The crisp green grass crunched under her feet as she walked alone through the quiet park in the late afternoon. She’d been there several times before, when she was younger and an innocent. She had been happy then in a way only a child could be, surrounded by a loving mother and doting on a brother she cared for more than anything in the world—but those days were long gone now. Those happy memories quickly fading as the days passed by…

Jessica always thought that the events in her family’s history had happened for a reason. That the loss she’d felt in the absence of her mother’s free mind had been caused by something bigger than her brother’s sudden disappearance. That her father had been right to tell her that her brother wasn’t really her brother, and that their relocating would help them heal.

Her father had always been a strict man; morally upright and good, but most often chose methods too severe to fathom. She’d never truly understood how her father had doted on her so diligently when he had a son to carry on their name, but at her young age then this detail never mattered long enough for her to care. She had assumed that it was because she was the first-born that she needed to be molded well to carry the name.

She never thought of his negligence to her brother then delved into matters that she wouldn’t have known if not for his deathbed letter. If not for her uncovering the truth behind her brother’s origins; of her mother’s affairs and her father’s harsh actions…

Jessica desperately wanted to say that her family’s actions were right (they were done to keep their names (her name) afloat, to keep their family together), but personally she knew that they weren’t.

And now, after almost a decade of lies and concealment, she has finally had enough.

Her distracted steps took her close to the water, far from the usual park goers’ spots but close enough to be seen from the gate she’d expected her companion to come from. She’d taken it into herself to make sure that she would be ready once she settled down on the bench; ready to speak her mind and uncover the truths that had long since eluded her because of her father’s ideals.

Jessica made sure to ready to tell Changmin, her brother, that half or not—he had always been part of her family and that she’d been searching for him since the day she found out the truth of his forced disappearance.

Crisp fall leaves crunched behind her and she listened as those careful steps drew closer to her bench. She didn’t have to turn around to know that the person she was meeting had finally arrived. It was, after all, always been Changmin’s way to be quiet in everything he did.

“I was beginning to worry you weren’t going to meet me, little brother,” Jessica started with a smile, patting the seat next to her as Changmin moved up to her. He had a slight grimace on his face as he took the seat next to her, carefully gripping the iPad he brought in his hands.

“I’m glad my private investigator got hold of the correct mobile number,” she said, looking out into the water. A family of ducks swam by, unaware of them and she smiled. “The first few people I hired all failed to get me working number, but then again I suppose the third time’s the charm.”

Changmin merely shrugged in response to her words, straightening in his seat with the iPad propped carelessly on his lap. The screen was dark and she briefl