THE STORY CONTINUES

Quick, angry footsteps carried Andresj' up the stairs from the docks and down the labyrinth of hallways that filled Wyndemere.  In no time, he reached his destination.  

Andresj' threw open the library's ornate doors.  He ignored Pavel's scandalized expression and swept by Nikolas' personal secretary before he could even react.  Andresj' paid no mind to the rules of proper protocol he had been drilled in all his life.  He stalked angrily up to his brother's desk and slapped his palms down on the polished wood.   “What is this about?” Andresj' railed.  “Why the hell have you dragged me back to Port Charles?” 

“Wild living has made you forget all our father's teachings,” Nikolas calmly corrected his younger brother.  He gestured behind Andresj'.  “We have company, little brother.” 

Andresj' bit back the rest of his angry remarks and looked behind him.  A hulking, bearded man with a red face stood menacingly next to a slender reed of a young woman with beautiful dark eyes. 

“Well?” Nikolas prompted the young woman. 

“I-I don't understand,” she stammered.  “That is not him.  That is not Andresj' Cassadine.” 

Mathieu Wischard glared at Nikolas.  “What are you trying to do?  What kind of scam are you trying to pull?” 

Nikolas made a calming gesture.  “I assure you, Monsieur Wischard, this is my younger brother Andresj.  I have no other by that name.”  

Andresj' tried in vain to follow their conversation.   “Kolya, what is going on?” 

“Mademoiselle Wischard is pregnant.  She named you as the father,” Nikolas responded simply. 

“I did not!” Jolie Wischard cried.  “I said that Andresj' Cassadine is the father of my baby!”  She suddenly dug into the small purse she carried and drew forth a tattered photograph.  “He is my baby's daddy!”  She thrust the photo into Nikolas' hand. 

Nikolas froze.  His face grew set in stone and he silently handed the photograph across the desk to his younger brother.  “Yes,” Nikolas said as he watched the realization spread across Andresj's face.   

“I must apologize to you and your daughter,” Nikolas grimly addressed Mathieu and Jolie Wischard.  “You have been the victims of a lie.”  He motioned for Andresj' to return the young woman's photograph.  “Obviously, the man in the picture is not Andresj' Cassadine.  He is our cousin Grigori*.”  

*Grigori is a cousin to Nikolas and Andresj'.  Stefan, in preparing for Nikolas' future as Prince of the Cassadine family, often had distant teenage relatives brought to the mansion in Greece.  Such an action guaranteed that Nikolas would have a built-in base of loyal family members when he became an adult.  Grigori (and his twin sister Evgeny) were regular summer visitors.

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