No longer in high spirits as before, he was crestfallen and looked helpless, as if the world had abandoned him.
She used to regard him as someone who had brought joy to her, but Hannah saw herself in him instead now. Like her, he was deserted by the world and had nowhere to go, even if he came from a wealthy family.
Feeling sorry for him and herself, she put her hand on his. “Don’t be afraid. What’s past is past, and you still got me!”
Ralph was confused.
He noticed that the hand she placed on his had thin, closely spaced fingers and skin so fair that it was barely possible to make out the veins' green color. Feeling something was not right, he suddenly seized her hand.
It was so sudden that Hannah was startled, but she did not withdraw her hand and let him hold it instead.
Scrutinizing the hand, he thought for a moment and grabbed the other one. He rubbed the pads of her fingers and then her palm and hand in confusion. Suddenly, he realized what was wrong.
He sometimes thought Heather was weird and psychopathic, and when he saw her walk into the psychiatric department, he was sure of this. But now…
He finally knew why!
“You’re not Heather Riggs! Who the hell are you?” Shocked by the discovery, he dropped her hands and backed off twice.
‘She’s not Heather! That woman has undergone all kinds of kickboxing training, and her hands were covered with calluses from the palms to the fingers. Her fingers are strong too.’
Although he had never held Heather’s hands, she had grabbed his shoulder and gripped his wrist when she beat her up, and he clearly remembered her fingers as powerful with prominent joints.
However, the woman before him was different. Her fingers were slender, and her joints were only visible because of her skinniness. Also, the fingers were so soft, as if they were boneless, unlike before. More importantly, the hands were smooth without any calluses.
‘This is not right. So not right! Still, she looks exactly like Heather. Even her voice, her gait, and her expression look the same! S*hit! I’m not the one who’s suffering from multiple personality disorder, am I?’
Thinking so, he panicked and gawked at her. “If you’re not Heather, who the hell are you?”
Hannah was initially shocked by his reaction and then grew surprised. She involuntarily seated herself closer to him. “You could tell?”
After all these years, besides her parents and the few who were close, nobody else could tell she and Heather were two different people, yet Ralph could recognize the differences without knowing Heather had a sister!
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