Reborn, Reawakened, Rekindled novel Chapter 633

"An heirloom locket?" I latched onto that term.

Previously, Louis had claimed to be an illegitimate child of the Whitmores because of this locket, purportedly left behind by his mother, a token of love from Ryan himself.

Could it be that Neil's recent trip abroad was about this?

At that time, I couldn't reach him either, but I wasn't exactly rushing to do so.

"Yeah, I'll explain everything once I get back. Karina has significant influence here, so I'll be spending quite a bit of time on this. Just make sure Serena and Brandon are well taken care of. I'll have someone watch over your place. If your folks disagree, tell them to hire security," Neil's voice was heavy with concern. Clearly, being abroad, he couldn't directly protect us, leaving his only option to employ security for me and the kids.

That was something I could manage, not wanting to distract him. My bigger fear was anything happening to the kids.

Our conversation, revolving around various matters to be handled, felt as comfortable as if we were just friends, devoid of any romantic entanglement. This comfort was oddly reassuring, yet it left me with a twinge of guilt, especially regarding the kids, whom I had insisted Neil never acknowledge...

I consoled myself that this was his way of making amends for the pain he had caused in my past life. It was only fair.

After hanging up, lost in thought, I hadn't even noticed my mom's return.

She had overheard my conversation with Neil, her expression troubled as she sat beside me. "Rena, are you considering adopting Hiram?"

Caught off guard, I replied, "Mom, you...?"

I had been leaning towards that decision but hadn't explicitly discussed it with my parents, knowing their potential reluctance. Now with Serena and Brandon, they didn't lack for grandchildren, especially one with such a complicated background.

As expected, my mom was skeptical, "Rena, adopting a child is no small matter. Besides, Hiram's connection to Karina is complicated, and your father and I are against it."

"Mom, Hiram was just taken by Karina; they're not blood-related. The boy has suffered enough, being used and mistreated for years. He's grown attached to me, and I can't let him down," I argued firmly. Knowing now that Hiram wasn't Karina's biological son only strengthened my resolve to adopt him.

"Even so, he's been raised by Karina. Plus, there were rumors about him being Neil's son. Adopting him would raise eyebrows, you know?" My mom remained unconvinced, her primary concern being my well-being.

Realizing arguing was futile and not wanting to upset her further, I dropped the subject, "Mom, Neil's just looking into it for me. It's complicated, and nothing's certain yet. Let's talk about it later."

Instead, I was urged by Rosemont's lawyers to meet with Frank, who was eager to confess everything in exchange for my help with his ex-wife and son. Without resting post-discharge, I was immediately driven to Rosemont.

If Karina managed to flee abroad to evade justice, I was determined to give her a reason to return and face the consequences here, especially since she had once attempted to have me killed.

It was clear she needed to be tried here for her crimes committed on home soil. I doubted she could easily escape justice a second time.

When I arrived in Rosemont, I had my lawyer arrange a meeting with Frank as soon as possible. The guy was incredibly suspicious and wouldn't spill a word until he saw some real action on my part.

Before meeting him, I had someone look up his ex-wife and son, gave them a decent sum of money, and had them pose for a photograph as a form of proof.

"This is a photo of your ex-wife and son, take a look," I said to Frank as soon as we met, skipping any unnecessary chit-chat and handing over the photo.

The moment Frank took the picture, his eyes lit up with an intense mixture of tenderness and resignation.