ELLA
The photograph wouldn't leave me alone.
I sat cross-legged on my bed, the image propped against my pillow where I could stare at it without holding it. The woman's face gazed back at me, frozen in time, her smile soft and knowing.
Renee Stark.
The name echoed in my head again and again. Who was she? Why did she look so much like me? And why had someone gone to such lengths to hide her existence?
I had spent the entire walk home turning these questions over in my mind. By the time I reached my room, they had calcified into an obsession I couldn't ignore.
I needed answers.
Pulling my laptop from my desk, I settled back against my headboard and opened a browser window. My fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment before I typed the name into the search bar.
Renee Stark.
The
