The moment the call dropped dead, Rina pulled herself off her bed, wincing slightly as she moved to the bathroom. She had a quick bath, and part of her was grateful that Zayn had decided to leave for his mansion. If he had remained in the villa, she wouldn’t have been able to do what she had in mind. Zayn’s clear instruction rang in her head, but Rina shrugged it off as soon as it occurred to her.
She used her anger as her ammunition anger that she had fallen in love with Zayn when she shouldn’t have, anger that she had given herself a false hope that he would come around and admit his feelings knowing fully well that the great Zayn Graham doesn’t give two fucks about love and whatever it came with. Walking out of the bathroom, Rina sauntered into her walk-in closet and pulled off something simple from the hanger a pair of black wide-legged pants and a matching button-down shirt. Pairing it with white heels and a black tote bag, Rina applied light make-up on her face, almost unnoticeable, leaving her hair in huge curls, framing her face, and falling to her back.
Her ankle didn’t hurt as much as it did earlier because of the painkillers she’d taken and the injection given to her at the hospital. It gave her time to do the first half of what she had planned for that day. However, Rina didn’t know how exactly the plans were going to play out, given that she was still stunned about the sudden news dropped onto her lap. But she was refusing to think about anything until she saw her parents.
She closed the door to her room behind her and walked slowly down the stairs, careful not to get her ankle all riled up. As Rina reached the base, Susan appeared out of nowhere, like she had been lurking in the shadows, waiting for Rina to do something Zayn wouldn’t approve of.
“You look like you are headed out,” Susan murmured, giving her a once-over. “Did you get a call from Scottsdale? I can ask Zayn to speak …”
“No.” Rina shook her head. “I am not going there. I just… I want to see my parents.”
Susan peered her eyes. “All of a sudden?”
“I haven’t seen them recently, and I’m not saying you don’t take care of me well or anything, but I want to be with them right now. You understand, don’t you?”
“Of course,” Susan murmured. “Just let me call Zayn, and then get Igor to take us there.”
“Us?” Her brows raised in surprise and then realization. “Oh! Erm… I think I need to go on my own. It isn’t a long drive, so I’ll be just fine.”
“You are going to be driving on a sprained ankle? Zayn isn’t going to be ecstatic about that.”
“I don’t want to frighten my parents with an entourage, Susan. They don’t like that kind of attention. It is the reason they don’t accept any invites for interviews or spotlights as an extension of my person in the country. They would really just stay on their own and I don’t want to change that for them.”
“Rina…”
“There’s nothing to be worried about, Susan. I will be fine. My ankle doesn’t hurt right now because of the drugs, but I promise that the instant I feel the slightest pain, I will pull over and call Igor to pick me up. Is that fine?”
“And Zayn?”
“I will call him on my way there,” Rina replied off the top of her head, even though she knew she wasn’t going to be doing that. It was to stop Susan from calling him because even though they were pretty close given the fact that they’d been living under the same roof for months, Susan was still loyal to Zayn, especially when it came to clear instructions he had given out.
Susan didn’t seem to want to let Rina go, but in the end, she nodded and stepped aside, bidding her a safe trip. Still, Rina held her breath as she crossed the threshold and walked the distance to the garage, getting into the latest sports car Zayn had gotten for her. It was a red convertible that she absolutely loved, and if what Marco told her ended up being true and she made the trip to Jones’ family house, she needed to make a good impression.
Not that she was going to try so hard.
Shutting off everything, Rina made the journey to her parents’ house outside of town. They were outside on the porch when she pulled up at the driveway. Looking at them through the window, at the people she’d known practically all her life, Rina couldn’t help but hope Marco was wrong, that this was all some big mistake, and that they got the wrong child. Taking a deep breath and popping more pills because her ankle had begun to ache again, Rina pulled herself out of the car and crossed the short distance to them.
Immaculate smiles broke out on their faces, and it made Rina smile as well. She remembered when she was much younger, how she would be nestled in their middle, sheltered from the fury of the world, their sweet smell imprinted in her memory. They were all she knew, but now, all of a sudden, that familiarity was hanging on a thin weak thread.
“Rina?” Her mother beamed and got up slowly. “It’s really you! I thought you said you weren’t coming until the end of the new movie.”
They met halfway on the porch and Rina walked into her arms. She held on to her tight, closing her eyes and breathing in the smell of freshly made bread.
“You missed us, didn’t you?” Her mother said, patting her back gently.
But since Rina’s father was watching them from his reclining seat, he saw Rina’s eyes clearly and immediately knew something was wrong.
“Rina, honey,” he called softly, causing her to pull away from her mother’s arms. “You are not here because you miss us, right? What’s wrong?”
Her mother held her at arm’s length and looked into her eyes, registering it. Rina regarded both of them, not knowing how to go about it, so she just went straight for it, knowing it would hurt both them and her.
“Was I adopted?”