"You can consider me an orphan." Alice answered to Marie, which stunned everybody.
"What?"
"An orphan?"
"How could that be?"
A soft tumult broke out.
"I'm unable to comply with that request. You have cousins; surely, you must have family and relatives. I want to meet them," Marie asserted firmly.
"They might be somewhere in the world, but I am not interested in knowing their whereabouts, nor am I pleased to talk about it, please." Alice said sternly:
Everybody was taken aback. For the first time, they found Alice rude; otherwise, she was always polite, even against Martin and Sophie's many harsh remarks. She didn't blow up.
"Alice, why are you getting upset at the mention of your own parents?" Bella asked.
"Don't you have any sour points in your life that you hate to even think a
