Chapter 235
Gabriel couldn’t bring himself to imagine what would happen to the Gibson family now.
The company’s stock was in freefall. Every client who’d agreed to deals before Wyatt’s sudden death had backed out, one after another.
That morning, someone leaked the story. The hit-and-run case that shocked Cobridge years ago—the one where an eighteen-year-old rich kid killed someone while street racing and fled the scene—it was actually Daniella. The entire Gibson family had helped fabricate evidence to get her off the hook.
The news had gone viral. Everyone was talking about it.
Bianca couldn’t stop her tears at Gabriel’s situation.
Deep down, she blamed herself too. If she’d made the hard decisions earlier, none of this would have happened today.
On the seventh day after Wyatt’s death, Abigail finally decided to visit the funeral home.
The gauze bandages had been removed from her body. Although her wounds were healing, the extensive burns on her face and body remained shocking to see.
Standing before the bathroom mirror, Abigail stared at the burn marks that ran from her left temple down past her eye. Her hair, now cut short and practical, framed a face she barely recognized as her own.
The wounds had healed, but the contrast against her pale skin was stark. Raw, red flesh marked by burn scars created a grotesque pattern across what had once been smooth skin.
It was Daniella’s handiwork.
Abigail would never forgive Daniella for this. Not in this lifetime. Wyatt’s death and these scars on her body—she would make Daniella pay for every single one of them. The accounting would be thorough and final.
James had bought her hypoallergenic makeup, but she left it untouched. Instead, she dressed in a simple black dress with a white flower pinned to the chest, then turned and opened the door.
Sebastian heard the door and turned to look.
Abigail stepped out exactly as she was, making no attempt to hide the burns.
The sight of her injuries, the scarring from temple to eye, hit him like a physical blow to the chest.
“Abby, why aren’t you using the makeup I gave you? Don’t you know how to apply it?” James asked with immediate concern.
Abigail looked at him with her large eyes, her expression blank. “No. I just don’t think it’s necessary.”
“Let’s go.” Sebastian stood up, cutting off any further questions from James.
Abigail led the way out.
When the hospital room door opened, Stephen, who had been standing guard outside, froze at the sight of her.
Abigail walked past him as if he were a complete stranger, not even acknowledging his presence. He couldn’t even find the courage to call out her name. Sebastian, James, and Warren followed closely behind her, forming a protective shield around her as they made their way through the hospital.
The moment they stepped outside, a swarm of reporters rushed forward, cameras flashing and microphones thrust in their direction. The cameras zoomed in on Abigail’s face, capturing every detail of her burn scars for the world to see.
A reporter inquired, “Is it true that Daniella, the Gibson family’s adopted daughter, was the one responsible for the hit-and-run that claimed a life years ago, not you?”
This story had been trending for seven days straight, showing no signs of losing momentum. The explosive combination of scandal elements included a wealthy heiress, a fatal hit-and-run, a person facing the consequences, an entire family fabricating evidence, and an innocent victim. Any two of these elements would have been enough to ignite public outrage, but having them all in one story had created a media frenzy.
Abigail found herself blocked by a wall of reporters. She stopped and faced the cameras, said slowly and deliberately, “You have thirty minutes. Ask your questions one at a time.”
“Can you answer my earlier question?” the reporter asked, her tone noticeably softer now. Abigail’s cold demeanor and intimidating presence clearly made an impression.
Abigail looked at her with emotionless eyes. “Yes, they wrongly accused me. I asked the judge the same question in court back then, but no one helped clear my name. No one believed me.
“The entire Gibson family fabricated evidence against me. I couldn’t defend myself against their united front, so I went to prison for three years.”
She would never give the Gibson family another chance.
Even if it wasn’t what Wyatt would have wanted, all she felt now was hatred. Pure hatred for every single member of the Gibson family.
Wyatt had passed away. The Gibsons meant nothing to her.
Another reporter pushed forward and asked, “Why didn’t you file a second appeal?”
“I grew up in an orphanage,” Abigail replied calmly. “When I was thirteen, the director who raised me passed away from illness. Less than two months later, the orphanage went bankrupt and was acquired by another institution.
“I had no one left to depend on, so I chose to give up on appealing. To put it bluntly, I had no power to hire better lawyers to fight against the Gibson family, who were at the height of their influence back then.”
“You’ve been out of prison for a while now. Have you been gathering evidence to prove your innocence?” another reporter pressed.
“No,” Abigail said. “Life with the Gibson family after my release wasn’t exactly easy. Besides, three years in prison changed me profoundly. When I got out, I just wanted to live peacefully and slowly make up for everything I’d missed out on.”