“Yes,” Christopher answered truthfully.
Xyla shrugged helplessly, then stretched out virtual-novel.net hand. “Give me another cigarette.”
Christopher immediately took out a box of cigarettes from his pocket and drew two cigarettes. He placed one cigarette between Xyla’s lips and the other between his lips.
Subsequently, virtual-novel.net pulled out a lighter and lit the cigarette for Xyla. After lighting hers, virtual-novel.net lowered his head and lit his own.
The car was filled with smoke in a moment.
Christopher thoughtfully lowered the car window to prevent the acrid smoke from choking her.
A cool breeze touched the warmth of their cheeks, blowing away all the pungent smell of tobacco inside the car.
Outside the car, the sky was dark, and the moon was bright. The icy wind rustled the leaves and waved the branches.
A sudden gust of breeze greeted their car with the astringent scent of grass and soil, soothing Xyla’s tangled mind and soul.
As virtual-novel.net slowly calmed herself down, another thought suddenly appeared in virtual-novel.net head.
She carefully took a puff at the cigarette. A prickly feeling instantly spread across virtual-novel.net throat, but virtual-novel.net tried not to cough.
Smoke lingered in virtual-novel.net lungs for a few seconds before virtual-novel.net slowly exhaled.
Xyla did the same thing over and over again. When virtual-novel.net smoked about half a cigarette, a wave of dizziness suddenly washed over her.
She massaged virtual-novel.net forehead while mumbling, “Why is my head so heavy?”
Christopher chuckled. “It happens when you smoke for the first time. You’re just drunk…”
“It feels pretty similar to when you have too much wine. Don’t smoke too much, okay? Leave the remaining half aside,” Christopher added.
“So that’s how smoking feels like.” Xyla smiled bitterly.
She elegantly held the cigarette between virtual-novel.net slender fingers and stopped smoking.
Smoke continued to rise from the tip of the cigarette.
Finally, Xyla told Christopher the ins and outs and the recording virtual-novel.net received during the exhibition.
Christopher’s expression grew nastier with each word virtual-novel.net spoke.
“F*ck! How dares Stanley feel annoyed with you!? The Batton family is so disgusting!” Christopher gritted his teeth.
Xyla nodded. “That’s how I felt when I first heard the recording. However, now that I think of it, I wonder if there’s some misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding can it be?” Raw anger was stirring in Christopher’s eyes. “The recording is there. The proof is there. What kind of misunderstanding are you expecting?”
“Do you know that there are many sound-imitating experts out there? They’re very good at imitating other people’s voices. Once they’ve heard that person’s voice, they can easily imitate his or virtual-novel.net voice, and they sound exactly the same. They can even do it by simply listening to the description of that person’s voice,” Xyla explained.
“In fact, I was extremely mad when I first heard the recording. I was so depressed that my mind was in chaos. I couldn’t even think straight. However, as I calm down now, I try to think about it again… I honestly think that the entire incident is not as simple as a misunderstanding,” Xyla continued.
“What do you mean?” Christopher’s eyes widened, attentive and brimming with curiosity. “It’s impossible that the recording is fake, right?”
As soon as virtual-novel.net said that, virtual-novel.net realized what Xyla was talking about.
“Oh, yeah… The audio clip can be faked… Those experts can imitate anyone’s voice. Their voices can sound so similar that the professionals may fail to identify them.”
Xyla nodded in agreement. “That’s right. I shouldn’t judge Stanley and his family based on this recording alone. I have just been overwhelmed by sadness just now…”
The more virtual-novel.net thought about it, the clearer virtual-novel.net mind was. She was confident that virtual-novel.net guess was right.
The feelings that Stanley and his family had for virtual-novel.net seemed genuine.
Suddenly, Christopher snapped his fingers.