Chapter 614

“Did you have breakfast already? Come and join us.” Elena’s mother invited Tristan but he refused. He didn’t want Elena to feel even more bothered with his presence inside her home.

Surprisingly, she nudged his elbow and glared at him. “Don’t tell me you’d grab breakfast in the company cafeteria. There won’t be many dishes left during this time. Just eat with us already. Tsk! Why did you even come so early?”

“Ha? So, it’s okay for me to come as long as it’s not too early?” Tristan retorted, trapping her using the words she spouted. “Also, I have flowers for you. They won’t wither and rot.”

“I didn’t say that you can come and I also mentioned I hate flowers.” She kept glaring at him but her reactions brought happiness in his heart. At least, she’s acting normally around him now. She even accepted the flowers. He wondered what Cayenne did last night but, whatever it was, it should be something to be grateful for. “Why are you still standing there?”

“Right. Come here. You must have skipped breakfast just to pick this sleepyhead.” Elena’s mother stated while preparing extra utensils for him.

“I had sandwich before I left my apartment.”

“Nah. Sandwich won’t do you good. You will have lots of work today so you need lots of energy. Do you want coffee? I can make you a cup. Elena loves coffee, too.”

.....

“Yeah. I noticed that. She likes it with milk.”

“Oh. You are very observant. She didn’t like the strong taste so, she’d put milk in it.”

Elena looked at her mother and Tristan. For some reason, she had a bad feeling about the closeness between the two. She was sure it was their first meeting and her mother should be wary to have a man inside their home, especially someone who has motive to her unica hija.

“Ma, you are talking a lot today.” Elena commented which earned her a fierce glare from her mother.

Looking at them, Tristan finally knew where Elena inherited the deathly glare. He wanted to laugh but since he was in front of her mother, he only smiled at them.

The last time he had a sumptuous meal was before he moved out of his home. Twice a month, he’d go back there but most of the time, he stays in his apartment. His mother or sister would visit him sometimes, bringing him food and side dishes that would last for at least a week.

He’s got plenty of money since he has business of his own but he gave half of the share to his sister. He wanted them to live a good and secured life. He may not have lots of enemies like Stefan but, he has a handful of them which was why he didn’t stay with his family most of the time. In fact, if someone investigates him, they won’t get anything helpful in his life. He’s a hacker, he knows a lot of things and it’s easy for him to fake his family information. After what happened to his sister and ex – fiancé, he learned a lot and he won’t let those things happen to his love ones again.

After having their breakfast, both of them left her home and Elena’s mother took the flowers to her daughter’s room. There, she saw the real red carnations she brought last night and the petals of white daisies she picked last night. ‘Silly.’ She thought.

“How did you know where I live?”

“It’s not a difficult thing to find.”

“That’s invading someone’s privacy.”

“Your mother allowed me to get inside.”

“Speaking of. You seem to know my mother a long time ago. I’m sure she wouldn’t just let some random stranger inside our home.”

“I accidentally bumped into her last week. She was buying groceries and her bag of groceries fell. I was there and I helped her. I didn’t know she was your mother until this morning. I didn’t even expect for her to recognize me.”

“My mother has a superb memory.”

“By the way, do you have an auntie or uncle?”

“Me? I don’t know anyone from my father’s side. Honestly, I don’t know who my father is. As for my mother, she has a sister but she died two years ago. Her family moved out to another city.” Elena answered while looking outside the window. A deep frown appeared on her face when she felt something was wrong with his question. “You are not interrogating me because of your ex – fiancé, right?”

“Do you hate her that much? I cannot really erase her from my life. She was part of my past. Of course, I’m not going to dwell on it and I won’t think about it. I want to look forward with my future. And in my future, I can only see you there and not anyone else.”

“I’m not asking you to confess your love again.”

“Well, I know this would sound unbelievable to you and I know you would start doubting my feelings again but I want to be honest to you in everything.” Tristan slowed down the speed of his car and stopped it on the roadside. “I think you and my ex, let me emphasize, my EX- fiancé, has a connection. You have seen her pictures, right? You were suspicious of my feelings because of how similar you two are. I just wanted to get things straight, to let you know that I’m seeing you as you and not my ex.”

“How can we be related? I know how my cousin looked like and take note, my cousin is a boy.”

“And what about your father’s side?”

“My mother never really mentioned my father and I have not seen any pictures of him either. She raised me on her own. Before my grandparents died, they left a huge amount of cash for us. We’re not really rich but we got by just fine.”

“I heard from my ex that her real parents broke up. She had a stepmother but she never knew who her real mother was. Her father didn’t say anything either. I once investigated her birth but I couldn’t find anything wrong with it.”

“Are you saying that she’s my sister? I checked on her you know. We are one year apart.”

“Birthdays can be faked. Either your birthday is fake or her birthday is fake.”

Elena looked at him and smiled. It was a sad smile. “I really wish you can just forget her.” she whispered to him. “It’s not really easy to win against a dead person.”

“I’m not even doing this for her. I’m doing this for you.”

“But I have no intention of knowing. I don’t want to know why my parents broke up and I don’t want to know that your ex- fiancé could be my sister. I just don’t want to know anything. I’m happy with my life. I’m contented having a mother who loves me. Knowing the truth will only add up to my heartache. It’s okay if I don’t have a sister. She didn’t know me anyway. It’s okay if I don’t have a father, he already abandoned me. It’s easy to think that way. It won’t bother me either. After all, I grew without knowing any of them.” Elena blurted with tears hanging on her lashes. The tip of her nose has turned red but she tried her best not to cry in front of him.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. You just wanted to reassure me, right?”

“Hn. I thought it would put you at ease.”

“It’s okay. I don’t really mind it. I just hope you won’t mention this to my mother. If what you think is right, it will only hurt her if she knows her other daughter died.”

“O-okay. I’ll keep it a secret.”

“Can I really trust you to do that?”

“Yes. I won’t fail you this time.”

Although they went to the office together and spent the whole morning with each other’s company, Tristan still felt something was wrong. Things were getting better earlier but now, she was back to being cold again.

‘Sigh. How long will it take me to gain her trust? I messed up again, didn’t I?’ He thought to himself as he put down his pen on the table. He just finished decoding the letters and numbers written on the paper that Jackie gave to Stefan. All he needed to do was to check what it was all about. If he guessed it correctly, they were just a bunch of formulas.