Chapter 3

The next day, we arrived at the registry office at 9:00 am.

Adeline came along with everyone else. She said she wanted to be there when I officially became part of the Holmes family.

The clerk took our documents and began going through them. Halfway through, she looked up at Dad. "We're still missing one document to prove your relationship."

Dad turned to look at Lucian. "Didn't I ask you to prepare it?"

Lucian rummaged through the folder for a while before his expression shifted. "I left it on the desk in the study."

"We're already here. Can't you just process it first?" Marcus couldn't help cutting in.

The clerk shook her head before explaining, "The system won't let me proceed without all the required documents."

"It's all my fault. Lucian was helping me find my medication last night. He probably got caught up with that and forgot about it," Adeline immediately chimed in.

I looked at her. "Why's that your fault?"

My question seemed to have caught her off guard. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"Lucian helped you find your medication, but he's also the one who forgot to bring the document. When you say it's your fault, are you trying to take the blame for his mistake?

"Or are you just trying to remind me that he forgot about my paperwork because he was too busy taking care of you?" I asked.

A frown immediately crossed Lucian's face. "Adeline's not as calculating as you make her out to be."

"Then what did she mean by that?"

"She just feels guilty, that's all."

"But she never even touched the document. What does she have to feel guilty about?" I pressed.

By then, Lucian was starting to lose his patience. "Fine, it was my fault. Happy now?" he snapped.

"That's fine by me," I replied. I made a note of the missing document on my phone before adding, "We'll come back this afternoon."

Marcus rolled his eyes in exasperation. "You really have to make a problem out of everything, don't you?"

"It's my family registry we're talking about. If I don't take it seriously, who will?"

None of them had an answer to that.

Dad sent the chauffeur back to retrieve the missing document.

Adeline's phone rang after we'd been waiting in the lobby for 20 minutes. The moment she looked at the screen, all the color drained from her face.

"I'll be heading back first, Mom," she said.

Mom caught her by the arm. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

But the more Adeline insisted she was fine, the faster her tears fell.

Nathan took the phone from her. On the screen was the surveillance footage from the home, showing several workers carrying things out of her room.

Mom immediately turned to look at Dad. "Who told them to clear out Adeline's room?" she demanded.

Dad looked taken aback. "Last night, I told the housekeeper to get Sylvia's childhood bedroom ready for her," he replied.

Adeline bit her lip before choking out, "It's okay. That room was Sylvia's to begin with. If my things get thrown away, so be it."

Mom grew agitated the moment she heard that. "Who said anything about throwing your things away?" With that, Mom grabbed her bag and headed for the exit.

Lucian and Marcus immediately followed Mom out. Nathan spared me a glance before leaving. "Adeline has anxiety. A sudden change to her room could trigger an episode," he explained.

"You're a doctor. Wouldn't it be enough for you to stay with her?" I replied.

Then, I turned to the other two. "Do either of you know how to treat anxiety too?"

Gritting his teeth, Marcus snapped, "How could you stop us from leaving when Adeline's crying her eyes out?"

"I'm not stopping you. You were the ones who promised you wouldn't leave until I was added to the family registry. So, why are you leaving now?"

Mom stopped in her tracks. "We can take care of the family registry this afternoon. Adeline's having a really hard time now."

"I'm having a hard time too," I said quietly.

She froze at my words.

"All of you leave the moment she's unwell. But when I'm upset, all my problems can wait until the afternoon. It's because she's sick, isn't it?

"So long as she's sick, everything that matters to me has to come second."

Mom's lips parted as if she wanted to say something when Adeline suddenly crouched down. She clutched at her chest as she struggled to catch her breath.

This time, no one answered me.

Mom and all three of my brothers immediately crowded around her. Even Dad had stepped aside to take a call from work.

A few minutes later, they'd all left the registry office with Adeline.

Dad turned back to me before he left. "Just wait for the chauffeur to bring the document here. We'll come back as soon as we've taken care of this."

"How long will that take?" I asked.

"Don't make such a big deal out of it."

"Give me a rough estimate."

Dad's expression immediately darkened. "How am I supposed to know?" he snapped.

Just like that, the elevator doors slid shut in front of them.

Still holding my stack of documents, the clerk asked cautiously, "Do you still want to proceed?"

I glanced through the glass doors only to see that their car had already pulled away.

Not one of the five people who'd promised to be there when I officially became part of the family yesterday had stayed behind.

I took back the application form. Seemingly convinced I'd changed my mind, she suggested, "You can just leave the documents here and come back another time."

"There's no need for that." With that, I tore off the page requesting the transfer of my registration to the Holmes family.

"Can I ask you something? I don't want to be added to the Holmes family registry anymore. If I want to transfer my registration, is there somewhere else I can register instead?" I asked.