'What does it mean? Why am I not allowed to enter the country?'
The more she thought about this, the more curious she became.
Scarlett made notes in her mind; she would investigate her mother's past.
Her mother hid her identity from her father. Even now, her father has never met her mother's friends or family — like she was running from something.
Since earlier, many questions have arisen in Scarlett's mind; 'Does my birth father know my existence? Did they want to hurt me and Mom? Is that why mom ran and ended up on this small island!?'
pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ After a while, Scarlett looked at Jonathan again.
"Dad, this is why you didn't agree to let me go to the M Country when I got a scholarship offer from the company station in that country?"
Scarlett remembered when she used to get a scholarship offer. Two companies gave her that opportunity; one from country M and one from the US, Morrison Group.
At that time, her father only allowed her to choose companies from the US. His reason was, Astington's distance to the US is so close. Meanwhile, M Country, located in Europe, is very far from Astington.
Of course, at that time, Scarlett believed and immediately agreed with her father. She never suspected that her father had something to hide.
'Was my biological father from that country?' She wondered.
"Yes! That's one of the contents of my agreement with your mother!"
Scarlett pondered again. Her mind tried to digest all her conversations with her father.
Not long after, something crossed her mind. "Dad, do you still have all my mom's things? I want to see all her stuff?" Scarlett wished her father would still keep it.
She wanted to check what she could use as a clue to start digging up information about her mother.
"Of course, I still have it. Wait here..." Jonathan said. Scarlett's eyes radiated happiness hearing that. At least she had something to help expedite her investigation.
Jonathan stood up from his chair and walked towards his office desk. After a while, he returned with a box the size of a book.
"I put everything here, including your mother's death certificate!" Jonathan handed the box to Scarlett.
Death certificate!? This was the first time she had heard anything about this. She was too young to understand what had happened when her mother died.
At that time, she only knew her mother had died but could only see the coffin. She was not allowed to see her body. Still vividly in her memories, Aunty Lana said; her mother was severely injured.
Scarlett slowly raised her hand and accepted the box. She just stared at the black box in her hand for a while. It took her a few minutes to have the courage to open it.
She could see some documents, old photos, and some jewelry inside. However, what caught her attention the most was the white envelope with the words 'Forensic Report' written on the front.
She took out the envelope and immediately read the contents of the report. Not long after reading, her facial expression darkened. This was the first time she knew how her mother had died.
Her hand trembled as she put the report back inside the envelope, and her gaze fell on her father. "Dad, my mother was burned to ashes!?" her voice shook.
What kind of fire could burn her mother's body to dust and leave nothing behind? Is it really a car accident? Did she collide with a chemical truck?
Jonathan nodded slowly.
"That's right! The car was completely burnt, and nothing was left, well maybe, only a few bones. But, the forensics team identified it as your mother's body from the DNA they found..." Jonathan paused, unable to finish his words, too cruel to say it to Scarlett. Even he still felt weak when he thought about it.
By then, Scarlett realized that everything surrounding her mother's death was suspicious!
"I understand, Father!" Scarlett couldn't help but smile when she saw her father's pale face as he was reluctant to tell her more about what had happened then.
'Something's fishy!! This all seems like made-up circumstances covered by fake documents!' She wonders. As a hacker and people who often engages in this kind of activity — falsifying documents — Scarlett can tell with just a glance that the report she read earlier was fake.
Now, her mind was filled with many questions that she wanted to find answers to.
The mystery she wants to solve; The identity of her mother and her death. Also, she wanted to know who her birth father was.
Does that man know about her existence!? And why did her mother run away from him!?
Silently Scarlett took a deep sigh.
Later...
She excuses herself to her father to meet Xander outside. Somehow, she needed her husband's shoulder to calm her raging heart and mind.
When Scarlett left her father's home office. She could see Xander still sitting in the living room. Just look at his expression. She could see something was bothering him — his face looked tense as he looked at his phone.
'Why does he look annoyed!? Did something happen to his company?' She felt worried and walked quickly towards him. "Xander..."
Xander was surprised to see Scarlett already standing in front of him. His smile blossomed as he stood up from his seat, "Hey, you're done!" he took her hand and pulled her into his arms.
He hugged her tightly, knowing what they were talking about there. He was sure Scarlett felt sorrow and devastated. Anyone would feel like that if they discovered the father they had known all their life was not their biological father.
"Babe, everything will be fine! Even though Jonathan Piers wasn't your dad, he was kind-hearted. I hope you're not too sad..."
Scarlett was stunned by Xander's words. She let go of his embrace and looked up to meet his eyes, "So that's what you and Father talked about!?" She didn't expect her father to tell Xander before he told her.
He didn't answer her but smoothed her hair momentarily and then looked her in the eye. He said, "Yeah… I was a bit surprised too. I could only guess why he told me before telling you that! He might consider me as your emotional support person."
Scarlett couldn't help but laugh. Gosh!
