He Called Me A Stone And Chose Her Pearl Chapter 01
My twin sister has been stealing everything I love since we were children.
So when I fell for someone, I told not a soul.
But Vanessa found out anyway.
Posing as the girl who secretly traded notes with Nolan Pierce at Aster Library, she confessed to him first. Soon after, Nolan, the Alpha heir of the Northcrest Pack, came to our house to formally ask for her hand.
I was standing right outside the glass conservatory, about to tell Nolan the truth, when I heard his voice.
“You’re too naive,” he told Vanessa. “You can’t outmaneuver your sister. Once we’re married, you should keep your distance from her.”
…
I stopped in my tracks.
The sun was bright, but a chill snaked down my spine.
Vanessa froze for a moment before asking softly, “But you only just met Laurel today. What makes you think she…”
Nolan cut her off.
“When we were discussing the engagement, she looked miserable. She wasn’t happy for you at all. And she kept sneaking glances at me.”
“The way she looks at me… it makes me uncomfortable.”
A flash of anger crossed Vanessa’s eyes.
“So she actually has the nerve to covet my fiancé in front of everyone.”
As the words left her mouth, she spotted me standing just outside the glass. Her expression shifted instantly.
Looping her arm through Nolan’s, Vanessa raised her voice just enough for me to hear. “Then you have to promise me something, too. You can never meet with her alone. We’re identical. What if you mistake one of us for the other again?”
Nolan looked at her, his gaze softening.
“Other people might not be able to tell you apart, but I can. A person’s eyes show you who they really are. And the two of you are nothing alike.”
Vanessa pressed, “Then which one of us do you think is prettier?”
He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and murmured, “Why would you even compare yourself to her? A pearl doesn’t worry about a common stone.”
Only then did Vanessa look satisfied.
As Nolan turned, his eyes met mine.
A flicker of embarrassment crossed his face before it was replaced by cold indifference, and he quickly looked away.
For nearly a year, we’d been having a conversation in the margins of old library books. History, politics, border governance—we discussed it all in a shared annotation notebook. He didn’t know my name, only my library code: L.
I had imagined countless times what we would say to each other when we finally met.
When I recognized him in the sitting room earlier, I’d agonized over whether I should reveal who I was.
But now, after that one look, I gave up.
The truth didn’t matter.
He had chosen Vanessa.