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It had taken a lot of snooping and digging around in some places she normally hadn’t ventured to but, she had started to find out some scraps of information about Liam’s father. The family had done him dirty by casting him out before anyone had even known about the pregnancy. He had been sent back to his home country without a mark on his reputation because of what reasoning they had given for firing him. It wasn’t mentioned that he had been sleeping with someone but instead, they had lied stating he had been stealing items to sell off. The deeper she had dug into the crooked affairs of this family, the sicker and angrier it made her feel.

Spinning away from her computer, she looked around the small place that Aloysius now lived in. It was nicer than the apartment she kept in town and felt a lot more welcoming. It had become her own sort of safe house away from her friends who would show up at her apartment. The only thing that would interrupt her would be the coming and going of Liam and Aloysius but everyone here was a lot more understanding of the whole peace and quiet thing than the gossiping people she normally dealt with. As much as she thrived in gathering gossip, it exhausted her more and more with each event she attended.

There was so much going on between the different things she was dealing with now that she felt she might start charging for her assistance. At least for some people who asked for her help, definitely not Liam or Alexandre. She would charge Aloysius double if he asked for her help though. Smiling a bit at that she turned back to her computer and worked on pulling up the information she had gotten together for when Liam would show up. He was bringing something new to try out for food so there would be something to snack on while talking about serious things.

Hearing him come home, she wandered down the stairs to the kitchen. She had the laptop with her but that would be something for after they ate. There was a huge amount of food, more than the three of them could eat in a whole day. If there was enough she liked, she would have plenty of leftovers to bring to class and work. “Smells good, definitely something new each time you decide to order out.” She smiled a bit and pulled down some plates and condiments if they needed them. It took her a bit to figure out what she wanted to try since it was all so new and different. She really appreciated his openness to new foods, it was something her brother was not very good at. When someone lives alone and has a busy schedule it sometimes leads to easy comfort foods and a huge lack of variety. She was guilty of it too, often grabbing the same MTO foods from the gas station she filled up at religiously.

“Thanks again for the new food to try, where do you find these places?” It was one thing to door dash something but another to like vet places for quality. Every place Liam had brought home was spot on for quality and quantity. It was a skill she admired.

What he said made sense, although, with all the other stuff she had on her hands, it didn’t give her a lot of time to do that level of research for food. Not that she hadn’t done a similar thing in the past when she was just a student and not dealing with all the rest of the things she was dealing with now. “I guess I really haven’t done a lot of looking around the city outside of the things I immediately deal with when it comes to social events or school. I just kind of pop the address into the GPS and go where I need to. I don’t really explore much anymore though I feel like I probably should with all the stuff going on.”

Trying some of the stuff on her plate, it had a nice spice to it. Not too overpowering on heat while also not getting muddled out by the veggies. It was pretty good and the meat itself had a unique flavor she couldn’t quite place. It was a bit messier than she would have liked but, that's what the napkins were for.

As they ate and talked idly, she mentally prepared the short brief of information she had gathered for him. It was neutral in a way when it came to some things but it really did show how heartless his biological mother and that whole family were. After she had managed to eat a good variety of stuff, she cleared the area in front of her to put her laptop down.

“So, I managed to find out some information about your father. If you’re ready for it?” She wasn’t sure how he would take everything given that finding him was a crap shoot to begin with. Everything had been a mess when it came to that family and his birth. It made her feel bad in a way because she had a family at least even if it had gone to hell in a handbasket. Liam had grown up an orphan.

Nodding quietly she sighed for a moment and began. “So there is some good and bad news, as well as some in-between news. The good news is he’s still alive and back in his home country, which means we might be able to contact him at some point. The bad news is because of how they messed everything up, getting him back here might be hard unless you talk with a lawyer. I know a lot about some things but when it comes to moving back and forth between countries on a more permanent basis, I really don’t have a lot of information. It also doesn’t help that we don’t have the exact paperwork or things that they used for his dismissal. If they tried to stick charges to him, even if they were false, it would be a bit hard to get paperwork for him to come back. The last thing though is a bit rough, and I do apologize. He might not know if you even exist, given how quickly they got rid of him after the whole affair had gone down. It really depends on how much was said behind closed doors and how long it took to get him removed.”

