Wayne. “Mr. Wright, I thought you weren’t coming back today,” he said.
Wayne gave him a cold stare, making him shiver and daring him to ask more questions. He asked, “What was the original plan for today?”
Noel followed him, saying, “Today, the legal department and the secretary will hold a meeting. Mr. Davis was unanimously appointed as the legal department’s lead attorney by the board. We need you to make the announcement in person and then coordinate with the various departments.”
“Cancel the meeting now and tell Davis to meet me in my office. I have something urgent to talk to him about.” Wayne said impatiently and coldly.
“But, Mr. Wright. All the board members have already been waiting for you in the meeting room. Are you sure you want to…”
Before Noel finished his sentence, Wayne cut him off, glaring at him, “Just do as I said! Damn it!”
Instantly, Noel felt a shiver running down his spine. After a few seconds, he said in a trembling voice under Wayne’s glare, “I… I’m on it. I’m so sorry!”
A few minutes later, Joshua arrived at the door to Wayne’s office. As soon as Wayne’s secretary saw him, she opened the door for him respectfully and informed Wayne of his coming.
“Greetings, Mr. Wright. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Joshua said in a light tone while stepping into Wayne’s office and looking around.
“Congratulations. Mr. Davis, you will now be the legal department’s lead attorney. I hope you will take the responsibility and do your best here,” Wayne said, looking at him seriously with his sharp eyes.
“Oh, thanks. With due respect, shouldn’t you congratulate me at the meeting that has been canceled just now? Otherwise, I’m afraid that other board members won’t know that you arranged for me to take the position,” Unbuttoning his suit, Joshua uttered when sitting down in front of Wayne gracefully.
Then he continued, “Right. I assumed that you’ve already known that I’m not interested in taking the job and that I plan to turn it down. Is that why you asked to talk to me in private, Mr. Wright?”
Huh! You’re quite bold, aren’t you? As a newcomer here, you’ve already used to talking to me in a seemingly polite but somewhat insulting tone. Never had I been treated by my employees like this before. Damn it! But I can’t lose it right now as I have something urgent to talk with you, Joshua. I need to confirm whether you’re the lawyer that Anna is going to have a blind date with. As for your job, I’ll deal with it later!
Thinking of that, Wayne answered in a polite yet indifferent tone, “Indeed. It turns out that you’re just as smart and insightful as others told me. As you know, the position had been vacant for a long time. So, your sudden quit will make it hard for the HR department to hire a new lead attorney for the time being. I wonder, if it will be acceptable that I invite you to lunch and discuss the matter? What do you think, Mr. Davis?”
Joshua didn’t look up and kept packing his bag. He said, “Well, I’m sorry that I have to turn you down again on this matter. I have plans this noon, and I took the afternoon off.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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