Chapter 10 - The Past(part 2)

Our 1st meeting with the 'Uncle Sam' wasn't as pleasing as we thought it would be; the man seems trying to be as friendly as he can with Nick but was actually trying to get some secrets out from me instead.

"Nick… is it ok for sis to get on board with her uncle?" Lana looks anxious at the fact; as Erica was already going upstairs to her room.

"That's why I've been asking you about this earlier."

"Why don't you told me about her uncle; then? If I've known about it earlier, I wouldn't take this chance to proceed with the plan."

"Are you regretting it now?"

"I don't know… I'm pretty freak out about the story of your uncle." She starts biting her nails before Nick took her hands away and put it in his to calm her.

"Nick?"

"Don't you worry about it too much, Lana. You know well how your sister was like; she won't give in to anyone 'that' easily."

"I guess you're right… so; as we're in this topic, I'm still a bit curious."

"On what?"

"How was sis before she met me? And… what exactly is your relationship with her? You didn't really complete your story, Nick." A glimpse of expectation rises in her eyes.

"I'm getting a feeling that I'm not going to like this." Nick holds his head before exhales hard.

"Why would you? I'm just being curious…" Lana pouts her mouth as she fixes her eyes on him.

"But you won't stop till you've got an answer, won't you?"

"Nick; you really understands me, I'm sincerely flattered!" The young lady smiles as winks at Nick. The man sighs heavily before begins.

"She was a bit narrowed minded, had a short temper, easily get irritates and mostly lack of common sense about human's affections…"

"Wow… sounds really different than I remember…"

"Well… she gets better since we met grandpa and you… It's actually a relief that she turns out the way she is right now rather than her old self. "

"Is she really that bad?"

"Well… for starters, she didn't have faith in anyone nor herself; her empathy towards living beings was rated most closely to zero and she never questioned anyone but herself."

"…."

"Erica was just 1 year old when she entered the orphanage; I heard from the headmaster and our caretaker that she was send in by her grandmother after both of her parents got killed in a car accident. Since she entered the orphanage, they never saw her grandmother or anyone else from her family again. So, she has no clue on who she really was or who her family." Nick pause for a moment before continued;

"She was attached to her nanny since earlier but then her nanny past away a few years later when she was 5; she got another nanny but was abuse by her. Since then, she never got closed to anyone else… She always thought that whenever she starts to get close to someone, somehow she'll lose that person."

"Until she got to know you…" Nick smile at Lana's words.

"When I first came to the orphanage, Erica was the one whom stood up to be my friend when everyone seems to isolate me for my family background. The rumors about my family spread in the orphanage before I even entered it."

"Rumors?"

"They say that my whole family was involves in a gang that killed them and left me alone. The truth was, my mom was already passed away when she gave birth to me; then my dad took me in before he had to give me to the orphanage since he was trapped with some debts problem." Nick that seems to look a bit moody than before; gives her a bitter smile before glance away from her.

"Nick, I'm sorry… but, do you met you father after that?"

"Nah… it's okay; and yes, I did met him… he was just having problems with money; but never did leave me alone. He'll always come to visit me in the orphanage even until I get adopted by Erica's grandfather. That's why I didn't change my last name to the Qin's."

"Where is he now?"

"He's been living free ever since I've got adopted; Grandpa Victor helped dad with his debt and gave him a job. Now, as I've been in a huge debt with both Grandpa and Erica; I've sworn to be loyal and stay faithful to this family as much as I can."

"I guess that's mark the end of your story?"

"I guess you're right…"

"Nick…" Erica murmured as she watches both of them from the stairs. She always for some reason felt guilty for what Nick has been through in his childhood as he was mostly seem fragile as a kid.

'How can you be so dumb? You're not supposed to felt in debt with me when I was the one who owe you more.' Erica lower her gaze as walking back towards her room.

"But… How about… your feelings… towards sis?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I was talking about, Nick…"

"I think you got it wrong, Lana… we were just friends; and it always has been that way from the beginning."

"I don't think so…"

"What?"

"Uh… nothing… let me go check on sis for a while, then." Lana change the topic as she stands suddenly before walking fast towards the stairs giving no chance for Nick to respond to her.

"That was close…" Lana takes a breath as she leans on her room's door.

"What are you doing?" a voice from behind shocks her for a while; Erica was already approaching Lana with questions all over her face.

"Ah… Nothing?"

"Somehow your answer didn't look convincing to me… just spill it out…"

"Really… it's nothing…" She escape as sneak into her room; disappearing behind the door.

'You really can't hide anything from me, can you?' A smile appeared from Erica's mouth as she gazes at Lana's room.