Chapter 34: Your Mom makes all the decisions

The Adler family was sitting in the hall in silence. They had completed their dinner earlier in silence, waiting for someone to start speaking. It was almost midnight, yet none of them had spoken. All the servants in the house had retired for the night, giving the family some privacy. There was high tension in the air. Daniel stared at his parents. He knew something was going in their minds and it was very serious.

"Dad, will you tell me what is going on?" Daniel couldn't hold it anymore.

"Son, I don't know how to start." Daniel's Dad, Arnold, knitted his eyebrows.

"Mom, what about you? Someone please tell me. What is happening?" Daniel stood up and sat beside his mother.

"Daniel, whatever we are going to tell you will not change the fact that we love you. We love you a lot." Daniel's mother, Pamela Adler, spoke.

"What do you mean, Mom? You are scaring me." Daniel held her trembling hands.

Suddenly Daniel's phone rang in the tense atmosphere. He glanced at the screen and disconnected the call. It was from Aria. He then placed the phone in his pant pocket.

'That means Aria has reached London safely.' He thought.

"Mom, Dad?" He prompted looking back and forth.

Arnold sighed. He knew he couldn't hide the truth any further. It was better that Daniel heard it from them rather than outsiders.

"Thirty years ago, after a lot of struggle, your Mom became pregnant." Daniel stared at his father in shock. If his mother was pregnant thirty years ago, then he would be having an elder brother or sister.

"Dad, do I have an elder sibling then? What happened to them?"

"No son. You do not have any siblings. Pamela had a weak uterus. So she miscarried and we lost the lost baby."

Pamela chocked on a sob when she remembered the day she lost her baby. Daniel hugged his mother tightly. He never knew his mother had gone through such a bad time.

"After that the doctors told us that Pam could never conceive again." Arnold suddenly stopped. He couldn't continue anymore.

"Your grandparents tried to force your Dad to remarry. But he was adamant about staying with me. Eventually, they gave up." Pamela continued, reminiscing the day when Arnold had fought with his parents for her. She could clearly remember his words. "I don't care if my wife cannot get pregnant and I don't care what the society thinks. I love her and that is all that matters."

"If you could not conceive again, then.." Daniel stopped. He could not put his words in front of them.

"After the miscarriage, your mother went into depression for almost two years. It took us a lot of therapy to get her out it. Then we considered the option of adopting." Arnold looked at Daniel's face. He was afraid of his reaction.

"That means.."

"Yes, you are adopted."

Daniel's mind went blank. It felt like the sky had fallen on him. He was not what he thought he was.

"Daniel, we still love you. You are our son and nothing will change that."

He could not hear his mother's words nor he could see his father's concerned face. The only thing that was going on in his mind was that he was adopted. He got up from the couch and started walking towards the stairs.

"Daniel, listen to me. Daniel, please. Mamma loves you." Pamela ran after him.

"Daniel, listen. You are still our son." Arnold held his hand tightly.

Daniel forcibly freed his hand from his father and hastened his footsteps. He went inside his room and locked the door from within.

"Danny, open the door. Listen to us." Pamela banged on the door.

"Danny. Please listen to us once." Arnold joined.

Daniel muted their voices in his head and slumped against the door. He could not hear his mother's cries nor could he hear his father banging the door. The fact that he was adopted kept repeating in his mind like a broken record. A tear fell from his eyes.

"My whole existence is a lie." He mumbled.

He did not know how long he had been sitting in that position. He did not know when the cries and the banging had stopped. He did not even know what to do. Everything felt weird, his whole life was turned upside down.

'But I have to do something. I cannot sit like this.' He thought. So, he did the one thing that would help him clear his mind. He gave a call to Aria. The phone was not picked up on the first try. So, he tried again. This time she picked it up.

"Danny, do you even know what time it is? It is only 5 a.m. here in London which means it is around 3 a.m back in there. What are you doing at this time? Why are you giving me a call this time? You better give me a good reason for disturbing my sleep otherwise I'll take care of you when I return." Aria blabbered on without waiting for the other person to speak. But she stopped immediately. Something was not right. Daniel's uncharacteristic display of silence was new to her.

