Chapter 224: Unanswered Questions
Galatea understood what Alaric was suggesting, and it touched her deeply how thoughtful he was. She nodded, her voice steady.
“Alright. From now on, I’ll go back to being Stellan Storm.”
A fake name was still a fake name. Her real identity was Stellan Storm, and she had never forgotten it, nor dared to. Starting today, she would reclaim it.
“But I’m used to calling you Galatea, so I won’t change that,” Alaric said with a teasing smile.
“Okay,” Stellan replied, her own smile warm. “You can keep calling me Galatea. I like hearing it.”
Alaric ruffled her hair affectionately, then added, “And I was thinking about changing Harry and Elisa’s names.”
“No problem,” Stellan agreed without hesitation. “Back then, I didn’t know who you were, so I let them take the surname Storm. When you handle the paperwork, you can change their names too. Rook Knight and Zoe Knight sound great.”
But Alaric had something else in mind. “That’s not exactly what I meant. I have another idea. One child could take my last name, one could take yours, and the third could take Hartley.”
Stellan blinked, confused. “What? Hartley? But that’s just a fake name.”
“Even if Galatea Hartley was a fake name, it’s been part of your life for years, and it holds some meaning,” Alaric explained, his tone gentle but firm. “One child could be Caspian Knight, one could be Rook Storm, and the third, Zoe Hartley. Doesn’t that sound special?”
Stellan was taken aback, surprised by his suggestion. “Isn’t it a bit unconventional? Most people would expect all three to have the Knight name.”
Alaric shrugged. “Well, nowadays, who says kids have to have their father’s last name? We’re wealthy, we have three kids, and I think it would be boring if they all had the same last name.”
Stellan considered this for a moment. Alaric had always been full of ideas. “But your mom is very traditional,” she reminded him. “For her, having children means carrying on the family name. Even if we had ten kids, she wouldn’t allow any of them not to have the Knight name.”
“Exactly,” Alaric said, his eyes lighting up with conviction. “That’s exactly why we need to break this tradition. I raised Caspian, so it’s okay for him to take my name. You raised Harry and Elisa, and I should be grateful. It’s only fair for them to take your last name.”
Stellan didn’t expect Alaric to be so open-minded. She smiled, shaking her head. “This is your idea. If your mom gets mad, you deal with it. It has nothing to do with me.”
Alaric grinned, clearly unbothered. “Deal.”
He checked his watch then, his expression turning more serious. “It’s getting late. Let’s take the kids home.”
“Okay.”
As they stood up, Alaric paused and turned to Stellan. “Wait a minute. Give Cormac a call. He definitely won’t answer my call right now, but he might answer yours.”
Stellan nodded. She had already planned to reach out to him.
Meanwhile…
Cormac had left the café in a storm of confusion. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Orion’s car accident wasn’t just a coincidence. Something didn’t sit right, and he had to find out whether it was Alaric’s fault.
He went to the traffic department to request more details about the crash. The other victim in the accident was a man named Matthew Ryan, a 41-year-old.
The accident report stated that both drivers had died on impact. Surveillance footage was unclear, but it was determined that Orion was speeding. The autopsy revealed that Matthew had a significant amount of drugs in his system, which likely caused him to lose control of his vehicle. Both drivers were at fault, and with both families grieving, the case was closed without further investigation.
However, Cormac noticed Matthew’s address in the records and decided to dig deeper. The lack of action from Matthew’s family seemed suspicious to him.
Cormac went to Matthew’s address, a run-down area on the outskirts of town. The building looked like it could collapse at any moment. When he entered the dimly lit hallway, a musty odor hit him, and the rusted stair railings creaked under his weight.
He found Matthew’s door and knocked, hearing movement inside, but no one responded.
“Open up!” Cormac shouted, his frustration growing. He could tell someone was inside, but they were ignoring him.
After several moments of silence, he tried again, his patience wearing thin. “I know you’re in there. Open up now, or I’ll kick it down!”
Just as he was about to force the door open, it creaked and swung wide. To his surprise, a young girl, about fifteen, stood in the doorway, holding a fruit knife. Her face was streaked with tears, and she looked terrified.
“Who are you?” The girl’s voice shook with fear.
Cormac surveyed the small one-bedroom apartment. It was bare, with no signs of anyone else living there.
“Is this Matthew’s home?” he asked, his tone softening when he saw the girl’s distress.
“My dad died in a car accident a few days ago,” the girl choked out, her body trembling even more as she spoke.
Cormac’s heart clenched. So, this was Matthew’s daughter.
“I know,” he said gently. “There were two victims in that accident—your father and my sister.”
The girl’s fear only seemed to intensify at this revelation. She began to shake violently, her voice barely a whisper. “So, what do you want? Compensation? We don’t have anything left.”
Cormac looked around, noting the bare walls, the worn-out clothes she was wearing. It was clear they had nothing.
“Is it just you here?” he asked, his concern growing.
Aurora nodded, wiping her eyes. “Since the accident, the police have come by a few times, asked questions, and left. I’ve been on my own since then.”
Cormac felt a pang of pity. “Did anyone come by before the accident? Did your dad talk to anyone recently?”
Aurora shook her head, still trembling. “No, no one. It’s just been me.”
She was just a child. What could she possibly know?
“I really don’t have any money,” Aurora said, starting to cry again.
Cormac had hoped for answers, but it seemed Matthew’s only family left was this frightened young girl. He softened his tone. “You don’t need to be afraid. I’m not here for money.”
Aurora looked up at him, still trembling. “Then why are you here?”