Justin went to see Jas Harper at his ho. Inside his study, Jas sat behind his desk while Justin sat in the chair opposite him.
Jas put the file on the table. "This is the information about you from when you were rescued by . I believe there is no point in keeping things from you, as you have planned to go to them."
Justin went through the file—the information about the ten-year-old boy who survived drowning in the stormy seawater. The boy had physical injuries, signs of struggle caused by soone intentionally trying to kill him. There were signs of strangling with force on his neck, and knife cuts on his hands and legs.
One page finally had what he was looking for: the picture of the tattoo on his chest—a snake wrapped around a dagger. This was the sign of the most feared underworld family. They were known to be ruthless and feared by the entire underworld.
He heard Jas speak. "I didn’t know who you were when I found you. You had lost your mories as well. But then, that tattoo on your chest let know where you ca from. The doctor had said you had survived being killed, so it was not difficult to understand your life was in danger. As you had no mories, I decided to cover it all to protect you. The reason you were kept away from public eyes—you can guess now."
Justin clearly understood Jas’ intentions of protecting him, but he had questions.
"Not just anyone knows about this tattoo. It’s nowhere published or known to anyone other than underworld people, so how did you know about it?" Justin asked. "Weren’t you worried that if they found , you and your family would be in danger? Is there any particular reason you decided to protect ?"
"There was soone I used to know in the past, when I was young. That person had the sa tattoo on his chest," Jas began. "It was during my university days. I had a foreign classmate who was good with studies and was a quiet person. He always kept himself away from others and didn’t have any friends. If soone tried to approach him, he wouldn’t indulge them. Everyone found him strange but eventually ignored him. During the last sester, one night I happened to witness so people attacking him and so defending him. There were gunfires and fights. It was a scary scene, but I still dared to go to him and pulled him away from that chaos and made him run away with ."
"You can say that was the start of knowing him. After that night, he seed to have trusted —or I shall say, considered his friend. He told about his family, and I even saw the sa tattoo on his chest. He was there to complete his studies, and then he had to return to his family. Soon, the exam was over and he left, never to contact even once. I couldn’t reach him either and simply rembered his last words: Don’t even look for ."
Jas sighed as he rembered those mories. "His na was Alexander Hunt, but I doubt it was his real na if he was trying to keep his existence so discreet from others. I don’t know if he is still alive..." Jas looked at Justin. "The more I look at your grown-up self, the more you remind of him. You are from the sa family, so there is a chance you are closely related to him."
Justin simply humd, not pointing out exactly how he could be related to the man Jas knew.
"About your other question—if I was worried about my family’s safety? I was sure I could hide you well. And the decision to adopt you... I just wanted to protect the child in danger. That night when that friend of mine was attacked, and what he later told , I could imagine the kind of people who must be after you. Saving you might be another of my attempts to make myself feel better—that I saved that lost friend once more through saving you. There can be many reasons, as we think. What matters is that I managed to protect you."
"I will always be grateful for that and will owe you all my life," Justin replied.
"If you feel that way, then you’d better take care of my daughter and keep her away from any harm your past can bring her," Jas said.
"I will protect her always," Justin assured. "You do know I can."
Jas didn’t refute his claim. "That’s why I didn’t object to my daughter being with you. You’d better keep your word."
Justin humd and said, "I want to talk to Mrs. Harper."
"She is in the bedroom. You can go to her," Jas replied.
Justin went to Caryn’s room after he was permitted to et her.
The woman was sitting in her chair, reading a book.
She signaled Justin to sit in the chair. Once he settled in, she asked, "What do you want to know?"
"I want to know, how was my brother when you rescued him?" Justin asked.
By now, Caryn was aware of who Aiden and Justin were, as Jas had explained it to her.
"Almost on the verge of death, if he hadn’t been found by Eric when we were there by the seaside," Caryn replied. "After rescuing him, he was admitted to the hospital for the next two weeks. When he woke up, his reaction was what a ten-year-old child would have after a traumatizing incident. He would cry and was scared to see anyone. All he would do was repeat one na while crying—Aiden.
Whenever Eric tried to ask him who he was or if he wanted to say sothing, he would only cry while repeating that na. So, we decided to na him Aiden.
He was taken to psychologists, and it took a few months to get him stable. When we asked him again what his last na was, he told us ’Handrix,’ and when he was asked if his na was Aiden, he didn’t deny it. We could tell he was missing soone nad Aiden and didn’t want to be separated from whoever he was. So, we kept his na Aiden Handrix."
Justin could only imagine how much Aaron must have cared for him as a brother, that he cried only for him and didn’t mind being called Aiden Handrix. No wonder he looked so reluctant to let him go back to their past, and why he was so worried for him.
"His initial ID was made with the na Aiden Handrix, and he continued to live by my side. After a year or two, I decided to adopt him, so he beca Aiden Shaw," Caryn added. "You can go to Eric, and he will hand you the file about Aiden so you can get a detailed idea of his situation after he was rescued."
Justin humd and said, "Thank you so much."
Caryn simply offered him a nod, and Justin left.
----
Justin headed back ho, where Natalie was waiting for him. As it was Sunday, she didn’t have to go to the office, but she wondered why Justin had gone to Jas’ ho first thing after having breakfast with her.
From the next day, she had to start working in the Harper Group and officially join as the CEO.
Justin returned with two files in his hands. He sat next to her on the sofa while Natalie asked, "These files?"
He handed them over to her and told her what he had found out. Natalie knew what Justin’s plan was and what they were going to face afterwards.
She closed the files and said, "I wish I had been there with you when my father saved you. I would have done sothing to ease your pain."
"You yourself were no better off than . That makes wonder if, by chance, I could have been by your side and protected you from everything," Justin replied.
Natalie could say nothing, as both of their childhoods were filled with pain.
"I want you to co with to et soone," Justin said.
She looked at him. "Who?"
"My brother, Aaron Handrix."
"Finally you’re okay with eting him?" she raised a brow.
"Now we are a family. I think you two need to clear so things you might want to talk about."
"I want to," she replied. "I want to thank him for taking care of when I needed it the most."
Justin couldn’t refute it, as his brother had truly helped Natalie in her worst ti. He was her silent support, while Justin wasn’t even aware of her existence.
In fact, he had to thank his brother for being his wife’s support in the past.
"And I have so questions for him as well," Natalie continued, "Maybe I can ask him about my mother’s life during these years. I am curious, but I can’t dare ask her."
"You can try," Justin suggested, "I just t her and she is quite frank with her answers."
Natalie acted reluctant, and changed the topic, "When are we going to et your brother?"
"Right now," Justin said as he stood up.
Natalie jumped up as well and followed him out, eager to ask so many things to the man she was going to et.
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