Forbidden Heat novel Chapter 147

“Why do you have this? I’ve obviously seen this before and there’s nothing significant about it so…” I asked with more confusion rather than shock.

I held in my hand a photograph that was taken from my childhood before my mother married Lucien. At that time, we were living alone, just the two of us.

“Do you recognize who is in the photograph?” Lucien asked.

“Of course. This photograph was taken many years ago when I was a kid, but I do remember it. This is my mother, a younger me…and this is Uncle David. I guess you don’t know him…he’s one of my mum’s friends. He would drop by now and then. He’s really kind and has many interesting stories to tell, I really liked him back then, I guess…” I replied casually as I reflected on my days with mother and Uncle Dave.

I don’t remember when was the last time that I saw him. Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen or heard from him for many years. With my mother marrying Lucien and all that, I guess I just forgot him. Then when my mother died, I guess it was sort of natural that I didn’t expect to see much of her friends anymore…

“Uncle David…I see,” Lucien replied softly followed by a huge unsuppressed sigh.

“What’s wrong? You know, you didn’t have to make it out to be such a big deal…about this photo…” I said as I put the photograph down onto the table.

…

Lucien sighed loudly as he stared at Natalia’s disinterested face as she brushed off the photograph as if it was no big deal. His emotions were mixed, and he was unclear of his next move. However, Natalia’s reaction had reconfirmed his suspicion. For some reason or another, David had decided against revealing the fact that he was Natalia’s father to Natalia and somehow, Natalia’s mother decided to go along with it. All her life, this woman sitting right in front of him never knew that her father was still alive and was so close.

I have a few educated guesses as to why David didn’t reveal his identity and his relation as Natalia’s father to her. Once again, no one was to blame apart from the Rosenhall family and their endless greed. David decided that it would be best to have Natalia grow up without a father and have her mother live as a single mother rather than get her involved with the Rosenhall. That clearly backfired…quite spectacularly after his death. Natalia wasn’t just involved; she was a Rosenhall now too.

I continued to watch silently as Natalia toyed with the photograph in her hand while she was probably pondering on some warm and fuzzy memories of the past while I wrestled with myself whether I should tell her that David was actually her biological father or not. Her mother was never truly a single mother. David and Rosia, they were probably in love with each other until their dying breath and they both loved Natalia very much.

If I told her that David was her father, then I’ll have to follow that up by telling her that her father was already dead. Sometimes, the truth just isn’t useful…

…

“David was my mentor. I’ve known him for a long time, and we were very good friends…” Lucien spoke up suddenly after he seemed to be lost in thought for a while. I didn’t push him and just waited for him patiently.