MISHA WANTED TO laugh as Soren’s face darkened a bit with confusion.She playfully pressed his nose with her finger. “Don’t tell me you believe it?” Misha told him.“Why not?” He held her finger and kissed its tip.“Jesus, Soren, haven’t you looked in a mirror?”Soren wanted to grimace as confusion flashed again in his eyes.“You are the spitting image of your father,” she said. “That’s why I immediately had an idea on who you might be when we first met.”“Oh, okay,” he said, his face still a bit bothered, and she didn’t know why. He still had doubts that what she said—that he might be adopted—could be true? Unbelievable, he looked a younger version of his father. But then, what was wrong with being adopted these days? Nothing, as long as your parents loved you. Oof, his father obviously wasn’t that enamored with Soren, probably the reason why he was so eager to latch on to what she uttered. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the evidence that he was his father’s son was too strong. Any j

“HE THINKS I’M not his son,” Soren found himself repeating his mother’s word, in a ghastlier tone, for lack of words to say.To say that he was stunned would be the understatement of the year. But then, he quickly collected himself. His father was not the most considerate man in the world and could sometimes be real tactless when it came to expressing his opinions. Didn’t his father agree with Andrew and Kayla’s accusations against him without looking for an iota of proof? He couldn’t remember a time when his father tried to talk to him to verify those rumors. What he could remember was his father, on a newspaper interview, remarking that, yes, his youngest son who was named Soren could sometimes really be a bit naughty. Was it naughty the word he used or nasty?After that, Soren never attempted to read any article or interview again about his father.“Yes, he had that suspicion,” his mother said, her voice sounding a bit weary.“Had?” he said.“He now believes you’re his son.”“Reall

MISHA HESITATED AS she was about to open Kayla’s message on her Message Request inbox to see the photos she sent. She remembered Soren’s advice again—ignore. Everything that Kayla would tell her and show her would anyway just be lies, like the rumors she was spreading against Soren. She thought of deleting Kayla’s message but changed her mind. She stood up and placed the phone on the bedside table again. She went back to bed to continue to try sleeping, although she knew that the fly, the bee and the mosquito that Kayla had sent would be back to pester her and deprive her of sleep.Ignore everything about Kayla, she planted in her mind, and closed her eyes. But a thought occurred to her as she was already feeling sleepy. What if she told Soren about it and listen to what he was going to say about it? Maybe, he’d just tell him again to just ignore it. Or maybe, he’d tell her to look at the pictures. Anyway, Kayla wouldn’t know that she peeked at them, unless she would reply to her mess

“ANSWER ME! WHAT do you want?” Misha screamed again at her phone when the person on the other line remained quiet.“Is this Misha?” asked the female voice from the other line.“Yes,” she said, her voice voice a tad lower this time but still tense, “What do you want?”“What is happening?”Misha’s eyebrows both rose. “You are what is happening?”“Misha, this is Maggie.”“Yes, I know you—what?”“This is Maggie. I’m using my sister’s cell phone because my I lost my cell phone.”“Maggie?”“That’s what I’ve been telling you.”“Oh, I thought you were—““Who?”“Kayla.”“Kayla who?”“Soren’s sister… estranged sister.”“You seem eager to strangle her. What happened?”She told Maggie what Kayla had been doing—the friend request, the text messages and the pictures. She even sent Maggie the photos.“I don’t know why she’s harassing me,” Misha said, exasperated. “I don’t think she knows I’m Soren’s girlfriend, unless those who know have told her.”“I didn’t. How could I? I don’t know her.”“I know

MISHA EXHALED, WHICH she hid from Soren and checked her email on her cell phone.She got new mails but nothing from Starshine.She went back to Soren, stopping herself from frowning. “No, I havent’ received it yet,” she informed him.“Ellis and his friends are slow,” he said lightly. “But I’m sure, it’ll arrive, if not tonight, maybe tomorrow morning.”She bit her lip upon hearing it. “Soren,” she said, ready to talk about Kayla.“Yes.”“Let’s talk.”“Perfect,” he said. “I was about to invite you to have dinner with me tomorrow, secret, of course, so we will do it in my house where no spy can enter, to celebrate you getting the project officially.”She cleared her throat, and opened her mouth to finally tell him about Kayla. But then, she thought, it would probably be better if they talked in person. What she would tell him was almost akin to breaking up with, and breaking up over the phone or through emails or text messages wasn’t nice, so yes, it would probably be a lot better to t