I shook my head. “Nah, she never wears shorts or dresses around me. It’s usually just sweats, leggings, and oversized shirts. Her ass is super casual.”
“You’re curious, though, right?” Knox pressed, a knowing grin spreading across his face.
I mugged him. “Yeah… but not really. I ain’t trying to see her naked.”
“Nigga, please. You already did once…apparently.”
I ignored him.
“I’m saying…” he continued trying to make a point, “if that birthmark ain’t there? Cool. Crazy coincidence. Everybody moves on. But if it is?”
Knox tapped at the screen.
“That means you smashed yo’ surrogate before Zonnique ever hired her.”
I dragged my hand slowly down my face.
If that shit is true, then this whole situation is about to get even messier.
Chapter sixteen
Kynsleigh
The entire drive to my adoptive parents' house was a jarring whirlwind of emotions. I wasn’t exactly nervous, more like,emotionally nauseous.
After an entire year of silence, blocked calls, and unresolved hurt, I had randomly decided to pull up and pay them a visit with not so much as a “hey, can we talk” text… just me, my thoughts, and unresolved trauma riding shotgun.
Part of me told myself I was going for closure, another part hopedmaybeenough time had passed for everybody to calm down.
Maybe we could finally talk things out without anger screaming louder than love… maybe they’d softened… maybe becoming a mother would somehow make them understand me more, or maybe I just missed my family… even after everything.
Mysun slept peacefully in his car seat beside me, completely unaware that his mama was internally spiraling while trying to convince herself that it was a good idea.
Von glanced at me from the driver’s seat for what had to be the fifth time in ten minutes.
“Yousureyou wanna do this?” he asked, his tone heavy with the weight of his worry.
I fixated on the rows of houses gliding past outside the tinted window, trying to ground myself in the present.
“Yes.” I exhaled slowly. “I just need closure.”
Von hummed a low note under his breath, an unspoken skepticism lingering in the air, as if he were already bracing himself for the worst.
“Kyn,” he said after a moment, his voice slightly more serious, “people who genuinely care about you have the resources to find you… especially your adoptive parents. Rich people don’t lose people unlesstheychoose to. But,” he added, glancing at me momentarily, “if this is what you feel youneedto do, you know I got your back.”
A small smile tugged at my mouth.
Von pointed toward the windshield, his eyes sharp with a mix of humor and seriousness. “Now if they pop off, just know I will too!”
As the car rolled into the expansive circular driveway, the crunch of gravel under the tires echoed like a countdown in my mind.
The massive house still appeared to be the kind of place where a little girl should have felt safe, cherished, and loved.
That’s the dangerous thing about pretty homes… sometimes they hide ugly things well.
Von parked but didn’t immediately cut the engine.
He glanced at me, a serious expression on his face. “Youstillwanna do this?”
