Chapter 1372 Substitute Game
They'd grown up in the same environment, so similar that they could switch places mid-gathering with Raymond and friends without anyone noticing.
No one knew this secret except those who had raised them.
They'd always been cultivated as a single person, even sharing the same name and being born at the same time with identical faces.
Sometimes when one attended gatherings in Silver Bay City, they'd switch places, meticulously briefing each other on all interactions—who said what, what happened when.
Between them, there were no secrets.
Zaid, the elder Victor, was genuinely gentle, while Atlas, the younger, perfectly mimicked that gentleness.
Zaid didn't smoke; Atlas did.
For years, no one had discovered their identity game, giving them a certain satisfaction in having fooled the world.
Privately, to distinguish themselves, the elder went by Zaid, the younger by Atlas.
"Did you hypnotize Selena, Zaid?" Atlas asked.
"Yes." Atlas settled into the sofa, absently rubbing his earlobe. "When Alex fixated on my earlobe last time, I knew someone might have noticed that subtle difference. But he never suspected anything. I have to admire Raymond—after all these years, he suspected me so decisively. That kind of instinct is rare."
Atlas brushed at his bangs. "Is my hair longer than yours now?"
"Yes, you need a trim."
"How long do you plan to play this game, Zaid? Are you trying to make Selena fall for you?"
Zaid's brow furrowed. He'd never considered that. Any emotional entanglement would be troublesome.
His intimacy with Selena was merely a necessary technique for hypnosis—to make her comfortable, to lower her defenses completely.
"Atlas, I've told you before: never get emotionally involved."
Atlas lit a cigarette, his tone playful. "Fine. I just thought she might be the exception to your rule."
Zaid looked up, noticing his brother's practiced smoking gesture, and frowned slightly. "I've been telling you to quit. Why do you still smoke?"
"Can't help myself. You could try it too—then we'd be truly identical. No one could tell us apart."
A notification chimed. Zaid checked the message from Selena.
Selena: [Dr. Barnes, was that your twin brother I met with yesterday? You look so similar.]
His grip tightened on the phone, nearly crushing it.
Zaid: [I don't have a twin brother.]
Selena: [Yes, you do. I can tell the difference—you're gentler. Dr. Barnes, what game are you playing? I've been cooperating well, haven't I? Do you often switch identities? I've noticed several times, but I always know which one is you. Dr. Barnes, I miss you terribly.]
The phone slipped from his hand.
Atlas raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"
Zaid tossed him the phone.
Reading the messages, Atlas nearly burned himself with his cigarette.
He exclaimed, "Impossible!"
No one had ever been able to tell them apart. Since birth, they'd existed to provide each other alibis, not even given proper names. Even those who had raised them couldn't distinguish between them.
Among all the people in Silver Bay City, after countless identity switches, they'd never been exposed.
Even now, though someone might have discovered the tiny mole, no one had realized they were twins.
How could Selena possibly know?
Meanwhile, Selena texted Victor with her back to Raymond.
The next moment, a large hand reached for her phone.
Like a wife caught in infidelity, desperate to destroy evidence, she hurled the phone out the window.
It traced a perfect arc before disappearing.
The room fell silent. She couldn't bring herself to meet Raymond's eyes.
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