"Is everything alright? What happened?" This time her voice was soft and gentle.

"Aria, I am not an Adler," Daniel said, his voice had gone hoarse and he sounded like he had been crying.

"What do you mean Danny?" Aria asked, sitting up on her bed. Danny's behavior was scaring her.

"Aria, I am not an Adler. I am not my parents' son."

"Danny, what are you even talking about?" For a moment, Aria thought that he was drunk. But she dismissed it immediately when she heard his next words.

"I am adopted." Aria became silent at once. She had not expected anything like this. She did not know what to say to him. If she was back at home, she could have gone to him, hugged him and consoled him. However, she was in London, far away from him.

"Aria, I don't know what to do. My parents hid the truth from me for such a long time. Now all I feel is sadness and anger." Aria allowed him to vent all his frustration, sadness and anger on the phone. After what felt like a long time, he calmed down. Once she was sure he had was a little okay, she spoke carefully.

"Danny, listen to me and listen to me carefully. Have your parents ever treated like you are not their own? If I remember correctly they love you a lot, they consider you their son. As for them not telling you about it, no parent would want their kid to know something like this. No good parent will allow their child to find out these things and if they have revealed this to you now, it means that they had no choice."

Danny listened to Aria and realized that everything she was saying was the truth. His parents had never treated him bad, in fact he was treated even better than how other parents treated their kids.

"Danny, what did you do when your parents revealed the truth to you?"

"I came to my room without saying a word to them."

Aria gasped. She couldn't believe Daniel would behave insensitively.

"Danny, how bad your parents must be feeling right now. Go and talk to them right now. They need you as much as you need them. And remember this one thing, you are their son and nothing will change that."

"Oh my God. I messed up quite bad." Daniel repented his actions. He recalled his mother's broken face when he had walked away.

"No, Danny. Go talk to them right now. I know your parents will understand. They are the coolest parents you see."

Daniel stifled a laugh listening to her. "Thank you. Aria."

"Give me a call after you talk to them."

Daniel sighed. Aria was right. He knew he had behaved immaturely and he had to make it right. He got up and unlocked his door, only to meet his parents sitting right in front of his door. His mother was still crying and her eyes had gone blood red while Arnold was consoling her. Seeing the door open, the couple stood up at once.

"Can we talk?" Daniel spoke and walked inside the room. His parents followed him and took a seat on the couch while he remained standing. Their gaze was fixed on him, dreading what his reaction would be.

Daniel crouched in front of them and held his mother's hands.

"Mom, Dad. I am sorry. I am so sorry. I was rude before. I am really very, very sorry. I know you had your reasons for not telling me. I am sorry." Daniel bowed his head in shame. Arnold pulled his son for a hug while tears were flowing from Pamela's eyes.

"You are our son. Nothing will change that."

"Yes, Dad. I know."

"I love you, Danny." Pamela hugged him next.

"I love you too, Mom. I am sorry." Danny hugged her and kissed her hair. After a long time his mother released him.

"Son, there is still something you must know."

Daniel knew that his Dad was talking about the incident that took place twenty years ago.

"Sit down properly, son. Pamela, why don't you go take some rest. You look tired and this will take some time." It was only then Daniel realized that he was still squatting in front of his parents. Pamela nodded and walked out of the room. He sat on his bed in front of the couch and waited for his father to continue.

"Do you remember you were kidnapped when you were ten years old?"

Daniel nodded. He had faint memories of his abduction, though he had been unconscious most of the time.

"It was done by your uncle, Jack."

"But why?" This was a bolt out of the blue for him.

"At that time, he was involved in gang activities and had done various crimes. One of them being, your kidnapping. He demanded to hand over all my properties and belongings to him. He even made me sign the transfer papers. You were our only son, I did not know what to do. So I did as he said. But before he could escape, the police arrived and he was sentenced to fourteen years of jail for all his crimes. I thought that the matter would have ended with this. However I was wrong, when he came to meet me two months back."

"He came to meet you two months back!!" Daniel was stunned.

"Yes."

"But why did he attack me?"

"He must have found out the truth."

"What truth?"

"My sign on those papers were useless. It is your Mom who holds all the rights to the Adler properties and the business. She makes all the decisions."