Chapter 20 Chapter 20
Iris shook her head, her portfolio clutched protectively against her chest. "Running won't solve anything. If I am Roxanne Lawson..." she paused, the name feeling foreign on her tongue, “I need to know after all if it comes out later that I am really her and I won the competition that was meant to be in Roxanne’s name, people will think that it was staged to let me win the win won’t be my own. I don’t want that, and I can’t take a win to a competition I shouldn’t be able to enter.”
Tony's chest tightened at her words. The practical, selfless logic was so quintessentially Iris, thinking about the integrity of a design competition even as her entire identity hung in question.
"If you are Roxanne Lawson," he said gently, "there will be far bigger changes to consider than a design competition."
Iris nodded, her gaze fixed on the approaching bus. "I know. But I need to handle this one step at a time. First, meet the Lawsons. Then decide what to do next."
On the university campus, the three Lawson brothers arrived thirty minutes early, positioning themselves strategically around the library's main reading room. Theodore chose a table with clear sightlines to all entrances, while Victor and Bryce browsed nearby shelves, their casual demeanour belying their heightened alertness.
"Father just texted," Bryce murmured into his earpiece. "He's ten minutes out."
"Copy that," Theodore replied softly, adjusting his tie, a nervous habit he'd developed in childhood. After twenty years of searching, the possibility that their sister might walk through those doors at any moment felt surreal, almost too much to bear.
Meanwhile, across campus, Helga Kennedy's security team reported the discovery of Tony's abandoned car.
"They've switched transportation," the team leader informed her. "We're reviewing nearby security footage now."
Helga slammed her hand against the marble countertop. "Find them! The library...check the university library. That's where they're meeting the Lawsons."
Julius watched his wife with growing concern. Her obsession with controlling this situation was becoming dangerous. "Helga, perhaps we should reconsider our approach. If this girl is indeed Roxanne Lawson..."
"Then we need to be there when the truth is revealed," Helga cut him off. "To ensure our interests are protected."
At a bus stop two blocks from campus, Iris and Tony prepared to separate.
"I'll go in first," Iris said, her voice steady despite the storm of emotions churning inside her. "Wait ten minutes, then follow. We shouldn't appear connected."
Tony nodded reluctantly. "Be careful. If anything feels wrong, just leave. I'll find you."
Iris adjusted her grip on her portfolio case, the physical manifestation of the future she'd meticulously planned. "I will."
Before she could turn away, Tony caught her hand. "Iris, whatever happens in there... it doesn't change who you are. Remember that."
A fleeting smile crossed her face, genuine despite its brevity. "Thanks." Then she was gone, walking purposefully toward the library entrance, her slender figure soon lost among the crowds of students.
In the library's reading room, Richard Lawson arrived five minutes before the appointed meeting time. Despite his sixty-five years, he moved with the vigour of a much younger man, though the lines etched deeply around his eyes spoke of two decades of grief and longing for his little princess. If this Iris Maxwell really was Roxanne, how could he make up for the years stolen from them? How could he repay the family that had taken her in and loved her as their own, when he and his wife could not even though they had never stopped looking?
Theodore stood as his father approached their table, the three brothers forming a protective semicircle around the family patriarch. They had witnessed their father's transformation over the decades, from a commanding, confident businessman to a man haunted by a single devastating loss. Today, for the first time in years, they saw something different in Richard Lawson's eyes: hope.
"Any sign of her?" Richard asked, his voice low but tense with anticipation.
"Not yet," Theodore replied, checking his watch. "She should be here any minute."
Richard nodded, smoothing his perfectly tailored suit jacket, a gesture his sons recognised as one of his rare displays of nervousness. "What did she sound like? On the phone?"
"Composed," Theodore said after a moment's consideration. "Analytical. Not frightened, but cautious."
A slight smile touched Richard's lips. "Like her mother."
Across campus, Iris walked deliberately toward the library, her mind categorising facts and possibilities with the same methodical precision she applied to her designs. If she were Roxanne Lawson, her entire identity, everything she thought she knew about herself, was built on a foundation of lies. Yet the Maxwells, the only family she had ever known, had given her nothing but love and support. The contradiction twisted painfully inside her.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She expected Tony to check on her, but instead saw her adoptive mother's name on the screen.
"Mom?" she answered, her voice betraying none of the turmoil within.
"Iris, sweetheart!" Carol Maxwell's warm voice came through, instantly comforting despite the distance. "I just wanted to check how you're doing with that competition deadline. You've been so quiet lately."
Guilt washed over Iris. With everything happening, she hadn't called home in days. "I'm good, Mom. Just busy with classes and work."
"You're not pushing yourself too hard, are you? Your father and I worry."
Iris swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. If she were Roxanne Lawson, would these good people who had raised her still be her family? Would she lose them?
"I'm fine, really. How are the boys?"
Carol launched into stories about her brothers' latest antics, Buck and Finn's ongoing rivalry over who could shovel the driveway faster, and Jakob and Nikolaus's elaborate Lego construction that had taken over the living room. The familiar tales grounded Iris, reminding her of who she was regardless of her biological origins.
"I love you, Mom," she said when Carol paused for breath. "Tell everyone I love them."
"We love you too, sweetheart. So proud of you."