Shattered Bonds: Secrets and Lies

Chapter 7: The visitor

After staying in the shower for almost half an hour, he went to the only big wardrobe in the room, where he found women's clothes, which belonged to Brittney, and men's clothes.

Assuming that they probably belonged to him, he picked a simple white T-shirt and a pair of grey joggers. Leaving the room, he came across two more picture frames of him and Brittney. His poker face turned gloomy, then annoyed.

"God, stop reminding me that I'm married. Jeez! It's enough already."

He walked downstairs, deep in thought about his past. How had he been with Brittney? What kind of job had he done? And what were his plans for his cousin?

Thinking of this, he slowly opened his mouth and muttered, "I guess I have a lot of homework to do."

On his way down, he could already smell the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen. A loud growling sound was heard, followed by a knock at the door.

Daven stood there, waiting for Brittney to come out of the kitchen to get the door, but there was no sign of her coming out.

Another knock came, and Daven went to the kitchen to find Brittney. He didn't want to involve himself with people right now, afraid of making things more complicated if the news got out about him losing some of his memory.

Poking his head through the kitchen doorway, he was a bit surprised not to find her there.

Left with no choice but to open the door, he reluctantly walked towards it and pulled it lazily, opening it just a little so that only his head showed. Before he could see the person, he didn't forget to put on his poker face.

"May I help you?" he said coldly, without waiting to see the person's appearance clearly.

The person in front of him was an elderly woman who had a displeased expression, with a plate of cookies in her hands. Not knowing what to say, she just stared at Daven blankly.

Seeing that the person wasn't saying anything, he raised his eyes to her face and realised that it was an old lady with grey hair.

Understanding that he had been rude just now, he quickly apologised and smiled sheepishly. Being rude to strangers when he was annoyed by something had also been part of his daily routine in the past, but being rude to old people was just not it.

He quickly said, opening the door wider than before, "Uhm... sorry, h-hi. How can I help you?"

"Oh, David! Where are your manners, you silly boy?"

The old lady went to hug Daven with one arm while the other carried a plate full of cookies.

Wait a minute... David? First it was Dave, and now David? How many names did he have?

Daven was lost in thought. Who was this old lady calling him David?

"Aww, you almost gave Granny Tae a heart attack when I heard you were in hospital..."

She was interrupted by Daven, who had a puzzled expression.

"Uhm... and you are?"

Before the old lady could react, Brittney showed up.

"Ah! Granny Tae, it's you!"

Brittney slightly pushed Daven aside and opened the door wider.

"Oh, come in..."

The old lady, identified as Granny Tae, walked in and handed the plate full of cookies to Brittney.

"I know how much he loves them. I'm sure he missed them after not being able to eat them for months."

"Sure he does..."

Brittney took a quick glance at Daven, who had a stunned expression.

"Lunch is almost ready. You can come and take a seat."

Granny Tae looked at Daven with a sweet smile that gave him a familiar feeling.

"Come on, dear. Let Granny Tae check if you're fine."

She reached out her arm to take hold of Daven's face, but he subconsciously dodged it.

"..."

Silence filled the room within a second.

Seeing where things were about to go, Brittney quickly explained, "The doctor said he lost some of his memory, so..."

Just as she was about to continue, Granny Tae had already taken hold of his arms.

"Aw, my poor boy. What happened?"

Daven just stood there with nothing to say.

Who was this woman? Is she related to Brittney?

"We will explain everything later. Just take a seat first. The food will get cold if we don't hurry up."

She quickly fled to the kitchen with the plate of cookies and started preparing the table.

Just after Brittney left, Daven's stomach grumbled really loudly, and he almost cursed out loud. He subconsciously looked at the old lady and met her eyes.

A few seconds later, he could feel his face getting hot with embarrassment. He looked away, scratching the back of his head.

Suddenly, Granny Tae broke into laughter, seeing how silly he looked when he got embarrassed.

"Oh, you silly bear. I'm going to help Brittney so that you can soon feed that hungry tummy of yours."

With that being said, Granny Tae left, leaving Daven in a daze with numerous thoughts.

"Could this day get any worse?"

After everything was done, Brittney went to call Daven, who sat lazily on the couch reading a newspaper.

"That's a five-month-old newspaper. Why are you still reading it?"

She moved closer to him.

"And why do you always like reading about the Quinn Family? You always had their newspapers in the study room."

"No reason."

His casually cold tone made Brittney unable to recognise him anymore.

"What's so fascinating about them anyway? After the middle child died, nothing great was written about them anymore."

She looked over at him, his expression changing drastically. She was really puzzled and didn't know why he was so interested in the Quinn Family.

The middle child? I'm the middle!?

Daven was about to say this when he realised a second later that this matter must not get out. Instead, he asked, "How did he die and..."

Again, he was rudely interrupted by his hungry stomach.

"The food is ready. Let's go."

She stood up and went to the table.

Daven got up, frustrated with his hungry stomach, which had first embarrassed him and now rudely interrupted him while he was asking the most important question he needed answered.