Chapter 229 Suspicion


    s


    His eyes carried a weight that felt endless, and for a fleeting second, a faint light flickered inside them before it vanished.


    After dinner, Micah was pulled away by a call from Andy. Dawn let out a sharp breath of relief as she watched him walk off. “I don’t understand how a kid can be that annoying.”


    The entire meal had been one long battle, Micah challenging her on everything as if she were his sworn enemy.


    Ethan slipped an arm around her shoulder, his tone teasing. “But I don’t think you dislike him as much as you say you do.”


    Dawn let out a frustrated groan. “Hating someone doesn’tst forever. Give me until tomorrow, and I’ll probably hate him all over again.”


    Ethanughed at her face, his eyes lingering on her before he spoke again, calm and casual. “You ever notice the two of you are actually a lot alike?”


    “Me?” Dawn jabbed a finger at her own chest, her brows rising. “You think I’m like that little punk? Absolutely not. I’m not half as unreliable as he is.”


    Ethan chuckled but didn’t push it further.


    He hadn’t been talking about personality at all. What he saw was something neither of them had noticed. Their faces.


    At first nce, the two looked nothing alike. But if someone looked long enough, the curve of their eyes and the shape of their mouths carried the same lines.


    Even <i>so</i>, there was no point in saying something he couldn’t prove.


    The couple wandered through the mall together, their steps slow and easy.


    They were about to head home when a call came from the police station. Sydney had hired awyer and wanted <i>to </i>see her again.


    Ethan caught the look on her face and spoke gently. “If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to. We’ve already filed thewsuit. There’s no way they can reach a settlement now.”


    “Let’s go.”


    Dawn steadied her breath. “I want to hear what she thinks she still needs to say.”


    <b>9:52 </b>Wed, Oct <b>8 </b>


    Chapter 229 Suspicion


    1770


    s


    When they arrived at the station, Dawn froze before she even stepped inside. She hadn’t expected to see him there. Austin.


    Her hand tightened around Ethan’s as she forced herself to walk forward with resolve.


    Inside, the police were exining the charges to Austin.


    Sydney had broken into someone’s home, damaged property, and nearly hurt someone physically. The charges alone were enough to lock her up for years.


    Her career was already finished. There was no saving it now.


    As Dawn entered, several eyes turned to her.


    She stopped in her tracks, stunned. She could barely recognize the man in front of her as the once proud, untouchable Austin.


    His face was marked by exhaustion, his hair tangled and unkempt, his jaw rough with days of stubble. He looked less like the man she had once admired and more like a stranger who had fallen too far.


    “Uncle Austin.” <fncb6c> ?? ??? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???????s, ????s? ??s?? find{n}ovel</fncb6c>


    Her throat tightened, but she forced herself to speak. “Sydney asked me to see her.”


    Austin stayed silent. He hadn’t slept properly in weeks, and his bloodshot eyes told the story. His gaze drifted over Dawn’s striking face, only tond on the man at her side.


    He didn’t want to admit it, but he couldn’t deny it either.


    They did fit together.


    He swallowed hard, his voice raw and rough when he finally spoke. “Go see her. She owes you a real apology.”


    It almost made herugh: This was the first time she had ever heard Austin say something like that.


    But it didn’t matter anymore.


    The damage was already carved deep. No amount of apologies could ever erase what had been done.


    For the first time, Dawn felt her stubbornness fade. A calm smile touched her lips. “We’ll be seeing her now, Uncle Austin.”


    <b>9:52 </b>Wed<b>, </b>Oct <b>8 </b>


    Chapter 229 Suspicion


    <b>+5 </b>Free Coins


    Ethan hadn’t said a word since they’d walked in. From the beginning, Dawn had stood a little ahead of him, her hand gripping his like she was shielding him. The gesture was small, but it struck him as protective, and that touched him more than he could admit.


    So he stayed quiet as they walked past Austin. Only when they were a few steps ahead did his lips curl into a crooked grin, sharp and dangerous, with no hint of kindness.


    He even lifted their joined hands just enough to make his point.


    Every step felt like crossing a canyon.


    To Austin, the girl he had once raised now walked away holding another man’s hand. She wrinkled her nose at something he said, her face lighting up with animation.


    The man beside her listened with patience and leaned close to whisper something that made herugh.


    Once, she had looked at Austin that way too.


    But now, those memories felt like they belonged to another lifetime.


    Austin searched through every memory he had of her, but he couldn’t find a single moment where he had shown her the kind of patience that man gave so freely.


    She must have been disappointed in him so deeply that there was no way back. That was why she had chosen to marry someone else.


    Austin shut his eyes, trying to bury every trace of feeling, but nothing could stop the pain that pressed heavy against his chest.


    Dawn followed the officer to the visitation room. She passed her bag to Ethan and stepped in alone.


    The room was small. Dawn pulled out a chair and sat down. When she lifted her met with Sydney’s face, twisted with venom.


    gaze,


    she was


    Hatred. Resentment. Fury.


    And something else Dawn couldn’t ce.


    One thing was certain. Prison had already changed her. In just a few days, Sydney looked like a shadow of herself. Her skin was pale, her body fragile, and her eyes empty, as if the fire that


    had once fueled her had been burned out from the inside.


    9:52 Wed, <b>Oct </b>8


    Chapter 230 Brain–Dead