Chapter 16 Unexpected Secret
Nami swallowed, growing increasingly anxious. She didn't know George's real purpose in bringing up the old incident with her. But what was clear was that he didn't want to stand out too much, let alone do something that could cause a commotion.
"That's just your feeling, I'm not really that strong."
"Haha...really? You can't fool me with a stupid excuse like that. Whatever your obvious reason, sooner or later you'll be watched and dragged to the laboratory." George tried to intimidate Nami, who was already looking pale. This only made him even more determined to annoy her.
Nami decided to take a step back, because if she stayed, George would surely annoy her even more. However, getting away from George didn't seem to be an easy task. The young man held her back every time she tried to leave.
"Hey, why are you in such a hurry? Is there someone waiting for you that you won't give me a bit of your time?" George looked annoyed, but Nami didn't care. The more he stayed here, the more he remembered his childhood memories with this young man and none of them were memories he wanted to remember.
"Let go of me! I'm going back to my room!"
"I'm not done with you yet!"
"But I—" Nami felt something very cold on her hand, along with a strange numbness. When she looked at her left hand in George's grasp, she realized it was frozen.
"M-my hand?"
"Now that I've looked at it, you're actually quite pretty, aren't you? How about you be my girlfriend?"
"G-girlfriend? What do you mean?"
"Aren't you curious about Aiden now? Has ERI discovered his true identity as an esper and captured him?"
"You're wrong! Aiden isn't an esper, nor was he captured by ERI and living in the central laboratory. He was adopted by a high-ranking military official and became the child of that family. That's why I can say your assumption is wrong!"
"Really? Hahaha...unfortunately, I've met him a few times." Hearing George's statement stunned Nami. Had George met Aiden?
"Are you kidding me?"
"Why do you think I'm joking? He was adopted by one of my father's close friends, General Roderick Nikolaidis, so you could say his current name is Aiden Nikolaidis."
"Aiden Nikolaidis?"
"Did he never contact you again? Could it be that you two have lost contact since he was adopted?"
Nami wanted to confirm this. Ever since Aiden was adopted and moved to a city she kept secret from her, they hadn't seen each other, not even to communicate. It had been almost 10 years since that day, and not a single day went by without her thinking about Aiden.
"He never called me, never." For some reason, her heart felt in turmoil. Aiden Nikolaidis, she didn't know that was Aiden's new name. She tried to find information about him on the internet and places she knew would provide information. But to no avail.
"Yes, I last saw him about two years ago. Unfortunately, that bastard didn't recognize me. I'm sure the scientists from ERI have already taken his brain out for objects—"
"No...!" Nami shouted, trying to deny George's accusations. She couldn't believe everything George said about Aiden. Up until now, she still believed that Aiden was fine and living a happy life with his adoptive family.
"Why are you so upset? I only told you about the worst possible thing that could happen to him. Why do you think parents would abandon their genetically mutated child to that orphanage? Aiden has been ERI's primary target from the start. He has a rare gene mutation that makes him no longer human."
Nami's hands were clenched tightly and trembling, as she fought back the anger she was trying so hard to contain. Even though years ago, her intuition had told her something bad might have happened to Aiden, she tried her best to deny it to calm her heart. She couldn't live with constant worry.
"Do you think I'll believe a made-up story like that?"
"Tch, a made-up story you say?"
"Sorry, George, but I can't trust you!" she said as she walked away. She was worried that she would be affected if she remained here.
"It's up to you whether you believe it or not! The important thing is that I've told you what you've probably been dying to know all this time."
"How did you know I wanted to know that?"
"Because the management of Everdeen Orphanage is prohibited from divulging any information from adopters and donors. No matter how much you beg them to tell you, they will still choose to keep quiet."
Nami took a deep breath and resumed her steps back into her room. George no longer tried to stop her, which reassured her.
When she opened the door, Lea and Sydney were already there. They were back to their normal relationship.
"Nami, where have you been?" Sydney immediately approached her, still standing in the doorway, looking at the two of them, who she assumed were still arguing.
"I went to check. Are you two getting along again?"
Hearing her question, Lea and Sydney looked at each other for a moment, then laughed. They were embarrassed to admit it, but they did fight sometimes, and that's normal in friendships.
"I've already explained it to Lea, and I had to tell her about my family secret."
"Family secret?"
"Yeah, I figured there was no point in hiding it. Since you're my friend now, I thought I'd tell you all right."
"If it's a secret that shouldn't be known to everyone, it's okay if you don't tell me, I understand!"