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Chapter 4

Author: Big Fish
last update Last Updated: 2024-10-29 19:42:56
Zach and I were neighbors, and we grew up together.

I lost my mother when I was really young and lived with my alcoholic father.

Meanwhile, Zach’s parents divorced, and he lived next door to me with his gentle mother.

Zach’s mother loved me and would occasionally ask me whether I would become Zach’s wife.

Whenever she did that, Zach would be highly against it.

“Who’d want to marry a mute?!”

Even so, Zach always protected me.

When other people threw stones at me, ordered their dogs to bite me, or stole my stuff, he always ran over and fought against my bullies.

Even if he was battered and bruised all over, he still stood in front of me as my protector.

He said that he did not like me because I was mute, but he would always protect me because I was his star.

Then, one year, my father got into major debt and wanted to sell me because I was useless, but Zach’s mother discovered his plot.

She saved me, but my drunk father stabbed her thirteen times, and she never woke up again.

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    Zach hated me, but he also felt guilty toward me.Both of us lost our parents that night.Since I was mute and deaf and since Zach’s mother said that I was the treasure she protected, Zach did not leave my side.Instead, he took upon himself the responsibility of being my brother and brought me up, but I knew that he still hated me.Over the years, whenever it was his mother’s death anniversary, he would get himself drunk and go alone to visit his mother.I went with him once, but in his drunken state, he kicked me away.He then grabbed my neck, and with a fearsome expression, said, “Stella, you’re not worthy of visiting my mother!”But after he became sober, he hugged me and touched the bruises on my neck while apologizing to me. “I’m sorry, Stella. I just feel… really conflicted.”I knew that.He would even cover my face when he slept with me.Honestly, I felt conflicted too.I wanted to treat him as my brother and stay by his side forever, but things did not go my way.A

  • Stars In The Snow   Chapter 6

    Gale started talking up a storm once they got into the car.“Are you missing your little mute lady?”Zach threw his phone away and said coldly, “No. Why would I?”“If you don’t like her, say it clearly to her. She’s mute and is really pitiful, you know?”“She’s pitiful?” Zach yanked his tie off and felt really frustrated. “What about her is pitiful? I brought her up and gave her a good life, and what did she do? She ended up becoming a selfish, ungrateful brat. I just nagged her a little, and she gave me the cold shoulder. She must think she’s a big shot now.”“No matter what, you grew up together. Even if she doesn’t love you romantically, she’ll still treat you as family. Why don’t you call her and mend things with her?”“No need.” Zach cast his phone a glance and spoke even more coldly, “I’m not putting up with her horrible temper!”Even so, after a while, Zach still picked up his phone and sent me a simple message.[I’m coming back home for dinner tomorrow night.]Look. Ev

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    “Is that so?” Zach massaged the center of his brows again and shut his eyes.I, too, shut my eyes.If Zach had asked a few more questions to get a clearer answer or even called me, even if I could never hear his voice clearly again, my phone would still ring… in the trunk of his car.But he did not do it.Not in the past, and not in the present.He would not do it in the future either.With my kidney, Catherine’s surgery was a success.Zach was really concerned about Catherine. Even if she had not woken up, he never left her side.When she did, he finally felt relieved.“Thanks for saving me, Zach.”“You don’t have to thank me. We’re friends, after all. Besides, you saved my life.”Catherine forced a smile and said nothing else, as if she was weakened by the surgery and did not have the strength to speak.But I was the only one who knew that she was feeling guilty.She knew that the one who saved Zach in the past was not her, but me.Honestly, though, I think that to Zach

  • Stars In The Snow   Chapter 8

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    That night, Zach occasionally checked his phone like a trapped beast.He did not even go back to his bed to sleep. He just kept waiting on the sofa, just like what I did all these years.When the sun rose, he finally opened his bloodshot eyes.“Well, well, Stella, you’ve got guts. When I find you, I’m going to skin you alive!”But you have already skinned me, Zach.I sighed, but no one knew about it.The wind blew past the curtains.After a night of not sleeping and me not picking up when he called me, Zach finally thought about going to my work studio.But before he reached my work studio, he got a call from the hospital.It was Catherine. She was kicking up a fuss and saying that she felt sick.He hesitated for only one second before he turned around and left.My heart was already as calm as still water a long time ago.Of course, he would do this. This was not the first time Zach cast me aside because of Catherine.Naturally, it would not be the last.When Zach was s

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  • Stars In The Snow   Chapter 23

    ‘I don’t want it, Zach.’ I thought. ‘Since we were children, I always wanted you to live freely and happily. I never wanted to be a burden that stopped you from running to your future.‘I don’t want you to ruin it and turn into such a scary person because of me.’“Stella, you’ve never been my burden. You’re my one and only family in the world.“I was useless and didn’t protect you well, but don’t worry. I’ll go over and be with you very soon.“I told you before: I’ll stay beside you and protect you forever.”When he cut his flesh open with the surgical knife, I screamed. I wanted to go over and stop him, but I could not touch anything.I could only watch as Zach cut his torso open.The pain made him unable to continue. He hissed.“So, it hurts this much?”But he only smiled and injected anesthesia in himself. Then, he continued cutting open his torso.He was covered in blood and looked like a demon.I had no idea how long he kept this up.The pain made his survival instin

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    Bam!When Zach got home, he destroyed that huge, heavy statue.After it crumbled to pieces, a head that was preserved perfectly via chemicals showed up.She looked calm, and her eyes were wide open, as if she could not feel any pain.It was as if she was asleep, just with her eyes open.Zach acted as if he discovered treasure. He pushed away the hair over her face and nuzzled against her cheek.“Don’t worry, Starling. I’ll always protect you.”

