Chapter 2 The Truth

"The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth."

-Lao Tzu-

***

“Good morning, dad!” Julia greeted her father who was sitting on the couch, reading newspaper even thought he had a phone that contained all the information in the world.

“Good morning, my sweet princess. How are you feeling this morning?” He asked. Last night, they had a conversation over dinner regarding what happened and her father took the news a little bit worse than his wife. At first, he was angry and felt disgusted by Tom’s behavior. Worse, he had also thought that Emily, the girl who always stick by Julia’s side since high school would never do something like that. He had treated her like a second daughter too in the past. His ego couldn’t accept it. However, after calming himself down, he was more proud of his daughter for making the right decision and leaving that horrible man right away.

“I’m feeling slightly better. I may go ice skating today to cool my mind off and then browse the internet to get myself a new job. I had to resign from my previous one because of this.” She explained.

“It’s okay, Julie. Don’t be too harsh on yourself. I understand things are difficult for you at the moment, but you will be fine.” He encouraged

“Thanks dad, now, I’m going to help mom with breakfast, I’ll let you know when it’s ready.” She smiled before leaving.

Julia felt better after talking to both of her parents. It was funny considering she wasn’t even her real parents. Yes, Julia was adopted. Her earliest memory began in an orphanage.

She grew up in a local orphanage in Phoenix. She didn’t even know who her real parents were and how she ended up there. All she knew was she had always been different, simply because she was Asian looking. More specifically, Eastern Asian.

She still had some Caucasian blood in her but her Asian featured were more prominent, she often got stares from the other kids. When she was six years old, she was adopted by the Smith couple, Linda and Peter Smith.

Both of them couldn’t conceive on their own so they adopted her and raised her like their own child. During her school years, she was a brilliant child academically. Socially, she struggled a little because she was different, but she wasn’t bullied or anything. People just simply didn’t bother her.

Her life was smooth sailing and not a lot of conflict happened, until the day Tom cheated on her.

After breakfast, she started getting ready and was about to head out when her father suddenly approached her with a letter in his hand.

“Julie, I found this letter in the mail and it’s for you.” He handed her the letter and she was a bit confused because she didn’t send any applications or had any pen pals who could send her letters. Most people just used emails these days so she wondered who could have sent it to her? She took it and thanked her dad before going back to her room to open it up. What laid inside was beyond her expectation.

It was a picture of her as a baby. She could identify it because the baby had the exact same birthmark as her on the neck. It was shaped like a crescent moon. She wondered if it was just a coincidence so she turned the picture around and there was a writing in there.

“Dear Julia, If you want to know more about your real parents and background, come to this address this Saturday at one pm.” There was an address for a restaurant underneath it. She was getting so confused and wondered if it was just a prank mail. However, it was impossible for someone to have her baby picture unless that person knew her as a baby.

Even though she loved her current family, there was always a part of her that wondered who she actually was before she arrived at the orphanage. None of her caretakers there every explained anything to her and she was adopted too early to find out anything. It might be a good chance to finally know where she came from.

“Besides, the address is for a restaurant. People don’t think of kidnapping other people inside a restaurant.” She convinced herself. Julie decided to put it on her drawer and headed out as she had planned.

That night, Julie decided to go through her phone and deleted every single pictures she ever had with Tom. The man still tried to text her, so she blocked him on every social media and made sure that he could never reach her again. It was her first step of getting the man out of her mind.

As she was busy doing that, a tiny part of her mind wandered elsewhere. She remembered the picture that was sent for her and decided that she was going.

Saturday came faster than she expected and she woke up early that morning and mentally prepared herself to meet whoever sent the picture to her. One pm came and she headed outside to meet this mysterious sender.

She walked into the restaurant and looked around to see who exactly she was meeting. She was clueless until a young man approached her. He wasn’t one of the staff yet he recognized her right away. Could this man be a key to understanding her past?

“Are you Julianne Smith?” He asked.

“Yes, I am.” She confirmed. A small, polite smile appeared on his face as he asked her to follow him. They walked into the private lounge area of the restaurant where she saw an old man his in his sixties. Despite that, he was still looking healthy. The old man wore a finely tailored suit, a hat and held a cane in his hand. She could already tell right away that this man was no ordinary man.

At the same time, Julia was starting to feel a little scared. Something about this man really intimidated her and she was not sure what.

“Julie, welcome. Why don’t you have a seat?” He smiled at her and she sat down right across him. The man nodded to the young man and he left the two of them alone.

“Were you the one who sent the baby picture? Do you know who my real parents are?” She asked.

“Straight to the point, I like it. To answer your question, yes. I was the one who sent the picture to your home and yes, I do know who your real parents are.” The suspense was starting to drive her a little crazy. Julie needed to know the answers right away, so she asked again.

“Who are they? Also, who are you?” The old man smiled again and replied.

“My name is James Howler. Your father’s name is Isaac Howler and your mother’s name is Jennifer. I know this because Isaac is my son. I am your grandfather.” Upon hearing this revelation, Julia was speechless. She didn’t know how to react to this information at all. She thought she would feel more relieved, but there were more questions circulating in her mind.

“How can you prove that?” She asked, feeling a bit skeptical since she has never heard these two names before in her life. The old man calmly took his suitcase and showed her some pictures. It showed a white man and an Asian looking woman holding a baby in her hand. From the picture, she could see her birthmark on the baby’s neck, just like the one she had.

Another picture showed the slightly younger version of the old man holding the same baby with a smile on his face. Julia looked through the pictures with slight tears on her eyes.

“These two are your real parents. This picture was taken when you were only three months old. You were such a happy and cheerful baby, it was easy for everyone to love you. Including me.” The old man continued. After she was satisfied with the pictures. She placed them on the table and looked at James.

“Then, if they are my parents. Then why did I end up in that orphanage? What happened?” It was a question she always wanted answers for. The old man’s expression turned a little gloomy. Julia already knew she wouldn’t like the answer but decided to stay.

“Calm down, child. This is the hardest part, but I will tell you anyway. Now, listen carefully.”