Chapter 6

29th August, Monday 11:00 am

"I still don't like this" Birkhoff didn't like the idea of meeting with Mr and Mrs Carter and he made it clear throughout the whole drive to Brian Miller's house. The private investigator had offered the meeting to take place at his house so they could have privacy. Birkhoff refused to let Michael go alone so he tagged along even though he really didn't approve of this meeting.

"What is bothering you so much about it?" Michael was starting to get frustrated with his best friend. He was nervous enough about the meeting that he didn't need more on top of it.

"Niki would flip out when she finds out we met with them. We agreed to do that after you talked to her. This right now is not a good idea"

"We need more information and what better source than them. Miller would have just given us more useless information. We don't have time" Michael understood where Birkhoff was coming from but he didn't see any other option. He only hoped Nikita would understand.

"I get that but we should have waited. It's Monday. Nikki comes back on Wednesday. You have to tell her then so therefore you could have met them later in the week" Birkhoff was not giving up. Maybe there was still time to make Michael turn around.

"Yes but you are going to be in Ireland in a few days so this meeting needs to happen when you are here so you could help me" That was definitely not the reason why the meeting was today but Michael would try anything to shut Birkhoff up.

"Don't you dare make this about me now" The Nerd wasn't having it. Michael's overprotectiveness was ruling here. Nothing else. Birkhoff and Nikita had told him it would bite him in the ass one day and maybe that day was coming sooner than he expected.

"Can you just support me on this one" Michael was tired of arguing on the matter. There was no point. They were almost at Brian Miller's house and there was no turning back.

"Fine but I'm allowed to say I told you so later" Birkhoff huffed and slumped in his seat. Michael rolled his eyes. That would be the least of his problems when it came to that moment.

"Hello there" Brian Miller came out and greeted them at the front door. "I've prepared the sunroom for you. Mr and Mrs Carter are already here" Brian Miller led them through his house to a big open room of windows. There were two big sofas positioned across from each other separated by a coffee table in the middle. The room was full of plants and was a very bright calm space. Hopefully, that was going to set the right tone for this meeting.

On one of the sofas sat a man and a woman - who Michael and Birkhof recognised as Anh and Edward Carter. Michael couldn't help but start analyzing their features, looking for any resemblance to his wife. Fortunately or unfortunately (he didn't know anymore) there was a resemblance. Anh's eyes, Edward's nose and face shape. Little things here and there started to really pile up.

"Hello, I'm Edward and this is my wife Anh" The man and woman stood up as Michael, Birkhoff and Brian Miller entered the room.

"I'm Michael and this is Birkhoff. Nice to meet you" Birkhoff still preferred to go by his last name and save his first for the special people in his life.

They all took their seats. Edward and Anh sitting on one couch and Birkhof and Michael on the other. Brian Miller was sort of between them on the side, observing.

"So let's go right in. Michael is Nikita's husband. Birkhoff is..like a brother did you say?"

Birkhoff glared at him "We are family yes"

"But you are not related?" Anh asked.

"Blood doesn't mean family. We have created our own family around us" Michael jumped in to cut the tension. The way Anh asked that question didn't calm down his nerves about this meeting. It did the opposite.

"Right. Of course" Brian Miller tried to take the word back " I have told Anh and Edwar about our meeting so they are up to speed. Any questions you have don't hesitate to ask"

"We would like to hear the whole story behind all of this. Why, when and how did it happen?" All their questions could be answered by a simple explanation.

Anh and Edward nodded "I grew up here in England. My parents, Mai and Thao, came here from Vietnam when they got married. They started a business here - real estate. It took them years but they managed to create their perfect life here. Then they had me" Anh started. "I was an only child and I was to carry the family name and continue the family business"

"I ruined that" Edward chuckled and that got Anh to smile. It was clearly hard for her to recall all these events. "We met in Year 11 (High school) and instantly fell in love. I come from a middle-class family so her family wasn't exactly thrilled when they met me."

"Let's tell it how it was. They hated it. Tried to break us up and stir up drama between us numerous times but failed. Everything changed at the beginning of Year 12…"

Silence. Michael and Birkhof exchanged a look. "It's okay Anh take your time" Brian Miller reached over and patted Anh on the shoulder. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a few moments. When she opened them Michael could see her eyes water. There was so much pain there.

"At the beginning of Year 12, I found out I was pregnant. My parents went mad. The only thing that stopped my father from throwing me out of the house was the opinions of the people in the community. He cared more about his reputation than what throwing me out of the house would do to me…"

"I'm sorry you had to go through that" Michael didn't know what else to say. Some people didn't deserve to be parents.

"They should have done it. Maybe we wouldn't be here" Anh huffed bitterly under her nose. Edward pulled her to him and continued "Her father tried to accuse me of raping her but her mother stopped him. He then wanted us to abort the baby but was unsuccessful again"

"My mother was worried I wouldn't be able to have children again if I had a procedure like that done." Anh elaborated. "I was homeschooled for that last year of school. My parents didn't want anyone finding out I was pregnant. I was miserable for the first few months. They barely let Edward see me. People started asking questions so they had no choice but to lie."

"They said I got into some program in the states and that I was there studying. They sent me to Hawaii where no one they knew could possibly find me. I refused unless Edward came to. They fought it but I was final so he came" Anh smiled through her tears and held Edward's hand tight.

"We spent the rest of the pregnancy there. It was heaven. Beautiful, peaceful - just us. We loved it so much that we planned on raising our family there." Edwar beamed as he was recalling their dream.

"My parents, of course, didn't approve of that either but we were far away enough from them. Ed got a job and we started secretly saving up and planning our life in Hawaii''

"Then we had baby girl" Anh broke down in tears when Edward said that.

