**Edited**
"I wish you luck, Miss." Anne smiled before opening the grand white doors in front of us. "I hope you can find your real family and stay here at the Mansion."
"Thank you so much, Anne." I didn't care if we had just met, I pulled her into an embrace, for support and for thanking her for being so sweet to me.
"Miss..." Anne whispered but returned my hug.
I smiled at her one last time then walked inside, to find out if this was my real home. But, as my fingers were about to touch the handle, I stopped. A wave of nervousness and anxiety flushed through, I felt nauseous. I didn't know if behind these doors were going to be an excited adventure or the greatest disappointment.
But it was better than not knowing. I didn't have much to lose.
I exhaled a few times, trying to calm my nerves then opened the doors.
Sitting at the sofas were two men, one looked like he's in his mid-fourties while the other looked much older, in his early sixties probably. The older one looked very powerful, like he had years of being the one in charge, which was probably true. His hair was nearly all white, making him look classy.
The younger man looked very much like older man, like an exact younger copy of him. He was very handsome, like one of the main characters in sappy soap operas Miss Ester used to watch whenever the little ones were asleep.
I assumed that they were father and son.
Their quiet conversation stopped as soon as I opened the doors.
Both men turned around as I stood there, not knowing how to react. They both looked at me with mixtures of emotions that I could not depict. Shocked, but nostalgic. As if they had just saw a ghost of someone they loved. Happy, yet full of sorrow.
After a few moments of silence, the younger man walked towards me, slowly. His jaw dropped as he approached closer. I just stood there and stared at the man whom I had just met but it seemed like he saw someone he had been missing for a long time.
Why was he looking at me with eyes full of tears and sadness?
"Father, it's her... It's really her... " His faint whisper was merely audible as he stopped a few feet before me. "It's Ariella..."
"She... Oh my Heavens..." The older man got up from his seat and I saw tears in his eyes as well. They both were gasping as they spoke about me like I wasn't standing right in front of them.
What does this mean...
"I'm Pennie... Nice to meet you, Sir." I nodded my head, not knowing what else to say.
"She looks just like Marbella..." The younger man looked like he was going to break down. "Father... She looks just like her..."
"Beautiful just like Marbella..." The older man whispered back. "Just beautiful like her Mother..."
Mother...? Father...? What are they talking about...? These two are...
"I apologize..." The younger man smiled as he took out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe away his tears. "You just look so much like my wife..."
His wife....
"Please, come, come, and sit." The older man gestured and I followed.
They were both wearing business suits, like they just got out of a fancy meeting.
"Good afternoon, my dear." The older man spoke, "I'm the Head Founder of the IRIS empire, Arthur Monrova. Very nice to meet you, child."
"Good afternoon, Mr. Monrova." I smiled back at him. Maybe it was the grey hair but the old man gave off these warm vibes, like Mr. Kandra.
"I'm also Mr. Monrova, but the younger Mr. Monrova, he is my Father." The younger man nervously spoke while he kept his eyes fixed on me. "I'm the CEO of IRIS. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet both of you, Mr. Monrova." I nodded my head in respect as they gestured for me to sit down.
"We know it's really strange to call you here and so far away from home, too..." The young Mr. Monrova started. "But, we have heard from a trustable resource that our long lost Ariella, my daughter, was spot near the Orphanage you were staying at."
"Oh, is that so?" I nodded. "I understand now. But how are you guys so sure that it's me...?"
"We weren't." The older Mr. Monrova said. "That's why we asked you to come here."
"What he means is that the trustable source said he saw someone who looked just like my wife, Marbella, and well... my daughter was born to look exactly like her mother. So he reported the news to us." The young Mr. Monrova continued, he looked sad as he talked about his wife.
I couldn't help but wondered why she wasn't there.
"We wanted to ask you to come here to see you ourselves..." There was a sense of sadness in his eyes as the word daughter escaped his lips. "And... I don't doubt it one bit that you're my daughter..."
He walked over to the big mahogany desk at the center of the room and picked something up before walking back to sit on the sofa next to mine.
He handed me a picture frame. It was a picture of him and a woman and they were carrying a child. A little girl.
And... she looked exactly like... me... Not only that, the woman in the picture... She... She looked.... Just... Like... Me...
"Mr. Monrova... This is..." My lips trembled. Was this my mother?
I was more than certain I was the little girl in the picture because I have pictures of when I was younger, at the orphanage, because Miss Esther had a knick for keepsakes of the children she took in. But... I wasn't ready.
I had so many questions... Questions that I was scared to find answers to.
"Pennie... That is my wife, Marbella, and that's our daughter, Ariella." He choked on the last three words like he hasn't said them in a long time.
I tried to answer, or give him even a gesture but I couldn't. My body felt weak and I felt dizzy, like I was going control of my body. Unable to refrain myself, I put my fingers on the woman's face, tracing her gorgeous features. We shared nearly every trait... The hair, the eyes, the face structure, but she was just much more beautiful.
The two men were both in tears as they watched me touch the picture. The little girl, I, looked so happy in the picture. With... my... parents. Parents. I had parents. They were both looking at me with the most adoring eyes and huge smiles, like they were happy and I was the best thing that has ever happened to them.
"I..." I didn't know how to reply. I felt so blissful... Yet tried not to be happy so soon... But... This woman... She looked just like me... Could she really be my mother...?
"Do you by any chance have a heart-shaped birthmark on your nape?" The older Mr. Monrova looked at me with the most hopeful eyes, and I knew he was also just as anxious as I am, if not more.
"How did you know...?" My heart-shaped birthmark was something I didn't even know I had until Miss Esther pointed it out to me when I was 7 years old and running around the yard in my red bathing suit. She said it was maybe because my parents loved me so much that their love left such an imprint on my body.
