Lunar! Lunar!! His sister was Lunar!!!
"Uh, here''s the thing, sir," the agent from Cybeic Shadows said hesitantly, breaking the deafening silence on Jimmie''s end. "We dide across Lunar''s file during our initial investigation and noted the resemnce to you. But since you had already met her twice in person, we assumed you would have recognized her if she was the one, so we never made the connection."
Met her? Jimmie''s entire body began to tremble, the blood draining from his face.
Yes, he had met her twice. The first time, Rachel brought her to thepany, proposing her as the choreographer and star for the MV. The girl had identally knocked over the photo frame of his ''sister,'' and he had coldly yelled at her to get out.
The second time, thinking she was merely his sister''s idol, he had crudely tried to throw money at her.
He''d had two chances to see her, to truly look at his sister''s face and recognize her. But what had he done? What kind of monster had he been?
"Mr. Tate, we haven''t collected a DNA sample yet, but please take a look at this photo for now." The agent sent an image to his phone.
Jimmie''s fingers tightened. After taking a long, deep breath to steady himself, he shakily tapped the image open. The moment he saw his sister''s face, he felt the blood reverse in his veins. A void in his mind was suddenly filled, and the floodgates of his memory burst open.
"Bro, bro..."
"I love my bro the most... I want a hug..."
"Waaah, I want candy, bro, buy me candy..."
Her clear, sweet voice echoed in his ears, perfectly matching the face on the screen. It was all so familiar. She truly did look like him, especially her eyes-so simr that a paternity test might be deemed unnecessary. But her features were more delicate, more beautiful than his, a perfectbination that was simply breathtaking.
Jimmie gently caressed the image on the screen, his eyes slowly welling with tears of relief and bitter regret. If he had just paid more attention, if he had just looked at Lunar for a second longer either of those times, he would have known. He wouldn''t have let it drag on this long. He had finally found his sister. He had found his family. He hung up and immediately dialed Rachel.
"Where is Lunar?" he demanded, his voice like ice, before she could even say hello.
The tone sent a jolt of rm through Rachel. What was he nning to do to Master Lunar now?
"What do you mean, ''where is she''?" Rachel retorted, her own defenses rising. "The money''s been paid, she''s been hired. It''s toote for you to back out now!"
Jimmie gripped his phone tighter, his voice dropping several degrees colder. "I''m asking you, where is Lunar?!"
The raw, unhinged shout nearly made Rachel drop her phone. She had seen Jimmie angry before, but never like this, never so utterly out of control. What on earth was happening?
"She''s at the studio," Rachel relented, sensing this was serious. "Jimmie, what do you need her for?"
Jimmie didn''t answer. The words ''at the studio'' were all that registered. He was less than ten minutes away. He would see his sister soon.
What would he say? Would she hate him for how he''d treated her?
The more he thought, the more his heart ached, and he wished he could turn back time and p himself for his blindness.