Chapter 360 - COUSINS II

Her eyes widened and her hands instantly covered her mouth to cover up her surprise. "She looked exactly like the picture in the cemetery." She mumbled right beside Stefan. "Do you have other pictures of her?"

"I only have two." Dominic showed them another picture who looked exactly his mother. "Since I have never met her in my life, I only store two pictures of her in my phone. Just in case something happens that could damage the pictures at home, I still have a soft copy of her photo."

Stefan wasn't saying anything anymore. He just kept looking at the two pictures that Dominic showed him. When he asked Chris to investigate about her mother's death, he got recordings from different people and that included her family. However, when he tried to look for them, he couldn't find any traces of these people. The people in City D stated that they didn't know this family and have never heard of them. He even asked the city registrar to see if there's a Sugo family residing in City D but it was to no avail.

He asked Chris to look for them as well but they just disappeared like bubbles bursting in the air. He also asked his father about them but he said that he no longer knew their address.

"Are you sure you really came from City H?" Stefan asked after several minutes have passed. "I've been looking for my maternal relatives but I couldn't just find them." Stefan told Dominic the truth. 'I should have asked Shein to look for them.' Stefan thought to himself. But most of the time, he didn't really want to depend too much on Travis and his friends. He wanted to do things by himself.

Dominic frowned at his question but then he instantly schooled his expression. "I was born and have been raised in City H. My parents and grandparents told me that we've been in City H. And I didn't ask too many questions to them either."

Stefan took a deep breath as he returned the phone to him. "I'm Latticia's son. I was raised by the Dumrique family until I was thirteen years old. When my older brother died, I left home. I have never seen anyone from my maternal relatives and you're the first person I know. I hope you can show me where your family is once we get back."

"Yes, sir. I don't mind."

"Stop calling me sir. It's inappropriate. Just call me big brother or Stefan. Whichever is fine."

"O-okay."

"And this is your cousin-in-law. She introduced herself already so I don't need to see it again. As for her family, you know it as well. Uhm, what else…" Stefan thought about some things while looking at him.

"Wait." Dominic halted him. "Don't you need other proof aside from this picture?"

Stefan stood up and stretched his hand towards the young man across him. "The fact that we have resemblance and that you have my mother's picture doesn't need to be questioned. It's enough proof for me. It's nice to meet you, Dom."

"Nice to meet you, too, big brother." Dominic also reached out to him and the two shook their hands together. Cayenne clapped her hands happily while looking at the two of them.

"I'm so happy for you hubby." Cayenne hugged Stefan and kissed his cheek. "You have one new family now and there will be more in the future. Ah! What should we buy for them? We need to plan this visit properly." Cayenne mumbled the last sentence and she was then lost in her thoughts. Stefan just smiled at her and kissed the top of her head.

While the two of them talked inside the entertainment room, Luiz and his other classmates have come back from the surprise preparation. They already told Chris when to come and what to do. 

"What's going on? Why are you all here?" Luiz asked his classmates who were in the living room looking anxious at the same time worried. "Are you tired of having fun?"

"Not really." Janine, one of his classmates, answered Luiz. "We're waiting for Dominic to come back."

"Dom? What has happened to him?" Luiz asked once again with a frown. "Did he commit a mistake?"

"Not so sure. Let's just wait and see." Janine didn't want to say anything more because she wasn't sure what to say either.

Luiz went to the kitchen and helped his other classmates to arrange the dishes on the table. He said that they'll have dinner once his back with everyone from the secret garden but looks like they'll have to wait a bit more.

Around ten minutes later, Dominic came out with Stefan and Cayenne. He was smiling happily at them and they were chatting about something that only the three of them knew.

"Looks like it's true." Marnie mumbled under his breath.

"I'm so happy for Dom. Thankfully, he's relative with someone like Mr. Dumrique."

"So, it's really true that Mr. Dumrique is an adopted son like the rumors say?"

"Adopted or not, he's deserving of what he has now." Another student responded as they watched the three of them coming downstairs.

"Oh! Sean, you're back with Luiz already?"

"Hn. We already did what he needed to do and sir Chris was on his way to complete the rest. Luiz is in the kitchen."  Sean stated and informed her where Luiz was just in case she'd ask. And that was what Cayenne was about to do. Thankfully, Sean was smart enough to tell her in advance.

"I'll go to the kitchen." Cayenne told Stefan and went to find her brother. Luiz was currently carrying platters of food towards the long dining table when Cayenne came. "Luiz, come here for a sec. I'll introduce you to someone."

"Who is it?" Luiz asked as he put down the dishes. "Didn't we all know each other here? Who is this person?"

Cayenne pulled her brother's hand and brought him to Stefan and Dominic who was sitting together with the other students in the living room. "Meet Dominic."

"Sis, I know him already." Luiz replied with an incredulous expression showing on his face. If he has Cayenne's habit of rolling her eyes, he would have done the same thing.

"Can you let me finish my words?" Cayenne lightly flicked her brother's forehead. "Dominic is Stefan's cousin. They just reunited today."

Everyone in the room froze with this affirmation from Cayenne. Although some expected it, they were still surprise to hear the confirmation coming from her.