It broke Michael and Birkhoff's hearts. They knew what was next. It was just brutal what these two people had gone through. And because of what?

"We had Nayeli at the end of January. We had a wonderful two months as a family nestled in a little cottage on the beach. It almost feels like a dream when I think about it. It was that perfect '' Now Edward's eyes started to water.

"Then the car crash happened" Michael whispered.

"Yeah. On the 21st of March. It was a normal Sunday. I always took Nayeli with me to get breakfast on the weekends. I have driven on that road a million times…"

This is where things truly went wrong. Michael and Birkhoff leaned in ready to take in every word. That car crash was a total mystery to them.

"There was a truck in the middle of the road. It looked like there was an accident. I got out of the car to check if anyone was hurt…and…and it all went black. I woke up in a prison cell. Believe me, I was just as confused and shaken up" Edward added when he saw Michael and Birkhoff's faces.

"I guess I can explain here" Brian Miller jumped in "This was orchestrated by Mai and Thao Nguyen. Edward was supposed to think there was an accident so when he got out of the car he was drugged and kidnapped. Then he was thrown in prison in the place of someone else"

"We don't need to talk about that. The important thing is that there was no car crash involving me and Nayeli"

"Okay, so you got kidnapped. What happened to the baby then?" Birkhoff managed to word a question after all this revelation.

"She was kidnapped as well. Held for a few days by a third party until Mai and Thao arrived in town. Then when they did they changed her name and details and gave her to the social services"

"Jesus" Michael exclaimed. His mind could not wrap his head around it. He had seen many vile things throughout his life but this was next level. He wouldn't even do something like that to his enemy and these parents did that to their own child.

"Yeah.." Edward sighed.

"I got the call a few hours later." Anh sniffled "I don't remember much after that. They didn't even let me go to where it supposedly happened. They just took me away on a plane back to England. There were no bodies to bury. No ashes to spread or to keep. I had no way to mourn. I just woke up one morning and my whole life was taken away from me"

"And they kept this for how long" The Nerd couldn't help himself.

Anh wiped away her tears and took another breath "My mother got diagnosed with cancer. I took care of her till her last breath. I went to medical school so I was her at-home nurse. On her last days alive she told me all of this hoping I would forgive her…"

Silence again. That was heavy. That was cruel.

"I ran away. Got wasted every night for months until I decided it was enough. I was going to take my life back. A friend connected me with Brian and we got to work" Anh smiled again and looked brightly at Brian Miller.

"We were able to clear Edward's name two-year year battle with the court and now we are looking for their baby girl" Brian Miller turned to Michael.

"And you think that is my Nikita?"

"Mai gave Anh a folder with information on the little girl and Edward and their last whereabouts. That's how we found Edward and got him out and that's how we are tracing Nayeli now. All the paper trail leads to Nikita."

"Did you do any research on her by any chance? Because it seems like you don't know a lot" Birkhoff commented. Brian Miller and Anh and Edward were clueless about what their family and Nikita had got involved in.

"Well we also have a lot of questions too" Brian Miller perked up. It seemed like he had been waiting for that moment.

"Well buckle up" Birkhoff huffed a laugh. It was going to be a long day.

"Wow" Anh and Edward exclaimed. After an hour Michael and Birkhoff were able to conclude their crazy story with their happy ending now.

"So that's why you weren't able to find any records about her for so long" Birkhoff clarified.

"And why do you think she is not going to react well to finding her real parents?" Brian Miller questioned Michael.

"After we got our freedom I asked her if she wanted to find her parents. Nikita refused so that's that. There's more to the story but I'm not going to talk about it without her" Michael felt uncomfortable sharing such personal details.

"Let's talk about your relationship then" Anh turned to Michael, her tone changing from pleasantry to defensiveness.

"My relationship?" That was a weird request.

"Anh" Edward murmured and took a hold of her hand

"What? He is our daughter's husband." The argument was interrupted by Birkhoff choking on his drink. Michael shot him a look. He didn't like it either but he didn't want to be rude. Anh and Edward had gone through so much pain and suffering. He couldn't blame them for instantly latching onto the idea that Nikita was their daughter. Michael, however, still needed it to be 100% confirmed before believing it.

"I think we are skipping a few steps here. Look, what happened to you is horrible and I'm sorry you had to go through that. But my wife has gone through a lot too. It's a delicate matter and I would like to proceed with Mr Miller's suggestion of doing a DNA test first" Michael tried to put it as nicely as he could but he still couldn't escape Anh's glare.

"You are the one that doesn't give us a sample and-"

"Anh, please relax" Edward was miserably failing at keeping his wife calm.

"Excuse me? You seriously think a stolen DNA sample is okay" Birkhoff was tired of just sitting and listening. If this woman was going to talk to Michael like that then so could he open his mouth.

"Hey, it's fine" Michael pulled Birkhoff back next to him.

"I will talk to Nikita when she comes back. From then on she can do whatever she wants. End of discussion" Michael stood up and left, his best friend following behind. This was too much. He felt like his heart was going to fly out of his chest.

"Michael, wait. Michael!" Brian Miller chased after the pair. Birkhoff completely ignored him and got into the car. Michael stopped and turned around. "I said what I said. I'm not compromising"

"Look, you have to understand her. You heard her story. How could anyone be okay after that? "

"I get that but I'm still not changing my decision"

"We agree with you, but please do reach out to me if you or Nikita have any questions. And when you do talk to her please call me"

"Okay" Michael nodded, got into his car and drove off. The drive was filled with Birkhoff's rants about the meeting. Michael was thankful for it. It was distracting his mind nicely or else he felt like he would lose it. So much was revealed today. It was going to take a while to sink in. That was the thing though. They didn't have time for that.

Thank you so much for reading and for your lovely reviews!! Your support means the world to me xx