Chapter 17

With the doxxing uproar behind her, Elise settled back into studying. She still hadn’t accepted Adrian’s friend request, and for the time being, there was no more word from him.

School started in two days. She got up early and worked through a junior-year physics practice paper, marked out of a hundred. Apart from overlooking a second method for the final problem, she had nearly everything right.

Afterward, she began putting her books and stationery into her backpack, getting things ready for the new term. Before long, a maid knocked, eager to invite her downstairs for lunch.

Julian and Vivian were already at the table. As Elise looked up, she met Julian’s eyes.

“Yesterday’s trouble has been taken care of,” he said gently. “If anything like that happens again, tell me. All right?”

Elise pressed her lips together. She had learned to manage things on her own from an early age; asking for help didn’t come naturally. If it happened again, she might very well keep it to herself.

Still, he had spoken up for her yesterday.

“Thank you for helping me, Julian.”

He nodded, his expression softening further.

He hadn’t believed for a moment that the attacks had gathered momentum entirely by themselves. Someone had been pushing them along. Yesterday, he had instructed his secretary to investigate.

The inquiry had led to a large account that had done a great deal to inflame the situation. The push to expose private information had begun with its suggestion that “Elise Is a Good Kid” was Elise’s own secret account.

Vivian was behind that account.

She had also spent a long time spreading damaging stories about Elise online. Those stories had helped give Elise such a terrible reputation in the first place, leaving crowds of strangers ready to abuse her.

Beside them, Vivian ate quietly, with little appetite. She had watched everything unfold yesterday: Elise’s legal demand letter, Whitmore Group’s statement, Julian’s support. In the end, even Adrian, who had promised to stand up for her, had taken Elise’s side.

She had sent him several messages after his post last night. He hadn’t answered any of them.

He had said he would back her up!

Her uneasiness grew. She glanced up and caught Julian looking at her. His eyes were so cold that she went rigid.

He looked away without a word. In their previous life, she had run off as soon as the Whitmores went bankrupt. That had been selfish. Encouraging people to dox Elise and her parents was vicious.

If he could have had his way, Vivian wouldn’t have spent another minute in this house.

Julian glanced at Daniel.

The butler understood immediately. He took his place beside Vivian and spoke in a formal, impersonal tone.

“Miss Vivian, Mr. Whitmore asked us to look for your birth parents. Yesterday, we received information about them. We’ll need a DNA sample from you for comparison. If the results match, we can confirm that they are your parents.”

Vivian’s face went still. For several seconds, she couldn’t take it in.

They had found her birth parents already?

Elise looked at Julian in surprise. In her previous life, nobody had ever tried to find Vivian’s biological family. Vivian hadn’t brought it up, and the brothers had thought she was happy with them. None of them had suggested a search.

Daniel took a clear resealable bag from his pocket. Vivian’s expression kept changing, but she made no move to help him.

“Miss Vivian,” he prompted, “a strand of hair, please. Or another sample will do. Then we can arrange the DNA comparison.”

She looked dreadful. At last, after trying to absorb what he had said, she asked quietly, “My birth parents… who are they? How are they doing?”

Daniel knew her well enough to understand what she meant by that last question. She wanted to know how much money they had.

He considered how to answer without upsetting her too badly.

“They’re decent, hardworking people. You needn’t worry.”

Financially, however, they were nowhere near the Whitmores.

The searchers had followed the trail through the children’s home to the street where Vivian had gone missing. From there, they had asked the neighbors, found several families who had lost daughters, and spoken to each in turn. Comparing the dates had finally brought them to a middle-aged couple whose circumstances fit.

The husband worked in construction. His wife stayed home to care for their child. After losing Vivian and searching for her without success, they had eventually had a son. He was only eight now.

Both adults bore a strong resemblance to Vivian. It looked very likely that the search was over; the DNA results were all that remained to establish it.

After a moment’s thought, Daniel gave her the full account of their circumstances.

