"Are you sure about what you are saying, Dad?" Alex asked while staring beyond his father's optimistic gaze.
His memory started replaying all of his encounters with Stella. He remembered the way she always ended every discussion concerning her mum. It was as though she preferred her mum dead.
He pictured the way she had cried helplessly when she was told that her mother was dead and compared it to her earlier behaviour when she attempted to talk about her dark past, the night they made love. There was something similar about those two different scenarios.
He also remembered the way Stella had stiffened in his arm when she regained consciousness and heard Valerie's voice. It felt as though someone invisible had a gun pointed at her forehead.
Now adding up his father's recent findings only shone a ray of light into the darkness surrounding him. Something wasn't adding up. Something was clearly wrong.