But, of course at that time it was the hardest thing to believe because they had left me.
Neither of them said a word but rushed toward me and pulled me into their arms. They were sobbing and hugging me so tight that it almost made me uncomfortable because I have never been embraced by men before.
Yet it somehow felt alright.
"That birthmark was the reason she wanted to name you Ariella. She said that it reminded her of love." The older Mr. Monrova pulled away and wiped his tears, looking at me with eyes full of happiness.
Did this mean they were really my family...?
"What does it all mean...?" I didn't want to jump to any conclusion before I heard it from them first.
"It means you're our Ariella..." He had the biggest smile on his face.
"You guys left me. At the orphanage." The words managed to slip out no matter how hard I tried to hold them in.
I felt my body tensed as I looked down at the beautiful rug, avoiding his gaze.
"Ari-" His sadness nearly made my heart hurt. "Pennie, we didn't leave you there..."
"You guys did. That's why I've been there since I was 2..." I felt tears coming down my cheeks and I couldn't imagine how pathetic I must've looked.
"You got it all wrong, Pennie..." Zach's voice reminded me of a sad song that plays during the parts in the movies that you wish you hadn't seen. "It's such a long story that I wish your Mother were here to help me explain it..."
"Well, why don't we wait until she gets here...?" I have been curious to ask them why she wasn't there. I didn't mind waiting to hear the explanation they wanted to give me.
"Pennie..." He walked closer to me but his eyes were looking elsewhere. "I... Pennie... Your Mother..."
"What about her?" I wanted to meet her. This women who I looked so much alike, yet have never met before. I remembered growing up wishing I had a mom to volunteer at school lunches and taught me things I was confused about. To talk to boys about. To eat her food.
"Your Mother passed away seven months ago..." His voice was barely audible, but I heard it. And I wish I hadn't. I would've been fine not knowing that the mother I waited my life to meet, to get answers from, to see her just for a second, was now gone...
Even though I had never met her, I couldn't help but cried. My heart felt a bang of hurt as I looked at the man who was my father. He pulled me into his arms and we cried together. I couldn't explain why I was so hurt, maybe it was the tie of family that no one could ever escape from, despite the distance and time.
"I'm so sorry, Pennie..." He mummer sadly. The older Mr. Monrova was watching us in tears that he was trying so hard to blink away.
"I'm sorry, too..." I replied to him quietly as I patted his back to comfort him, trying to imagine how much he must have loved her. But I couldn't imagine how much pain he must have gone through, losing her.
"You were never abandoned, child." The older Mr. Monrova finally cleared his throat and sighed. "It was my fault that you were taken from us. My old business partner and I had a horrible fall out and he became so spiteful when I was successful so he took you from us."
I was kidnapped...?
"How come you guys took so long to find me...?" I couldn't help but be bitter, remembering how I grew up feeling unwanted and hard to love because my own family didn't even want me.
"We have spent every day for the last 18 years looking for you..." Dad was still crying but he he didn't let go of my hand as he spoke. "But the orphanage was so far away and in such an isolated neighborhood that you were there without anyone knowing..."
Even though I was hurt, I knew this was a better outcome than the one I had imagined. Looking at them, my family, all the bitterness in me washed away. I had a family now. I wasn't alone anymore. I wasn't an orphan.
"Come here and let grandfather hug you..." Grandfather smiled at me. "Grandpa is so sorry... I promised your parents I will spend the rest of my life searching every corner of the earth for you and make it up to you."
"It wasn't your fault..." I hugged him back, letting myself feel what it was like to have an old grandpa to love.
There was a knock on the door, making all three of us jumped as we realized we were just standing there crying.
"Emp and Master Zach, dinner is ready." A young woman who dressed like Anne walked in and nodded. "I will inform the Young Masters and Miss."
"Does that mean I have a lot of siblings?" She said young masters as in plural as well as miss.
"You only have a sister, Rosie." It was the first time I had seen him laugh ever since I got in here. "She's only 5 but she's the ruler of this place."
"I have a sister...?" My heart swelled with warmth and joy, thinking about my sister. Zach pulled out his wallet and I saw two pictures. One with me and Mom, then another with Rosie. She was the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen... She reminded me so much of Bella, that genuine innocent smile. "She's... beautiful... And she looks just like you, Dad."
Zach was taken back when I said the word, but he looked so pleased that it made me smile.
"Let's not make everyone wait." Grandfather said before walking to the doors. "Even though the whole family isn't all here today because most of the kids are still at the vacation villa, but you'll get to meet a few of them tonight."
"Who are the others?" I asked dad curiously as we followed Grandfather outside.
"They're the boys your grandfather had specially chosen to get trained to potentially one day become the next CEO of IRIS." Dad explained to me. "Their sisters came as well because they all wanted to live here. They can tell you more about it when you meet them."
The dining room had huge white table with fancy white covered chairs around it. This must be a huge family with all these chairs here... It was hard to imagine how loud it must be in here every dinner.
A few minutes after, a girl walked in. She was stunning... her long wavy hair hung above her waist while her bangs covered her forehead. Her big brown eyes reminded me of chocolate while her smile was so bright that it made me jealous. She was so beautiful.
"Amie, say hello to Ariella." The older Mr. Monrova spoke and Amie beamed in her place. She ran over to me and gave me the biggest hug which frightened me but I eased into it.
"Hi!" She smiled. "I'm Amie, Amie Callahan. We have been waiting so long for you. Welcome home."
"Thank you." I smile, "Nice to meet you, Amie."
Not long after the food was brought out, another person walked into the room. But, before I looked up, I could tell who it was by the familiar voice earlier.
"Welcome home, Ariella. I'm Wren." I looked up see that obvious, arrogant smirk again.