My lovely readers, I try my best to finish the story in a few weeks, because I want so baldy participate with Searching for My Identity on the Wattys2019. Thank you so much for your support :)
A flood of tears escaped Norah's eyes, and she just couldn't stop crying. The whole situation took so much power and energy from her leaving her emotionally drained. She felt so lonely and abandoned, despite being surrounded by people in the room.
She felt a painful separation from her adoptive parents, even if she didn't want to admit it right now. The pain of Max and Katherine's betrayal wounded her. Max and Kate noticed this and couldn't bear to see their daughter like this. Together they stood up and walked slowly towards her, "Sweetie, we..."
"No! I don't want to hear any more explanations. I've listened to explanation after explanation. You knew you adopted me and never told me. You lied to me for 14 years. Why Mom, Dad?" she sobbed, dropping her shoulders in a heap of misery and barely dared to look at her parents. Although she desperately wanted them to console her, she couldn't bring herself to turn to them. So many thoughts were floating around in her mind.
"Honey, I know we made a big mistake by hiding it from you. But we wanted to offer you a beautiful childhood without you having to worry about why your parents gave you away. We planned to tell you when you were older," Kathy began to tell despite Norah's defensive attitude.
"It's the truth, Emma. I mean Norah. I'm still getting used to your new name. I can't imagine how hard it is for you to get used to," Max said, approaching his daughter. He stood in front of Norah and continued with a sad smile, "If I could, I'd undo everything that's happened over the last few years. But I can't, sweetheart. You know that as well as I do. And you know we are scared too. The biggest fear we have as your parents is losing you. We love you so much, and can't bear the thought of losing you. You are not alone. Please don't shut us out. We will clear everything up as good as we can, and the DNA test is the first way in the right direction. We need to know the truth, so we can figure out what to do."
"Dad's right, munchkin. I'm really pissed that our parents lied to us too. But as I already said, you're my sister by heart. It doesn't matter to me that you're not my real sister. And I will follow you with every step.
I promise you that no matter what happens. I love you so much, Schatzi!" Sophie approached her and encouraged her to stand. Immediately Sophie hugged her little sister.
Logan and Rory watched the two sisters with a sorrowful glance while noticing that Nathalie had withdrawn quite a bit. With a sad expression on her face, she looked at Sophie and her twin sister. "Dolly, go to Sophie and Norah. I'm sure they won't mind. Go on," Logan whispered to her and Nathalie awoke from her rigor. Uncertain, she looked at her father and then rose. Her dad was right. They had to stick together now.
Norah turned to her sister and hugged her tightly. "I love you too, Schatzi. You can't imagine how much I love you, Sophie Katherine Hoffmann. I am so happy to have you in my life." she whispered in a desperate voice as she buried her face on Sophie's chest.
"Me too. Now calm down. How about we go to Goldy's and get our favorite muffins and talk about everything you want to know over a cup of hot chocolate or coffee?" she suggested.
"That's a great idea and Norah? I.."
"Oh, Nathalie I'm sorry it wasn't my intention to shut you out. I don't know a lot about you. But I want to get to know you now that I have two sisters!" Norah said.
"Actually you have three sisters and one little brother named Jacob. Grace and Jacob aren't with us. But I don't want to…"
"Wow...three...and one... I...I…" Norah was at a loss for words.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overwhelm you. I couldn't resist telling you. I mean…" Nathalie said.
"Nathalie, it's okay. Don't worry. It's just a surprise. There have been so many surprises lately," Norah said, shaking her head. "But let's head to Goldy's. Liam do you want to join us? "
"Yeah, sure, that sounds good," Liam nodded. Together they left and made their way to the nearby bakery Goldy's.
After the teenagers left the house, Logan got up from the couch and walked up and the down like a tiger in the cage. He felt restless and useless. He needed to work off his stored up tension. But he had to get his act together for all of their sake. "So then I guess we should ..."
Before Logan could continue, his iPhone interrupted him. He glanced at the display and wondered why his ex-fiancee, Odette, was calling him. "It's Odette..." Logan mouthed to his wife and took the call.
"Hey, Odette I..."
"Logan, I need to tell you something. I am visiting my mom in Paris and today. I found some terrible news in Papa's old desk in the attic. There were some files in the drawer about...about... oh God, I don't even know how to tell you this," she began. Logan had a strange feeling this would not be good news.
"Odette, please take a deep breath and then tell me what's going on and why it is so urgent that you had to call me right away," Logan tried to calm her down.
Odette took a deep breath and continued in a shaky voice, "I found important files about Norah. Logan, my dead father, was the one who was responsible for Norah's kidnapping all those years ago. Mon dieu I'm so sorry. Please believe me; I had no idea."
"What? What are you talking about? Can you send the papers you found over asap? I need to see them," Logan asked her in disbelief over the news he had received.
"Yes, yes, of course. And Logan, I'm so sorry. I can't believe my dad would do such a horrible thing," she said as she scanned the files with him still on the phone. Next, she sent them directly to Logan's email account.
"Odette you didn't know. This explains so much. Thank you for letting me know. I'll give you a call later bye," Logan said eager to check his email.
"Of course, Mon Ami," Odette said, and then Logan ended the call. Logan put the cellphone on the coffee table and ran his hand over his face.
"Logan? What's wrong?" Rory dared to ask after a few minutes had passed.
"Obviously you know that was Odette. Apparently, she found some files in Pierre's old desk in the attic. The files were about Norah. Rory, it was Pierre's fault. It was all his doing. All these years and we finally know," Logan said, looking dazed as he stared off into the distance.
"What?" Rory asked, confused.
"Oh God! Pierre Lamintage. He's.. he's my uncle," Kate whispered and went pale. She immediately ran into her master bedroom to get all her record files from the adoptive agency.
Katherine came back with a thick folder. She was startled to see her ex-husband and Logan in a heated discussion. They were going back and forth rapidly with tempers rising.
"Logan, we didn't know anything about this. Seriously, do you really think we would have been part of something terrible like that? You think we stole a baby?" Max fired at Logan in an angry voice throwing his hands in the air.
"I don't give a shit what you did or didn't do! Your names are in these documents, so don't you dare tell me that you didn't know anything about it. You made sure our daughter never came back to us. We had lost the chance to raise our daughter!" Logan shouted and could hardly suppress his anger anymore.
Max glared at Logan, "We thought she was OUR daughter! We didn't know where she was coming from or why her biological parents didn't want her!" Max yelled.
"Didn't want her? Of course, we wanted her! That's ridiculous!" Logan screamed.
"How the hell were we supposed to know that? That's what happens when you adopt a baby, Logan! You get a child the biological family doesn't want or can't keep! We adopted a child!" Max defended himself and his ex-wife.
"She was always wanted! She was stolen from us! You helped steal her!" Logan hissed, stepping closer to Max.
Fearing fists were about to start flying, Rory stepped between the men. She held her hands up and said, "Logan, Max, come on now. This is horrible information to get. I think we were all thinking the other party was in the wrong up until now. Now we realize it is none of our faults. Norah was stolen from us. And you were lied to about where the baby you desperately wanted actually came from." She paused and looked at the men. "We need to work together now. We all have a very hurt girl we need to stand united for. And now we finally know the truth."