Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem novel Chapter 305

Elijah fought to control himself, struggling not to let tears escape his eyes. He had to stay strong in front of his big brother; he couldn't let him think he was just a crybaby!

"I—I'm also really happy to be your brother, to be part of your big family!"

Elijah's eyes reddened, and Elliot warmly hugged him again, comforting, "We're so sorry for leaving you all alone these years. But you've got to believe in Mommy, don't ever resent her, okay? She truly didn't know about you, or else she would have done everything to keep you safe. Our silly mommy isn't the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes, but she's truly an amazing mommy! She went through so much to bring us into this world. She loves us more than anything; if she had known about you, she would have never let you go."

Elijah choked up. "I know. I don't blame Mommy; I like her."

"Good, you just wait. I will get to the bottom of this! We'll find out who took you from Mommy, making you two miss out on so many years together. I'll make sure they pay!"

"Yeah!" Elijah nodded, sniffing, "Daddy said I was found on the doorstep by Nola Slater."

"It wasn't her. I checked today; Nola wasn't the one who took you from Mommy. If anything, Nola stumbling upon you was a stroke of luck."

"But if not Nola, then who? After saving me, the entire Slater family's fortunes soared! From being nobodies, they shot straight to the top, all because Nola saved me!"

Elliot frowned slightly. "We still need to investigate the specifics, but Nola isn't our main focus. Even if it hadn't been Nola, someone else would have found you and brought you to Tarquin. Someone wanted you to end up with Tarquin; it didn't matter who found you, so we shouldn't dwell too much on Nola."

Elijah's expression turned serious. "You mean, someone's been pulling the strings behind the scenes?"

Elliot immediately shook his head. "No way, they were good people, the best you could find. You'll understand once you meet them. Without their help, we wouldn't have learned the skills to protect mom."

Elliot then cautioned, "By the way, we promised our benefactors we wouldn't speak of this to outsiders. I'm only telling you because you're family, so keep it to yourself."

Elijah felt a wave of gratitude. "Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret!"

Thinking of their mountain benefactors, Elliot suddenly wondered, "Elijah, I learned my skills from the hermits. What about you? I know Tarquin is good at making money, but not so much with computers or the internet, so he couldn't have taught you. And you haven't had much contact with the outside world, so I'm curious."