At the thought of said brunette, Leonica glanced back in Gabriel's direction, finding him leaned against his car, tinkering with his phone.
She peeled her gaze away before she could stare any longer. "And did she confess? Why she did it I mean?" "The chief didn't tell me, but he promises to send her file over to my place later this evening, once they're done with interrogating her." There was a pause as he glanced at the clock, seeing the tfor the file to arrive was almost at hand. "Which is in about an hour. Maybe you could... cover and we'll look through it together?" His question had Leonica speechless for a few seconds.
"Uh, sure?" She answered, unsure, but another flashing image of her vandalized property sealed off any thought of doubt. "Sendthe address, I'll be there as soon as I can." "Alright, see you then." "Yeah, bye." Leonica said and hung up. Once the call ended, she turned around and matches back in the direction of her car, passing Gabriel. "I have to leave, let's meet up sother time." She told him.
The sound of her voice snapped him out of whatever it is he was doing on his phone. "What? Hey wait!" He called out, chasing after her.
Only did she stop when his hand was wrapped around her wrist. "Are you leaving? Why?" "I have something important to attend to." Leonica answered quickly, clearly in a hurry.
"More important that what we're doing?" Gabriel couldn't help but ask, brows knitted together at the top of his head.
Leonica licked her lips, hesitating for a few seconds before nodding. "Yes." Gabriel's hold on her wrist loosened at her answer. Clearly he wasn't expecting that answer, and the look of hurt of his made it clear.
"Look, I'd love to stay and help you," She gestured between the beach and him, "regain your memory and all, but I have to go meet Arvan. My house was vandalized yesterday and he's got the file containing the culprits statement-" "Your house was vandalized?" He cut her off, brows furrowing even deeper. "And who's Arvan?" "I'll explain it to you later." She said, giving him a look. "For now, I have to go." She turned to leave.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"I'll cwith." Gabriel offered and Leonica's head snapped back so quick, one would have assumed it had just snapped off.
"No." She objected.
"Why not?" Gabriel argued back.
"Because I said so." Leonica stood her ground.
"Is that why, or is it because you want to hide more things from me?" A laugh burst forth from Leonica's mouth at his words. "Hiding something from you? Your not that important, Gabriel." She said.
Her words stung, but Gabriel kept his expression from showing it and stared her dead in the eye. "Are you sure?" Without giving her tto respond, he reached into his pocket, pulled his phone out once more and tinkered with it. "What caused my accident?" He asked while typing on his phone.
Leonica was taken aback by the sudden question. "What?" She narrowed her brows in confusion.
Looking up from his phone, Gabriel repeated. "The accident, the one responsible for my amnesia, what caused it?" "What?" She sputtered, not having prepared for this exact situation.
Go figures, the very situation she hadn't prepared for would always happen and the ones she had prepared for, never happened. That gave her a sence of déjà vu, one she each tshe revised for an exam yet the questions she read and perfected never cout. "A house fire, Ashley had accidentally lit the curtains on fire." She lied, spitting out the first clumsy excuse that had entered her head. As soon as those words left her mouth, she internally slapped herself and prayed that Ashley would forgive her for using his nto lie. "Lies." Gabriel said and shoved his phone at her face. On the screen was an image, an article to be more precise. The article's headline read 'Young and Famous Newscaster Angelina Fernandez, imprisoned for attempted murder on the life of Gabriel Bryce, her ex fiance.' Seeing this, her breathing stilled. "Why do you have this?" She managed to question, eyes flickering between the screen and Gabriel. "And why did you lie to me? Why did you try to keep this a secret?" Gabriel questioned back.
Leonica gulped. She wanted to know why he had the article, but the look of accusation on his face had her stumbling over her words, not able to think of a plausible lie that would cover the truth.
At last, she settled for, "You weren't ready for the truth." "And you're the judge of that?" Gabriel raised his brow.
"No, but I can't be sure when you'll ever be ready." The than 813 "I'm ready now, and I want the truth. All of it." He demanded.
"Fine." Leonica agreed, the word tasting like bile in her mouth. "You want to know the truth, here's the truth; seven years ago you and I were married. However, that didn't last long, as you can see. On the day you proposed the divorce, I found out I was pregnant. You brought your mistress home," She pointed towards the phone, her gesture holding more effort as she got angrier by each passing second. "And humiliated me. I decided I was done at that moment. I left, for good, for five years. But then father's health started getting worse, Leonardo convincedto cback home, here and I did. Then we met, again, you... You were still the sdick as five years ago." Leonica paused and took a deep breath. "You found out Ashley was your son after he was involved in an accident, happy ending one might have thought, but then Angelina turned up pregnant. She tried to fabricate evidence that I hurt her, but she got hurt in the process, lost the baby. You dissolved your engagement with her after that. That must have driven her crazy because he's feigned innocence and approached Ashley, gave him a poisoned toy and when that didn't work, she kidnapped him. You went to save, but got cross in the consequences of her mental instability. And the aftermath?" She pointed at him. "Well you can see it for yourself." Gabriel's expression was blank, as if he wasn't comprehending a single thing she was telling him, and that infuriated Leonica even more.
"Are you satisfied with the truth now, or do you still want more?" She spat out, her voice laced with venom and her face twisted in anger.
Gabriel's eyes fell to the phone in his hand. His brain had gone blank after hearing the truth, the very struth he had yearned for for the past few days.
But what if that wasn't the truth? A voice in the back of his head questioned, but much to his own surprise, Gabriel denied it. He knew Leonica was telling the truth. It wasn't something he could put his finger on, but he knew it was the truth.
"If that's all you need to know, then I'll be taking my leave now. I'll text you the next twe should meet." She said and turned around, about to walk off when Gabriel's voice stopped her. "Leonica, wait." "What is it, god dammit!" She snapped, irritation reaching its peak.
When she turned back to face him, Gabriel was hesitating, looking like he was contemplating his next words. "... I'm sorry. For everything." Leonica's jaw slacked a little, his words catching her off guard.
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"I'm sorry, for making you go through all of that even though I can't remember anythingX He apologized again, and this time, sounding far more genuine than Leonica had ever heard. His words caught her off guard, not only was she surprised at how sincere he was being, she was also shocked at how easily the word 'sorry' rolled off his tongue.
The last tshe had hear him apologize so sincerely was during their engagement period when he had accidentally walked in on her while she was changing and had seen her naked. Then, even though they were bound to be wedded, he made such a big deal out of it.
A gentleman, Leonica had thought at that point in time. And perhaps, that was what had fueled her love for him, blinding her even further.
And here she was, hearing those ssincere words and having the sfeeling she had felt all those years ago.
"I really am." Gabriel added in after seconds of her silence had gone by.
Leonica forced her lips into a thin line, expression turning neutral once.
again before she responded. "You should be. But even at that, I can't fil guarantee I forgive you, after all, wounds can't be healed by meaningless words." With that said, she turned on her heels and sauntered off in the direction of her car. Tove The Word Thure Looking For is: Pursuing