I don’t know how much I believe in that kind of thing.
“So, this man who called youthinkshe’s my father.”
Lana smiles wryly. “I know how it sounds and, trust me, if you do want to meet him, I’ll ask Dr. Clarke to arrange for a DNA test so you could know for sure before the meeting, but there’s one last thing I should show you before I leave you to think about it.”
I wait as she puts her right hand into her back pocket.
She pulls out her cell phone and holds it up while she taps on the screen.
When she hands it to me a second later, and I glance reluctantly at the image, I can’t help but gasp.
Our similarities are undeniable.
We share the same pale skin and auburn hair, but it’s deeper than that.
I can see my own features in his face, even if his are more masculine.
It would be impossible to deny the resemblance.
Now, I understand why Lana had to tell me about him.
Relief overrides my shock when the screen fades to black, erasing him from my sight.
I pass the phone back to Lana, and I try to make sense of everything she just told me.
“And he found me here, because my name was on the news? Nothing else?”
“The press don’t have any photos of you. All they gave out was the name Robin Yates, and your age,” Lana confirms. “So, that’s all the information he had. I don’t know how they got those details, because no one I trust would have given them out. But that’s for me to deal with. All I can do is apologize for that. It shouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry, Robin.”
“It’s fine,” I assure her, shrugging off the apology. “It doesn’t matter.”
It such a strange situation. I didn’t even know my own name until Dr. Morgan helped me to remember it. Colleen may have used it when I was younger, but she didn’t keep using it. These last few years, she only ever called me “girl” or “beta”.
I never asked why or wondered what my name was.
Maybe I did when I was too young to remember her answer.
“… but don’t worry, we’ll find out who gave that reporter your name,” Lana goes on, starting to frown. “I’m not in the habit of letting anyone hurt the people I’m here to protect. Whoever gave out your name will be dealt with.”
I blink as my brain catches back up with the conversation.
I guess I drifted a little bit into my thoughts.
When Lana stops to sigh, I realize I don’t have anything more to say.
She’s already given me the reason she came to see me, and I’ve already told her I don’t want to see my father. I’m not sure if I’m ready to change my mind about that, but she’s given me something to think about, for sure.
“It’s no use crying over spilt milk,” I blurt, seeing that Lana’s still upset.
She gives me a small smile. “That’s one way to look at it. It’s okay, I’m not happy with the person who did this, but they won’t get the chance to make it any worse.”
Clearly, she’s set on punishing the person who leaked my name to the news.
Thinking about it makes my stomach churn, the same way it always would whenever I did something I knew might upset Colleen.
I don’t want someone to be hurt because of me.
Even if what they did means the man who thinks he’s my father knows where I am now.
