In the quaint cottage town of Red Grove, Daniella 'Rose' Elliott longs to escape her miserable life and pursue a brighter future. Yet, her dreams are thwarted not only by her family's financial struggles but also by an incident she buried away in th...
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Roses are red Emotions always stay inside People don't know what you know So don't react and be a weeping bride
"Then he jumped into the waves! Ah, that poor man, he almost drowned!" Everyone around the table laughed at Ricky's story.
Everyone except Atlas.
He was too busy trying to piece everything together. He felt awkward and out of place in Ricky's home. And the fact that he just witnessed the murder of the man's son did not make things any better.
For the man who owned the entire town, he was living like he owned the world. The room they were setting in was grand. Grand enough to house a buffet with over 100 people. The walls had accents of brown and red, and the chandelier that was hanging over the enormous rectangular table looked like it was worth millions. It's accents of gold and regal shapes memorized Atlas. Even the leather chairs they sat on had accents of gold and red. This man was living large, and Atlas despised it.
"Isn't that right, Atlas?" he heard his name but didn't respond.
Gemma kicked his shins with her pointy black heels under the table. He glared to his right as his sister pointed to his mother across the table. "I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention," he spoke honestly.
His mother frowned but Ricky broke the tension by laughing, "It's ok Atlas, your mother was just telling me a little about your life." He ran his hands through his thick hair, "she says that ever since Brendon...umm did things, it's been hard for you to socialize."
Atlas' mouth dropped, Really Mom? His dad's arrest had nothing to do with the way he acted. The way he treated people was perfectly normal for his standards. "That's not a hundred percent true," he eyed his mom.
"Oh, there's nothing to be ashamed of, Atlas. Adam here has the same problem."
Adam at the other end of the table frowned and went back to typing on his phone.
"When my wife Jin died, my boys took it hard; Chris, especially. He hasn't been home in a while. I even asked if he wanted to meet you guys, but he hasn't returned my calls."
Atlas's heart dropped to his chest.
Now his son would never return his calls.
It never occurred to him that he had to deal with the aftermath of things. He thought if he killed someone, he could move on to the next person without a problem. But as he learned with Charlotte, there was always someone who would be hurt in the end.
"Atlas, I think you and Adam should hang out?" His mom suggested. "I'm sure you two have something in common? Don't you have a class together?"
Atlas looked at Adam. Hanging out with the stoner? No, not even in his dreams. Adam wasn't the type of person he wanted to associate with, especially with everything going on in his life. It would be awkward to hang out with the brother of a victim on the killing list.
