Chapter 208

As soon as Stephen left, Christian approached Daniella with red-rimmed eyes. He crouched down and helped her up. "Eat first. Skip this meal, and you’ll be starving till tomorrow morning."

Daniella was seething inside, but his words brought a rush of bitterness. Her nose tingled, tears falling one by one. "What did I do wrong? The maid was bullying me and mocking me. How was I supposed to hold back? Why can’t anyone trust me, even once? I’m their daughter too. I lied and made mistakes, but after all these years, isn’t there any trust left?"

She sobbed harder. "Chris, I don’t know how much longer I can take this. I’m going crazy. It’s so suffocating. What am I supposed to do?"

Daniella had been coddled her whole life. She never dreamed she’d end up like this. She couldn’t take it anymore.

Christian gripped her shoulders, his voice heavy. "After this, Mom and Dad will watch you even closer. These maids know our family’s business. If they get pissed and report us to the cops, everyone who helped cover things up will get sentenced."

He knew that if the case was reopened, Sebastian would hire the best lawyers for Abigail. Every Gibson except Wyatt had multiple crimes. The hit-and-run victim died, Daniella fled, and they’d helped hide the truth and destroy evidence. They were facing charges of serious obstruction of justice and evidence tampering. Daniella could get up to 15 years, and the rest of them three to five. No wonder Gabriel was worried. They were all accomplices. If Abigail didn’t let it go, they were all finished.

When Abigail first got out of prison, they’d brushed her off, thinking she’d always rely on them. Even if she found a lawyer to reopen the case, they thought they could make her lose. But now it was different. Wyatt would help her, and so would Sebastian and his friends. Christian didn’t want to end up in prison either. With such serious charges hanging over them, how could they not be scared shitless?

"Chris, so you’re just gonna let me take the fall alone?" Daniella croaked.

"No. I’m working on getting you out of the country. I’ve been scraping together cash, even looking into sketchy ways. Once you’re abroad and get citizenship, those charges won’t mean jack," Christian said.

Daniella nodded, fighting back sobs.

"Come on, eat up. You’ll feel like crap if you’re hungry," Christian tried to soothe her.

As Daniella ate, Christian’s brows stayed furrowed. Her situation was seriously messed up. The Gibson family wasn’t the only one watching her. He was sure Ralph and Sebastian had people tailing her, too. In her current spot in the Gibson family, any savvy person knew Daniella would try to bolt, especially after Gabriel said she’d take the rap for the hit-and-run alone.

After finishing, Daniella told him, "Chris, let me use your phone to hit up my friend again."

"Alright." Christian handed over his phone pronto. "Delete the history when you’re done."

"Got it." Daniella got up, plopped on the bed, and started firing off messages.

After sending the messages, she deleted the history and handed the phone back to Christian. "You should take the phone downstairs now. They’ll get suspicious if you stick around for too long."

"Aren’t you waiting for your friend to reply?" Christian took the phone, worry plain on his face.

"If they text back, you’ll see it. Just fill me in later." Daniella managed a weak smile.

Christian nodded and left with the dishes. The second the door shut, Daniella flopped onto the bed with her back to the door, her expression turning ice-cold.

Once my plan works, the Gibson family can figure out how to square things with the court on their own, she thought.

As soon as Christian reached the stairs, he heard Stephen and Bianca badmouthing Daniella.

"She said the maid started it by dissing her. Can’t you two cut her some slack?" Christian snapped, pissed off.

Stephen lounged on the couch, looking indifferent. "Does it even matter if the maid dissed her?"

"Dani still doesn’t get that she’s lower than the maids here. How the hell did she think she could get away with hitting one?" Bianca said with a heavy sigh.

Christian felt like his throat was clogged with gravel, his chest tight with pain.

"Stevie, Mom, don’t you have any love for Dani at all?" he croaked, his voice shaking.