Chapter 80
With a steely glare, Zack swept his eyes over Cindy and Kate, his voice as cold as ice. “I don’t know where you two crawled in from, but accusing my cousin of stealing? Really?”
He gave a subtle nod to the security guards, who instantly got the message. They marched over, grabbed Cindy and Kate, and tossed them out like unwanted baggage.
It took Shawn a moment to process what had just happened. He turned to Allison, stammering, “Wait… you’re Mr. Hartley’s cousin?”
“What did you think?” Allison replied with a smirk.
Shawn swallowed hard, his eyes welling up with a mix of regret and disbelief. His voice trembled. “Why didn’t you tell me who you were for all those years?”
“I tried to. Remember when I wanted to take you home to meet my family? That was my way of introducing you to them. But you turned me down,” she said, her tone flat and detached as if she’d moved on.
Shawn shut his eyes, the weight of his mistake hitting him. “If you’d just told me you were the Owens heiress, do you think I’d have turned you down?”
Zack pieced it together quickly: Shawn was Allison’s ex. During their relationship, Allison had kept her true identity under wraps, and Shawn, seeing her as just another girl without a flashy background, had hurt her deeply.
Zack glanced over at Joshua, whose expression was dark and brewing with anger. The tension in the air thickened.
Shawn felt as if his heart was being squeezed, making it hard to breathe. “Allison, if I’d known sooner, we could’ve been married by now. We could’ve been happy.”
Allison looked at Shawn with eyes devoid of emotion, as detached as a bystander.
“Have you forgotten, Shawn? You once said you’d never marry me. Your mother, Cindy, insulted me, saying I wasn’t good enough for the Reynolds family.”
Her words hit Shawn like a boomerang, landing right between his eyes.
Shawn’s eyes were bloodshot, and his voice cracked. “Allison, the difference in our backgrounds was what kept us apart. Now that’s gone. Nothing’s stopping us anymore.”
He stepped forward, reaching for Allison’s hand. But Joshua intervened with a swift kick, sending Shawn sprawling to the ground. He ground his shoe into Shawn’s face.
The crowd gasped.
Joshua stood there, a shadow of menace enveloping him, his dark eyes flashing with a cold fury. “I warned you. Touch her again, and you’ll regret it.”
Shawn stopped resisting. At that moment, he lay there motionless, like a fish out of water, accepting Joshua’s shoe on his face.
He turned his head, staring at Allison with despair. The pain seeped into every part of him, leaving him in torment.
Only now did he realize the depth of his foolishness.
Memories flickered through his mind like a grim slideshow. Moments from their love now felt like sharp knives, cutting into his heart with every recall.
He’d been so wrong.
He had refused to meet her family, allowed his mother to belittle her without a word, flaunted his relationship with Kate, told her that he’d never marry her in Kate’s presence, and indulged in reckless behavior without a
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Chapter 80
thought for her feelings…
Every single action of his had pushed Allison further away.
They could’ve had a happy ending.
