Semua Bab His Choice Wasn't Me: Bab 161 - Bab 170

Daniel noticed it immediately; the pause that came too long, the way his mum’s fingers tightened slightly around her cutlery before she relaxed them again. Sarah had always been composed in moments that unsettled others, but this was different.This wasn’t a boardroom or a courtroom. This was a table with two children watching her, waiting for something only honesty could give.She cleared her throat softly.“Yes, child,” Sarah said at last, nodding once, as if the movement itself helped steady her. “I forgive your parents.”Melissa stared at her, eyes searching, sharp in a way that didn’t belong to an eight-year-old. She didn’t smile. She didn’t relax. Instead, her brows drew together slowly.“Then why,” she asked quietly, “did you still press the case?”The words were calm, but they landed hard.“If you forgave them, why did you still do something that made them taken away from me?”The restaurant noise faded for Sarah. The clink of plates, the low hum of conversations, even the sof

“What did you say to him?” Sarah asked the moment they stepped out of the building, her voice low but urgent as she adjusted her handbag on her shoulder.Melissa blinked up at her with innocent eyes that were doing too much work. Daniel, walking just behind them, already knew that look. That was the same look she used when she broke a flower vase at home and blamed “wind from the window.”“I didn’t say anything bad,” Melissa replied quickly. Too quickly.Sarah stopped walking. “Melissa.”The little girl placed a hand dramatically on her chest. “Aunty Sarah, I only encouraged him.”Daniel coughed to hide a laugh.Sarah folded her arms. “Encouraged him how?”Melissa’s brain began to run faster than her mouth could follow. “I told him… that… that life is short. And that he should value what he has before it disappears.”Daniel raised a brow. “That’s what you told him?”“Yes!” she nodded eagerly. “Exactly that.”Sarah narrowed her eyes slightly. “You didn’t tell him that if he keeps behav

The guards stormed into the gym like a wave crashing against rock.Heavy boots pounded against the floor. Whistles pierced the air. Thick wooden batons were raised without hesitation.“Drop it! Drop it now!”One guard swung his baton between two fighting inmates, forcing them apart. Another grabbed Vanessa from behind and dragged her backward while she kicked and spat curses over her shoulder. Metal clanged as the last of the weights hit the floor.Rosa was seized by two guards at once. It took both of them to restrain her properly. Even with blood soaking the side of her singlet, she stood upright, breathing hard but controlled. One guard pressed a baton against her chest while the other twisted her arm behind her back.Across the room, Tiana was being pulled up from the ground by two other guards. Her hair was disheveled, lip bleeding, chest heaving. She struggled violently, trying to break free.“This isn’t over, bitch!” she screamed across the room, her voice echoing off the crack

The crash inside the hospital room had barely settled when the two armed policemen stationed outside burst in.“What the hell!” one of them barked as he took in the sight before him.The room looked like a storm had passed through it. The IV stand was tilted, water pooled across the tiled floor, medical supplies scattered everywhere. The remote lay in pieces near the wall.A tray had been flung aside, its contents spread like debris after an accident.Tiana stood in the middle of it all, breathing hard.Her chest rose and fell sharply, her hair slightly disheveled, bruises still visible across her skin. The cuff around her left wrist glinted under the fluorescent light as it hung from the bed rail, the chain stretched tight.For a long second, she said nothing.She simply stared at the officers.Then, as if something inside her had cooled just as quickly as it had erupted, she turned and walked back to the bed. Slowly. Deliberately. She sat down and adjusted herself against the pillow

The next morning, just a few minutes past eight, the large black SUV rolled slowly toward the gate. The estate was already awake. Gardeners were trimming hedges. One of the housemaids stood by the entrance steps, speaking with the cook about groceries.It looked like an ordinary weekday.Behind the wheel was David Ross, calm as always, both hands steady on the steering. He had worked with Sarah long enough to understand her silence. She had not spoken much since she entered the car.In the back seat, Melissa adjusted her school blazer, scrolling absentmindedly through something on her tablet. Sarah sat beside her, reviewing a file for a meeting scheduled later that morning at the headquarters of Transcorp.Her face was composed, but her mind was not entirely on the document.The gate slid open automatically.David eased the car forward.They had barely moved a few meters from the entrance when Melissa suddenly stiffened. Her eyes widened. She pressed her palm against the window, squin