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Author: Um_royhan
last update Huling Na-update: 2025-09-17 14:31:02

25

Alex

I checked into a business hotel on the edge of the district and used a name I had not heard since college. The clerk barely looked up. My hand shook a little when I signed. I told myself it was the flight. It was not.

Upstairs, the room was clean and quiet. I put my bag in the closet and left it open as if I might change my mind and leave. The air smelled like lemon cleaner. The window looked over a row of small shops and a thin slice of water beyond. I sat on the bed with the printed list from my investigator and the photo on my phone.

I went over the details again. Stella’s title. The hotel name. The blurry picture from the retreat that was no longer a blur once I saw the freckle near her eye. The message from the investigator after my plane landed. She is still in the city. She has twins.

I read the line until the words felt strange. Twins. I tried to do the math without letting myself hope and failed. I lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. I told myself to sleep.
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