Although she hadn’t seen his face clearly, Solana remembered that this was exactly what her dad had been wearing when he died in the car crash in her previous life. She didn’t have time to wonder where Averie got the car–she shoved Mateo aside and took off running.
Charles had been planning to wait until Averie calmed down a bit before talking to her, but just as he turned around, a car’s headlights suddenly flashed straight at him.
In a blink, someone screamed, “Dad!” Before Charles could react, someone tackled him, knocking them both to the side.
The sports car sped right over where Charles had just been standing.
Averie hadn’t been able to hit the brakes in time–there was a loud “bang” as the car slammed into the streetlight ahead. One of the beautiful headlights shattered on the spot.
“Shit!” Mateo bolted over, practically fainting from heartbreak. ‘My brand–new Bugatti Veyron!‘ he thought.
Solana had taken a hard fall and even hit her head. A wave of pain crashed over her. She reached back to touch the back of
her head–no blood.
‘Right, Dad!‘ Solana gritted her teeth and scrambled to her feet, reaching over to help Charles up.
Under the cold white streetlight, Charles’s features looked so clear–so familiar.
In her last life, Solana had only seen his ID photo. Seeing him in person now, she realized he was way more handsome than the photo–and a lot younger–looking than Robert too.
“Dad!” Solana knelt down, tears choking her voice as she looked up at him. She wanted so badly to throw herself into his arms–but she couldn’t. She’d come back to life, but he hadn’t. And this situation was probably already overwhelming enough for him to process.
Charles was still a little stunned. The girl in front of him had a small, delicate face, and her features looked exactly like Kathryn’s when she was younger.
Suddenly, everything Averie had said earlier clicked into place. Charles didn’t even need to guess–he knew this girl had to be his daughter.
Charles had been both furious and heartbroken when Averie had been spouting lies and acting borderline insane.
But now, looking at the girl in front of him, all he felt was gut–wrenching guilt. A grown man pushing forty, and his eyes were already red. He opened his mouth to say something.
“Now you believe it, don’t you?” Averie’s voice cut in. She stumbled out of the car, clutching her shoulder where the seatbelt had dug in. She looked at the pair on the ground with a sneer. “Open your eyes and take a good look. She’s your daughter. Since you’ve had your sweet little reunion, just stop bothering me already.”
“Bothering?” Charles looked at Averie, deeply disappointed. “We never tried to bother you. All we ever wanted was to raise you well. Actually, we–”
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“I don’t need that!” Averie cut him off, practically shouting. “I don’t need anything from you. No money, no support–I’ve had to fight for everything myself. And now you want to say you raised me right? Please. Sure, I’ll admit, you made a ton of empty promises growing up. Cars, houses–you said I’d have them all one day. What a joke. Turns out I was supposed to buy them for you, wasn’t I? Raise you instead? Wow, you two really are top–tier parents.”
Charles’s face darkened instantly.
Solana gently laid her warm hand on the back of his hand, which had gone cold from disappointment. She looked at him softly and said, “It’s okay, Dad. You don’t have to explain anything to her.”
Charles could no longer hold back the tears. They slipped right down his face as he turned his hand over and grasped her small, soft fingers.
“I’m sorry,” Charles said. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
Averie couldn’t stand the sickeningly sweet scene of father and daughter. Maybe she was a little jealous too. She looked down on the broken Charles and Kathryn, and of course she never got close to them.
‘But now, just one meeting and the two are already acting like they’re joined at the hip?‘ Averie muttered.
“Mateo, let’s go,” Averie said, tugging at his sleeve.
Mateo was frozen, staring at the wrecked car like he was nailed to the spot. It took her tugging his sleeve again to snap him out of it.
“FUCK!” Mateo shouted, slapping the roof of the car in devastation. He turned to glare at Averie. “What the hell were you thinking? Look what you did! If you suck at driving, you could’ve said so!”
Averie didn’t expect him to blow up. She froze for a second. She didn’t even know what she’d been thinking back there- she’d just wanted Charles gone, immediately. So she’d slammed the gas pedal without thinking about the fact that the car was Mateo’s.
Averie grabbed his arm and said in a pitiful voice, “Don’t be mad, okay? I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to take it for a test drive. That guy showed up outta nowhere and I freaked out, hit the gas instead of the brake!”
“Damn it!” Mateo was still focused on his beloved car. “If my dad finds out I wrecked it the day I drove it off the lot, I’m never getting a nice car again! You’re explaining this to my parents–this is your fault.”
Averie’s eyes went wide in panic. She thought, ‘I’ve just gotten back to the Webb family and already caused this kind of mess? What would Mateo’s parents think of me?
‘And most importantly–this car costs a fortune. If my parents find out, they’ll kill me.’
Suddenly she thought of something. Averie stormed over to Solana, looked down at her, and said, “You’re gonna say you were the one driving. As long as you take the fall, I won’t tell my dad about your father trying to threaten me. You know your family’s no match for the Webbs,”
Solana was boiling with rage. She glared at the girl who was acting like all this was perfectly reasonable. She wanted to slap her so badly.
But Solana couldn’t. Averie was right–her family couldn’t take on the Webbs.
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Solana thought, ‘In my past life, my family was already destroyed when I finally got revenge. But now it’s different. I have both my parents. I can’t drag them into this.
‘Besides, I haven’t even gotten the chance to properly reunite with them. I haven’t had a chance to live a good life with them yet. I can’t throw everything away now.’
Solana’s silence made Averie think she agreed. She let out a breath and walked back to the car, pulling the door open and adjusting the seat.
Mateo frowned. “What are you doing?”
“Obviously, adjusting the seat to Solana’s height,” Averie said. “That way it actually looks like she was the one driving.”
Mateo turned and looked at Solana, staring at her. “You’re not even gonna beg me?”
Solana ignored him. Her eyes stayed cold as she watched Averie go through all the motions. At 5’6“, she was noticeably taller than Averie, who barely scraped 5’3“. Back in her past life, when they dragged her in to take the blame, the seat had already been moved to her driving position. Now she knew it had been Averie who set her up.
In fact, Averie had planned to frame her the moment she hit someone. Too bad Solana had been too naïve back then to see through it.
Solana gave herself a bitter smile and stood up. She was just about to speak when Charles grabbed her arm and said, “You
don’t have to listen to her.”
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