Chapter 167
Chapter 167:
The netizens who watched Gabriela’s high school teacher’s video were completely stunned. Some suddenly realized that she had taken that bar job only to scrape together her tuition, not to mess around with unsavory characters. But then came the voice of a baffled netizen: “Gabriela busted her back working part-time just to stay in school, yet her cousin dragged her name through the mud, calling her shameless and without dignity. Here’s what I don’t get: why did she suddenly burn with a raging fever on the very days of the college entrance exams? Something about the whole story feels off, like puzzle pieces that don’t quite fit. I just pray the truth isn’t as cold and ugly as the thought gnawing at the back of my mind p>
Farley had been quietly tracking the online chatter all day. When he saw the latest rumors swirling, he made a snap decision and asked his young neighbor to post the photos of Gabriela’s burned arm.
Because the post carried Gabriela’s name, it ignited like dry tinder. Shares multiplied, comments poured in, and by morning the young man’s account had surged by over a hundred thousand followers. He was left blinking at the numbers, utterly floored.
Farley then recorded another video and clarified the story behind those photos. “When Gabriela was a child, Phyllis made a sport of tormenting her—kicking her out of bed in the dead of night, slicing her school uniforms into rags, and letting her starve. At school, Phyllis rallied others to shun her, spreading lies that tarnished her reputation. Gabriela… she just clenched her jaw and endured it. Before her college entrance exams, Phyllis stormed into her room at midnight with a kettle of boiling water. Gabriela woke in time to shield her face, but her left arm— the skin came away in layers. She ran a fever until the exams were over. If she hadn’t woken up, her face would have been ruined forever p>
Farley’s eyes reddened as he spoke; the memory alone was enough to tear him apart. If Alanna had known what her daughter endured, it would have shattered her. The video revealed the harsh truth with photos of angry red burns on Gabriela’s arm, accompanied by Farley’s raw account.
Viewers couldn’t watch without feeling a knot in their chests. Comments flooded in.
“Honestly, Phyllis is a monster. She and her family are toxic to the core. Alanna paid off Phyllis’s mother’s debts, gave them a home, even handed them a company. No one asked them to treat Gabriela like royalty, but the bare minimum of treating her like a human being was too much to ask.
“If Alanna had left her daughter with a random family, Gabriela would have had a far better life than this p>
𝗜ո𝗌𝘁𝗮𝘯𝘵 аcc𝘦𝘀𝘴 𝗈ո
“I was wrong to criticize Gabriela. I owe her an apology p>
“Count me in p>
“Same here p>
The moment Gabriela returned to her room at Moss Manor, she locked the door and sat by the window, phone in hand, watching the online tide turn in her favor. In just hours, she had flipped the board entirely.
Now it was Phyllis and her family who were in the crosshairs, with public fury beating down on them like relentless waves. Any hope of a quiet New Year had gone up in smoke.
Soon, some netizens gathered outside Rosemont Gardens, shouting for Phyllis and her family to return the house to Gabriela. The gates stayed sealed, the windows dark. Not a single face dared show itself to the mob outside.
Inside, the air was equally tense. Marie’s voice sliced through the living room like a whip. “I told you to stop, but you just had to keep going. Now Wesley doesn’t even have to lift a finger. The netizens are lashing out at you p>