Chapter 387
Chapter 387:
Each detail of the past year with him rushed back in vivid clarity.
Wesley was a decent man — he would never have stooped so low as to murder Allan.
It was her own selfishness that had painted Wesley guilty, a desperate shield against the unbearable weight of blaming herself for Allan’s death.
The truth struck her with finality: she wasn’t worthy of Wesley. And it had nothing to do with wealth or social standing.
The next morning, Gabriela stepped into the office, only to be stopped by the receptionist, who held out a parcel. “Miss Haynes, this was delivered early today. The sender insisted you open it yourself p>
“Thank you p>
Gabriela carried the parcel into her office, unease prickling at her skin. Inside lay a stack of documents and a small USB drive.
Her eyes skimmed the papers first. It was reported that the driver who had struck Allan had been dangerously fatigued from long hours on the road.
She plugged in the USB, and grainy footage flickered onto the screen.
As Allan rushed through the intersection against a red light, a truck thundered toward him and hit him head-on.
R𝗲аd 𝗍𝗵𝗲 𝗅a𝘵𝖾st 𝗍𝗋𝗲𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝗼𝗇
The footage was blurry, but the urgency in his stride was unmistakable. It seemed as though he had been chasing something and was too distracted to see the red light.
Even after all these years, watching that moment made Gabriela’s chest twist with unbearable ache.
She replayed it again and again, as if the repetition might change the ending. But instead, her thoughts drifted back to their first meeting.
She had been in her final year of high school, slogging through winter break shifts at a restaurant, often working over ten hours a day. On payday, the manager deducted two hundred dollars from her wages over a single mistake of delivering the wrong dish. When Gabriela stood her ground, the manager threatened to fire her.
That was when Allan appeared. He had seen everything from the doorway and, without hesitation, pulled out his phone to record.
“Hey! If I post this online, whose side do you think people will take?” he said to the manager.
Allan’s tall figure carried a quiet authority, and his eyes were soft yet unyielding. Before long, the manager’s arrogance faltered. Face pale, he grabbed two hundred dollars from the till and tossed it onto the floor in frustration.
Allan bent down, picked up the crumpled bills, and pressed them gently into Gabriela’s hand. “Here, take this,” he said in a low, reassuring voice.
Almost in an instant, Gabriela broke down in tears.
Since losing her mother, no one had ever defended her like that until Allan. The walls inside her broke, and she wept helplessly.
Allan only smiled faintly and reached out to pat her head, his voice soft as velvet. “Please, don’t cry. Come on, let me treat you to something good to eat, alright p>
From that day forward, Allan became a steady presence in her life. He would drop by often, take her to his university library, and patiently guide her through model sketches and designs, even teaching her how to craft them with her own hands.