Chapter 428 Sealed with a Kiss
Jessica locked eyes with him again, those same eyes that haunted her from seven years ago.
She stared, lost in thought, before snapping back to reality. "When did you find out?"
"About a month ago, in San Francisco," Gabriel replied, noticing her dazed look. He pulled her into a tight embrace. "Stanley's parole application mentioned you escaping to Maple Avenue seven years ago."
Hearing Stanley's name made Jessica tense up, but she relaxed as a thought crossed her mind. She met Gabriel's deep, gentle gaze. "Stanley was supposed to get a reduced sentence but didn't. When he was released, I was cautious, but he never came for me. I thought he'd changed and moved on. Was it you?"
Gabriel's hand rested on her back, offering comfort. "Stanley and his son will never bother you again."
So it was him.
No wonder Stanley never came after her. She'd always worried he'd show up one day and shatter her peace. But Gabriel had taken care of it.
She felt a weight lift off her shoulders, like she was walking on air. But then she remembered San Francisco. "Was it the day at the Golden Orchid Hotel?"
"Yeah," Gabriel admitted. "I wasn't planning to attend the centenarian's birthday banquet, but I knew you'd be on the second floor that night. I wanted to find you, to get some answers."
Jessica looked up. "So you didn't get any answers but almost died with me?"
Gabriel chuckled. "True. But having you take care of me for a few days made it worth it."
Jessica felt a mix of exasperation and relief. If Gabriel hadn't shown up that day, she didn't know what she would've done, especially with Danielle.
But now she knew Danielle had a father, not just a hardworking mom. A father who had once been close to her, a father Danielle liked.
Jessica's eyes welled up. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Gabriel let out a low laugh, looking into her tear-filled eyes. "Why? Why did you insist on doing it alone? When I wanted to protect you and Danielle, you left without looking back. You didn't trust my feelings for you and Danielle."
"It's not that I didn't trust you, I..."
"I missed everything about my daughter's birth and her first four years. I didn't see her learn to talk or walk, didn't watch her grow up. Then you kept us apart for another two years. Tell me, shouldn't I return the favor?"
Jessica couldn't hold back her tears anymore. They streamed down her face as she sniffled, looking at him with wet eyes, lost for words.
"But I can't ignore it. You raised a child alone abroad. I can't imagine your hardships over the years, whether it was Danielle's birth or any of her illnesses. You supported your life alone, tirelessly, and still raised Danielle to be a lovely and polite child. I have no reason to resent you. For the years I missed, for missing you and Danielle, I only feel heartache and regret."
Gabriel's hand gently stroked her head, tender and strong. "I can't let you run away anymore. I want you and Danielle fully in my life. Without some drastic measures, who knows how long you would keep avoiding me. The defenses you built up while raising a child alone, rejecting everyone, including me, what am I supposed to do? Hmm?"
Jessica was crying uncontrollably, burying her face in his chest, choking out, "I didn't mean to push you away. I don't have any defenses. I don't even dare to go near the main roads in the city."
She cried as she spoke, "In the past two years, you haven't missed out on Danielle. In Danielle's heart, there's always been only one dad. She always remembered you, always thought of you. Two years ago, you became the most important person to Danielle. You didn't miss out, never. I'm sorry, I didn't know."
Jessica couldn't speak clearly. She had never cried like this in front of Gabriel, her choked voice mixed with messy apologies and explanations, each word soaked with tears on him.
Gabriel sighed softly above her head, held her neck, and sealed her apologies with a kiss, one after another, from comforting kisses to gradually deeper ones, pressing Jessica against the windowsill.
The cold wind howled outside while it was warm inside. Jessica, choking and being kissed, her cheeks and eyes wet from crying, looked a mess. She actively wrapped her arms around Gabriel's neck, holding him as if the world she never dared to dream of had finally opened its doors to her. She could hold Danielle's little hand and walk in together, no longer hesitating, no longer afraid.
Jessica felt she was crying too messily, with tears and snot she couldn't stop. Even though Gabriel didn't mind at all, she was still embarrassed and insisted on going to the bathroom to wash her face.
Finally, she slipped into the bathroom, closed the door, leaned against it, her heart still trembling.
Her mind was in a daze.
Gabriel really is Danielle's father.
The man from seven years ago really was him.
Given Gabriel's self-control, even if she had stumbled his car in looking a mess, he normally had pushed her away.
But she had caught him at a moment when he couldn't maintain his usual calm and self-control. He had a fever and he had been drinking at a social event. That was probably the only time he lost his guard and self-control.
And she just happened to catch him at that moment?
Jessica blushed, walked forward to turn on the faucet, splashed her face with cold water. As she washed, she suddenly covered her face and laughed, unable to stop herself from leaning on the marble counter, pressing her increasingly hot face, looking at her eyes and face in the mirror.
She should have completed that apology. She really owed him an apology.
She had left such a stain on Gabriel's otherwise disciplined and restrained life, being the woman who had forced herself on him.
And the perpetrator was her.
Jessica couldn't stop laughing, covering her face and swaying before sitting down on the edge of the bathtub, rubbing her sore butt while still laughing uncontrollably.
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