It made her feel a bit bad because there were so many factors that could go either way and there really wasn’t anything she could do to swing that news either way. “They really messed up a lot of people’s lives over the years just because they had the means to. I am really sorry everything has been such a mess when it came to all of this.” Looking over the information on her screen, it really looked like one of those conspiracy pinboards. There were so many connections that had to be found and made to even find the information she had now.

Popping open another set of tabs she looked over at Liam for a moment before speaking again. “If you want, we can try writing to him once I find a bit more information out. Or even maybe one day it might be easier to try going there to see him if the situation they left him in prevents him from returning. If you’re worried about the cost of everything, I am very comfortable with helping. I also think it would be a nice trip during the summer between classes and things. But I also don’t want to see you getting hurt anymore over all this mess.” Her voice was a bit small with that last bit, she really did worry about him as if he was her own brother. Well, much more than she worried about her actual brother but that was beside the point.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about his response at first. Mostly due to how her own family had been and how she held a certain level of disdain for her father and brother. Nodding was the only thing she could really think to do while she looked over the possible addresses she had gathered together with the name she had for his father. “I think we can try either of those things first if you’d like. Just to test the waters and figure things out.” It wasn’t such a common name that they couldn’t be found so it might work out.

His mention of her help did make her feel a bit better though. It had been something she had started simply to keep the Sharp name out of a bad light but, with how things had progressed, it had changed into a very different venture. Going from cutting ties with one “family” to trying to find lost connections. It was a bit of a whirlwind to manage but it had been its own interesting puzzle to try and solve. “I’m glad to have helped so far and I would hope that this comes to a decent ending.” Taking another bite of food herself, she started writing down the phone numbers and addresses she had found as well as the few possible Facebook people that might be his father.

“If everything does work out and he comes here, I expect him to come to visit. I think it would be really nice to have some food from back home.” It was a bit of a tease as she smiled at him. It would be nice but she wouldn’t push the matter further. What he said was true though, he wouldn’t have been able to do this on his own. She had had fun helping in a way, setting up a gentle wind to send the house of cards, that his family had lived in, crashing down. Some of that was still going on in the background and with her upcoming position working with the Evans family, it would be easier to to keep pressure on them in the future if needed.

“I took care of a few things with them, mostly sent out some rumors about illegal business practices into their pool of clients. A few other things that lay in wait just in case they get any ideas. It’s always good to make sure that they know who holds all the cards, just in case. You don’t have to worry about them anymore. They’re not the family that cares about you.” He was a member of the dark mirror court and the Sharp family now. One day, if things worked out he would have his dad around as well. However, when it came down to it, he would have to figure out what to tell Aloysius.

“Whenever this all comes to an end, one way or another. We need to figure out how to tell Aloysius about all this. It would be a bit odd to magically not be an orphan anymore you know? But that’s up to you how much you want to tell him, I vote for the happy sob story highlight reel of being separated and finding each other after years and years.” It would be a bit rough either way depending on what happened but they would both have to figure it out together.

That was something to think about because she knew she was better at keeping secrets and lies straight. “I think he should be fine if you maybe just dampen a bit of the rougher stuff. I would guess the worst is behind him in a way, at least from what I can tell. But you’re closer to him than I am so you would know better. I just know that the fact he even steps into the other house is a huge sign of progress. I tried for years to get him to just go there to at least make sure things were being done correctly. Now you’ve got him there like clockwork and even sleeping there occasionally.”

It had been a full 180 change in the way he had dealt with things on top of the fact he was now trying to be around more overall. Part of her was still suspicious given their history but at the same time, it was nice to have that load of responsibility off of her shoulders. It had given her the time needed to work on side projects like this.

“If nothing else though, leave out the fact that this all started because they got a picture of the two of you together. Even if he is better, he has always been one for keeping out of the spotlight when it came to his personal connections.” That was something that she could understand and deal with at least. Shutting her laptop, she pulled some more food onto her plate and went back to trying different things. It really was good but now she was thinking about garlic bread and olive oil. She knew it was a tease from him but it didn’t make her want it less.