  • Stars In The Snow   Chapter 19

    A police officer rushed over to Zach.“Mr. Clark, we identified the person who picked Ms. Riverra from your house seven days ago. Do you know Gale Queen?”When Gale was arrested, he appeared exceptionally calm.“Yes. I did it. I lied to her to get her out and had someone kill her.“It’s nothing, really. I just found Zach an eyesore, that’s all.”Gale smiled. When he looked at Zach, it was as if he still treated him as a friend.“Where is she?”“What are you saying, Zach?”“I’m asking you: where is she?”Gale was still smiling. “Didn’t I tell you? She has always been beside you. Zach, you’re smart. You should know that there aren’t that many coincidences in the world, right? Why would the black market have a female corpse all of a sudden? It even had a kidney that was a match for Catherine! That woman had also donated her kidney once and only had one left. Coincidentally, she was also pregnant.”“You… You b*stard! Even though she’s harmless and your sister in everything but bl

  • Stars In The Snow   Chapter 18

    ‘Starling must have been scared, and she called me three times, just as we promised.‘If I had answered, she would have been so happy.‘No matter how much pain she was in and how terrifying the person threatening her was, she must have believed that I would save her.‘But I did not go.‘I even snapped at her. I said, “Stella, could you stop?! I told you that Catherine is in danger! If you won’t help her, stop annoying me!” ‘I abandoned her.’Honestly, when I was stabbed, it hurt a lot.But after Zach snapped at me, for some strange reason, I lost all sense of pain.Even when my head was cut off and my limbs were severed, I did not feel much pain.Right from the start to the end, I never shed a tear.But Zach cried, though he only came to realize it much later.“Why am I crying? It must be fake. Why would I be crying?”He eventually wiped away his tears when he got a call from the hospital.“Are you Stella Riverra’s family? I’m from the First Hospital. She’s scheduled for

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    “You’re lying!”Zach’s eyes burned with rage, and he grabbed Catherine’s neck.“That can’t be possible! She’s weak, and she even trips over her own feet! How could she have carried me out of the mountain?!”“Cough… Let me go, you crazy b*stard!”Catherine shoved him away.“I’m going to tell you something else, Zach. Stella was the one who gave you her kidney! I heard her begging Sam not to tell you. She didn’t want you to feel guilty, and so she decided to hide it from you forever!“Hahaha! What an idiot! She decided to devote herself entirely to a man! It’s no wonder she died! Hahaha!”“Shut up! Just shut up!”That day, Zach acted as if he had lost his mind.In the end, the police came and had to fight tooth and nail to save Catherine from his hands.But when he was at the police station, he finally got news about my death.“Even though we haven’t managed to find Ms. Riverra’s corpse, based on the amount of blood we found at the scene of the crime, we believe she was dismem

  • Stars In The Snow   Chapter 16

    A few days passed. Zach never went to work.He did not answer any phone calls either.He just tied an apron around his waist and cleaned up our house. He also made a lot of my favorite foods.He even filled up my plate for me and cut off all the fatty bits of my meat.“You don’t like eating fat, but you want your lean meats to still have fat on them. Why are you so spoiled? Eat up. I’m not going to spoil you again.“Stella, you think you’re a hot shot now? You can’t even finish that bit of food? Look at you! You’re so skinny!“Forget it. Hand your food over. I’ll finish it. Don’t waste your food anymore. Wasting food is a despicable thing, understand?!”I watched him talk to the air, just like that.Then, he would happily eat the food on my plate.After that, he went back to our bedroom and hugged my pillow, just like how he usually hugged me. He would also caress the pillow gently.“Starling, I’m really tired. Let me hold you for a bit.”I knew that Zach was acting strange.

  • Stars In The Snow   Chapter 15

    Zach finally called the police.They looked through the security footage and finally came to the conclusion that I had gone missing near an abandoned factory.While it was an abandoned factory, when it snowed, couples would go there to take photos and upload them on social media. It was a famous date spot.Zach drove over to the place.As he stumbled around, he shouted my name.Then, he seemed to have remembered something, and he looked at the abandoned factory in disbelief.Had he finally realized that he was really close to the place where he cut open that nameless torso?“Mr. Clark, our police dogs found this in the snow.”It was a bloodied hearing aid.I could not quite describe Zach’s expression accurately. He seemed shocked but also in disbelief.In the end, he took the expensive, custom-made hearing aid he bought for me.“That’s impossible… This can’t be hers… There are plenty of hearing aids in the world. This can’t be hers. She’s still waiting for me at home for us

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