Married To My Billionaire Stepbrother-Chapter 423: How Caryn And Serena Met

They arrived at Justin’s penthouse at the top of the NextEra Corp headquarters building. Natalie was not surprised at the thought that this man had such a lavish penthouse with every possible facility available here. It even had its own garden that one wouldn’t feel like going anywhere else to visit the greenery. The entire top floor of that building was his residence, which was impossible to explore in just a single visit.

For now, it was time to deal with the important matters. The rest, she could explore this home later.

"Let’s head to my study. I have something to show you," Justin said.

As they entered the study, Justin made her sit on the couch and then went to one of the drawer chests and pulled out a small box. He brought it to Natalie.

"What is it?" she asked, curiously looking at that old, but beautifully crafted wooden box.

"Something my real father has left behind," Justin answered and opened it.

Natalie went through it, while Justin pulled out one picture of Serena in her youth. He clicked the picture of it and sent it to someone.

"I have a call to make. You can look through it," Justin said and went to sit in the chair behind his desk as he talked on the call for a while. When he returned, Natalie, who was delighted to see Justin’s pictures from when he was just a baby to his eight-year-old self, looked at him.

"Justin, these seem like precious memories your father wished to cherish," she said, feeling a little emotional about it. "You were so cute as a baby. Can’t believe that cute baby would grow into a handsome but mysterious man like you."

"You should be relived, our baby would be as cute as me," he commented.

"I was cute as well," she commented with a smile, and then looked at the beuatiful couple in the picture, "I do feel bad about your parents."

As she now knew the story from the past, she couldn’t help but feel bad not only about Justin but his parents as well. Two people in love—what did they even want? Just a peaceful, ordinary life, but they couldn’t even have it.

Seeing Serena today in her miserable situation and seeing Serena from her youth, how happy she was with her man and her kids, she couldn’t help but feel sympathy towards her.

How great would it have been if the past was not so cruel and she was still with her husband and kids, living a happy life?

Justin simply sat quietly next to her, looking at those pictures, trying to comprehend his own emotions.

Natalie then looked at Justin. "If your grandpa ever tried to do the same with us, I wouldn’t run away, but I would rather kill him right there."

"You don’t have to. I would be the one to do that," Justin replied. "Let him live for a while longer."

Natalie put her hand on Justin’s. "I know your parents had different situation with two kids to protect, and that old man was more powerful, I can only wish if at least someone was there to help them. I know you feel bad for them as well."

She knew he never showed his emotional side, but she could feel he was equally affected for his parents.

She got the picture from Justin’s hand, which he had sent to someone a while ago. As she looked at youthful Serena, Natalie said as if trying to figure out something, "You might feel I am overthinking, but I feel like I have met your mother somewhere."

"We will know once we talk to your mother," Justin said.

Just then, his cellphone rang.

------

Meanwhile, in the Imperial City.

James, who had been working in his study, received a picture from Justin and then a call as well. Both of them talked for a while, before James left his study and went to Caryn’s room, who was busy reading a book.

She looked at him to know why he was here in the middle of his working hours, only to have him hand her the cellphone.

"Take a look at this picture. Do you know this woman?" James asked.

Caryn accepted the cellphone and stared at the picture for a moment before saying, "This is Eli. I met her in the orphanage after. We were good friends, but I am not in contact with her anymore, for over two decades now."

Then she looked at James. "Why do you ask?"

James sighed, "It’s my fault for not showing you Justin’s family picture before, or we would have been talking about it even earlier."

"What do you mean?" she asked. "This woman..."

"She is Serena. Justin’s biological mother," James responded.

Hearing it, Caryn felt stunned, her expression one of great shock. She then looked back at the picture, as if trying to place the pieces together.

"When Natalie met her, she called her Caryn," James explained to her. "It means she still remembers you."

"The last time I talked with her was when she had given birth to her kids. She had given birth to the twins... No wonder... I..." She sighed inwardly. "All this time, I was raising a child of my friend and I didn’t even know." freёnovelkiss.com

"You need to talk to Justin about his mother’s past. He might get some idea," James said.

Caryn hummed while James made a video call through his tablet so they could talk.

As the talk began, Caryn explained when she met Serena and when she lost contact.

"I met your mother in the orphanage. I was taken there by someone who was protecting me under the orders of my mother," Caryn began, "Back then, her name used to be Eli not Serena. She was around eleven or twelve, a few years older than me. She was one of the oldest girls there and was close to the orphanage head, Mr. Hunt, as she was the first child he brought to the orphanage when he started it for orphaned girl children.

"The man, who protected me, knew Mr. Hunt really well and handed me over to him. Since then I started to live in that orphanage. Mr. Hunt trusted Eli to look after me as I was new, and we somewhat became good friends despite our age difference. She was brave and bold, and I always admired her back then.

"But then she was adopted by a couple as their daughter when she was thirteen, and she had to leave the orphanage despite her will to not leave Mr. Hunt. She considered Mr. Hunt as her father and wished to stay in the orphanage by his side. But..." Caryn sighed, "After that, we lost contact with her. All we knew was that her new parents shifted out of the country, and she left with them as well."

"If you lost contact with her at that time, then how did you get to know about her having kids?" James asked.