NovelEnglish
Since it was my first time eating onion rings around Atlas, I wondered how he knew I liked
my onion rings like that.
He raised a brow and lowered his gaze, saying, “It was just a guess. I had a playmate who
liked eating onion rings the same way
when I was a kid. She used to stay at my house for meals.”
I looked at him and thought about the photo of the real Stella. I asked, “Are you referring
to Stella?”
This time, he looked surprised instead of me. He looked at me and asked, “How do you
know it’s Stella? Did you remember
something?”
I noticed him scrutinizing me, which made me somewhat doubtful, especially with his
follow-up question. I asked, “ What do you
mean by ‘did I remember something?”
He smiled when I asked that. “I didn’t mean it like that. I was just curious how you know
Stella. Not the Stella you met, though.”
‘Yes, I found out about her,” I confessed, “I told Grayson to look into it, and he found a
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtphoto.”
Atlas frowned at me. “What photo?”
I regretted saying that, unsure if it was okay to be so open. I had pried into Atlas’s privacy,
especially the Pierces’ privacy, which
was highly offensive. I grew nervous, explaining incoherently, “I-I didn’t mean to offend
you by prying. It’s just that... I discovered
it by accident.”
“It's okay, I don’t blame you. I want you to understand me more so you can trust me.”
Atlas picked up another onion ring with his
fork and passed it to me. “Eat. We'll talk slowly.”
I felt relieved when he said that. I took my phone, found the photo, and passed it to him.
“This is the photo. Grayson told me
she’s the real Stella.”
He froze when he saw the photo. A moment later, he said, “ You found this?”
“Yes, look at the next one. It’s the writing behind the photo.” I observed his expression and
felt the photo must be significant to
him.
He looked at it and said, “This is Aunt Lucille’s writing.”
“Aunt Lucille?” I asked curiously.
"Yeah, Lucille Avila is Rory’s wife and the real Stella’s mom.” Atlas's eyes dimmed as he
continued to stare at those few words. "Is Annalise the real Stella?" I asked.
Atlas’s eyes flicked when he looked up at me. However, he quickly regained his composure
and asked, “How’d you consider
looking into this?”
I confessed, “It started with the current Stella. She hinted things about the Pierce family
when I first got to know her. She even
mentioned her parents. When you told me about your parents’ plane crash having more to
it, I paid closer attention to her
comments about it.”
He ruffled my hair smilingly, “Still as clever as ever.”
I paused, feeling like I had heard that phrase before, but didn't dwell on it.
“Later, she tricked me into surprising you on your birthday. She mentioned Rory at that
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmtime. I don’t know why, but I always feel
strange whenever I hear that name,” I explained, focusing on Atlas’s expressionless face.
I was puzzled, wondering if I had guessed wrongly. I continued, “Stella talked about Rory in
great detail, saying he died with your
parents. She also mentioned Lucille and said her mother passed away two months later
from heartbreak.”
Atlas didn’t stop looking at me as I continued, “I always thought Stella seemed indifferent
whenever she discussed these things.
It was like she was talking about someone else's experiences.
“She also looked cold and indifferent when she mentioned your parents’ death
anniversaries. Stella didn’t even look sad, which
raised doubts for me. I kept thinking she was either cold-blooded or wasn't their biological
daughter.
“That's why I told Grason to investigate the current Stella thoroughly. Sure enough, I found
conflicting results. I only became
confident the current Stella was an imposter when Grayson found this photo.”
I intentionally emphasized “imposter” and observed how Atlas would react.
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