Twisted Lies (Twisted, #4)

When Christian returns home, he panics when Stella is missing. He notices that she’s found all the files that he had on her, hidden in his desk’s secret drawer. He rushes to Ava and Alex’s place, where he demands to speak to Stella. Christian explains everything. He first saw Stella five years ago while sitting outside a café in Hazelburg. He witnessed a boy grab her purse and run. The kid was caught and the police came, but when Stella’s purse was returned to her, she gave the kid all her money anyway because she could tell that he was hungry. Christian overheard Stella say her full name and became intrigued. When she left the scene, she dropped her turquoise ring. Christian picked it up and has carried it with him ever since. Afterward, Christian started researching background information on Stella and kept delving deeper. This lasted for almost a year before he quit.

Although Christian tells Stella the entire truth, she doesn’t believe that she can move on from the invasion of her privacy. She decides to move out of his apartment tomorrow and asks that he leave her alone. Christian tells Stella that he loves her, and though it pains him to do so, he agrees to leave her alone like she asks.