The color drained from Vivian’s face.

Decent and hardworking? Wasn’t that just a polite way of saying poor?

Her father was a construction worker? And there was a younger brother at home?

More to the point, if she left the Whitmores, what would happen to the clothes she bought every month, costing thousands of dollars apiece? What about all her jewelry?

Elise listened as she ate. So Vivian’s father worked while her mother stayed home with their child. A fairly traditional household. A construction worker’s family might even be a little better off than her own adoptive parents.

Julian continued his meal, paying no attention to Vivian’s distress. When he noticed Elise watching him curiously, he smiled at her.

“Julian,” she asked in a low voice, “what made you decide to look for Vivian’s birth parents?”

He looked at her and thought of what the investigation had uncovered yesterday.

Should he tell her that Vivian had been encouraging people to expose her adoptive parents’ private information?

He hesitated briefly, then decided to keep it from her. He would protect his sister. Knowing how much malice Vivian bore her would only make her unhappy.

“They’re her birth parents,” he said after a moment. “Who wouldn’t want to be reunited with them?”

Elise nodded. She thought of her own mother and father. She had never really known them. She had been only two when she got lost, too young to remember them, yet ever since she could remember wanting anything, she had wanted to see them.

By the time she came back to the Whitmores, they were already dead.

Her spirits sank. She lowered her head and went on eating.

A piece of broccoli appeared on her plate.

Elise looked up just as Julian drew the serving fork away.

“Eat some more vegetables,” he said kindly.

She stared at the broccoli. The sad thoughts slipped away, and her face scrunched up.

She had hated broccoli since she was little.

Julian couldn’t suppress a smile. He knew perfectly well she disliked it. That was why he had chosen it to tease her, and it had distracted her exactly as he’d hoped.

Vivian’s fingers clenched hard.

“Julian, I don’t want to meet them.” Her composure was giving way. “What if they abandoned me on purpose? If I go back, what if they treat me badly?”

Julian looked indifferent and showed no sign of answering. Daniel took it upon himself to explain.

“You needn’t worry about that. They were out for a walk when your stroller slipped out of their grasp, and you went missing. They didn’t deliberately leave you. They’ve never stopped looking for you.”

Vivian was about to speak again when Julian set down his fork.

“Being reunited with your birth parents is a good thing, Vivian. Why are you so unwilling?”

There was no warmth in his eyes, and his voice was cold enough to stop her.

The table fell silent.

Vivian stared at him, her eyes reddening. None of her brothers had ever spoken to her like that in her entire life.

She wanted to argue, but she was afraid of him. Her nose stung, and most of her defiance deserted her.

Feeling unbearably wronged, she reluctantly pulled out a strand of hair and handed it to Daniel. All the while, she prayed that the test wouldn’t match.

Beneath the table, she picked up her phone to see whether Adrian had answered her.

His last reply was still from two days ago. Her face fell, and she began typing again.

Viv: Julian says they’ve found my birth parents. He wants me to take a DNA test with them.

Viv: [crying][crying][crying]

Viv: He’s going to throw me out.

Viv: Adrian, when are you coming home?

She was about to turn off the screen when her phone vibrated.

Adrian: I’m on my way home.

Adrian: Just you wait.

Adrian: [smiling face]

The first two messages filled her with delight. He was finally coming back!

But didn’t he still have work scheduled? Was he rushing home early for her?

Her gloomy mood lifted at once. Adrian still cared about her.

Her finger paused over the last message. There was something odd about that smiling face.

Didn’t he know it wasn’t a particularly friendly smile?

A moment later, she dismissed the thought. Perhaps he simply didn’t understand how younger people used emojis.

Her appetite returned, and she finished her lunch.

They had just eaten and were getting ready to go upstairs when a noise came from the entrance.

Daniel went to greet the arrival. Soon he returned to the living room carrying a suitcase, with Adrian behind him.