Chapter 139

Daniella was rambling incoherently, looking absolutely exhausted. Abigail could tell she probably hadn’t slept all night.

All her life, whenever Daniella screwed up, the Gibson family protected her. Even when she killed someone with her car, they had people cover for her.

But now, the people who used to shield her, who loved her unconditionally, weren’t protecting her anymore. They were starting to hate her and slowly exposing all her old lies. ‘This must feel like being cut with a dull knife,’ Abigail thought.

Being rejected by people who used to protect you no matter what had to be agonizing.

The truth was, Daniella had only been able to bully her before because the Gibson family blindly took her side. Now that no one was blindly protecting her anymore, she was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

Daniella didn’t even know when she’d get kicked out of the Gibson family.

And thanks to her scheme backfiring, Sebastian had blacklisted her throughout the industry. No decent company would hire her now. Without the Gibson family, no one was going to pay for her luxury lifestyle.

“Why would I help you?” Abigail’s eyes held a cold smile as she stepped closer to Daniella.

Her voice dripped with undisguised disgust. “After all the horrible things you’ve done to me, after you tried to destroy my reputation, you think I’m some kind of saint? You come crying to me and expect me to bail you out?”

Daniella’s sobs got louder. “I was just scared of you coming back. I was terrified of losing everything I had. I really know I was wrong, I-”

Before she could finish, Stephen’s angry voice boomed from the stairs. “Daniella, what the hell are you doing? Making a scene in front of Abby first thing in the morning? Are you out of your mind?”

Abigail jumped at the sudden outburst. Stephen stormed over and shoved Daniella aside, his voice full of irritation. “Crying again? What’s next? You wait for Mom, Dad, and Chris to see this so you can claim she’s bullying you? I’m telling you right now, that trick won’t work anymore!”

“Stevie, you’re misunderstanding me. I came here to apologize,” Daniella said, her voice full of wounded innocence.

Stephen pointed a warning finger at her face. “Your apology isn’t genuine–you’re a liar. Now that you realize your position in this house has changed and you can’t push Abby around anymore, you’re trying new tricks.

“If I catch you bothering her again first thing in the morning, don’t blame me for getting rough with you!”

“Stevie! I’m telling you the truth–can’t you believe me just once?” Daniella was completely distraught. She felt like nothing she said would make any difference. Stephen wasn’t listening to a word she said.

Stephen shot back, “Why should I believe you? Haven’t you lied to me enough already? I’m not an idiot. You’re such a pathological liar that I wouldn’t trust a single word out of your mouth!”

Abigail had heard enough of the early morning drama and walked around them, heading for the stairs.

“Stephen, will you knock it off already?” Christian came downstairs and saw Daniella crying her eyes out in front of Stephen. He immediately started yelling.

When Daniella saw that Christian was still defending her, she broke down crying even harder.

Abigail reached the staircase and noticed Gabriel coming down too. She completely ignored him, even though he clearly wanted to ask what all the commotion was about, and headed straight downstairs.

Gabriel’s face darkened when he saw her attitude.

He looked at Stephen and Christian still going at it on the second floor and snapped, “What the hell are you all fighting about this early in the morning?”

“And Stephen, yeah, Dani screwed up, but you don’t have to be so aggressive about everything. She knows she messed up–can’t you give her a chance to make things right?”

Stephen actually laughed in disbelief.

“We’ve all lived together for years now. Even if you don’t like her, you don’t have to be so harsh and pick on her constantly,” Christian added.

Stephen let out a cold laugh and looked at Daniella, who was shrinking into Christian’s arms.

His eyes held pure mockery. “You showed up at Abigail’s door first thing this morning, crying your eyes out. If I hadn’t seen you there first, you would’ve run to Chris and Dad saying she bullied you, wouldn’t you?”

“I didn’t. Stevie, how can you think that about me?” Daniella had spent the entire night terrified before finally working up the courage to apologize to Abigail. She’d been waiting outside that door for hours.

“That’s exactly the kind of person you are. You’ve been manipulating our family for years, getting all of us–including Ralph–to treat Abigail badly. You’re just rotten to the core, and you love stirring up drama!” Stephen turned and walked away without another word.

Daniella called after him with a shaking voice. “Stevie, I really didn’t…”

But Stephen didn’t give her a chance to explain.

Daniella suddenly realized that Abigail had once been in this exact same position. Time had changed everything. Stephen, who used to protect her, was now completely on Abigail’s side.

Daniella couldn’t understand it. ‘All those lies were just to get more love. What was wrong with that? It’s all Abigail’s fault!’ she thought.