When we got back to Zaden’s house, things weren’t as tense as before. He let me see a little bit into his world and I kind of enjoyed it. It also made me think that I shouldn’t think about this mystery girl he has had his heart on for who knows how long. I should focus on making my image look good after Jax moon ruined it. I’ve worked so hard to make me look like the person everyone thought I was. I only dread what they think of me now.

But I instantly came to terms with the fact that people were going to see me anyway they wanted to. Even if the truth was right in front of their face, they will believe what they want to believe. That was something I just couldn’t change. Even if I went through with marrying Zaden, they would still see me as Jax Moon’s little sidepiece.

With a sigh, I headed for the kitchen. It was a familiar area for me in the house and seemed like a good place to just sit and digest all that was going on. Part of me hoped that Zaden would follow me so that way he could tell me a little more about himself. I was pretty doubtful he would say anything, but he could surprise me.

When I got to the island in the kitchen, I found a stool and sat on it. Zaden did in fact follow me as he headed for the fridge. I watched him pull out a few containers of food and place them on the counter. He then went to a cupboard and pulled out two plates and placed them by the containers of food. His movements looked so natural as he grabbed a large spoon from a nearby jar, then opened the containers one at a time. It was hard to see what the food was as he scooped it out and placed it on the plates, but it was still nice watching him prepare a meal.

“What did you and Ms. Anne talk about?” he suddenly asked as he placed a plate in the microwave and pushed a few buttons to make it roar to life. I wasn’t sure how to answer as I bit my bottom lip. Trying to find the right words to say. But it appeared that was all he needed to see to know what she mentioned. “She mentioned what my mother did to me, didn’t she?”

“She said it wasn’t her story to tell,” I defended. Hoping he wouldn’t get angry at the only person he seemed to really care about.

He sighed as he turned to look at me, “It’s fine that she mentioned it. I’m sure it wouldn’t have come up otherwise.”

The microwave beeped to signal that it was finished heating up whatever was on the plate. Zaden turned around to switch the plates and made the microwave roar back to life. He then grabbed the plate he just took out and placed it in front of me. He didn’t say anything as he went to a drawer to grab some silverware for me to eat with.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

I looked down at the plate to see what it was that he had given me. A pile of herbed rice was the first thing I noticed. Then my eyes settled on the sliced pieces of meat that looked to be like steak, but the microwave probably made it tough when it reheated the food. The last thing on my plate was a pile of broccoli. The combination looked to be like it was a very balanced meal when it was freshly served.

“Gloria prepares the food and either freezes little dinners for me, or places them in containers in the fridge,” Zaden explained as the microwave beeped once again. Taking out his plate, he joined me at the island after grabbing some silverware, “Do you want something to go with your meat? I usually eat it plain, but I still have sauces you can use.”

Confused, I asked, “Why do you have sauces if you don’t use them?”

“Gloria uses them for cooking,” he responded before he took a bite of rice.

I asked another question, “How did Gloria become your personal cook?”

He let out a small chuckle, “Gloria is here by choice. She is the last foster parent I had before I was eighteen. She’s never had any kids of her own, so she likes to take care of me as if I was her own son.”

There was my reminder that Zaden didn’t grow up the same way I did. I was reminded that he was abandoned as a small child. It was also probably something he didn’t want to talk about. If I were him, I’d never want to relive that painful memory of my mother dropping me off at a police station and then leaving.

Zaden took another bite of his food, “I know that look.”

“What look?” I didn’t even know I was making a look.

“Ms. Anne told you about my birth mother,” he stated, “I tried to find her once. Turns out she abandoned me for my own good because she was a drug addict. Some part of her knew that I was going to get taken away eventually, so why not throw me away while she still looked good.”

“That’s still sad, Zaden,” I said to him, “Do you know anything about the note she sent you in with?”

He nodded his head, “My birth mother told the police that she wasn’t in the position to take care of me and I had no father to take custody of me. She couldn’t think of any family members that knew about me and all that was left was to find me a good home instead. I was in the foster care system for sixteen years after that.”

I didn’t want to talk about this anymore. It was very sad for me to hear. Maybe that was why my mother chose him to be my husband. To remind me that not everyone is so lucky in this world. There are those that had nothing and worked hard to get what they had. Hard to believe that the spotlight had turned me into someone who forgot where they had come from.