Chapter 679
Chapter 679:
His face had gone storm-dark, the veins at his temple standing out with rage.
Rebecca shot back without hesitation, her tone dripping with scorn. “Why should I? Gabriela is a shameless slut! Her mother seduced you, and now she’s chasing after my fiancé. Like mother, like daughter—utterly disgraceful p>
The last threads of respect she once held for Matthew had snapped the moment she learned of his illegitimate child. Nothing he said could restrain her anymore.
“You…” Matthew’s rage twisted into pain. His face drained of color, and he pressed a trembling hand to his chest as a cough racked through him.
Lauren quickly caught Rebecca’s wrist, giving a firm shake of her head, warning her daughter to hold her tongue.
Gabriela, watching Matthew’s shoulders heave with each violent cough, lingered for a few uneasy seconds but stopped herself from moving closer.
When the coughing finally eased, Rebecca swung her glare toward Gabriela like a blade. “Why are you still standing here? Can’t you see my dad is upset because of you p>
𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯
“I’ve no intention of staying here.” Gabriela’s steady gaze swept the room as she spoke with quiet dignity. “When my mother was with Matthew, she had no idea he was a married man. The moment she discovered the truth, she severed all ties. I accept that I was born out of wedlock—no one chooses their birth. But Rebecca, that doesn’t make me someone you can spit on p>
“My mother and I have done nothing wrong. You don’t get to pass judgment on us. If you’re mad, direct it at your father, not me p>
Her eyes locked on Rebecca’s, unwavering and resolute. The conviction in her words carried a fearless strength that left Rebecca mute, unable to summon a retort.
Matthew smiled as he watched Gabriela—admiration stirring for her unyielding spirit, even though her words carried a veiled rebuke toward him.
Beverley, too, found herself softening toward Gabriela. Gabriela’s quiet composure and unshaken courage—this was what she believed ran in a Howard’s blood.
Having said her piece, Gabriela turned away without offering another glance and walked out of the room.
The moment she stepped out of the hospital, a strong pair of arms wrapped around her.
Wesley had raced over after learning Dustin had hurled acid at Gabriela. Fear had driven him there, and only when he saw her unharmed did his taut nerves finally ease.
Pressed against his steady chest, Gabriela felt her throat tighten.
How much torment had she endured through the years?
Even when Phyllis scalded her arm with boiling water in the dead of night, or when Marie snapped her wrist, not once had she cried.
Yet now, in Wesley’s embrace, her buried grievances swelled and burst like an overfilled balloon.
It turned out her father had been alive—she could have been spared a childhood of fear, raised in the security of his love.