All Chapters of Guilty By Appearance: Chapter 91 - Chapter 100

Then I learned something that changed the way I saw Snow.She had been at the hospital when Scarlet's condition became serious.She had tried to help her.She had been there when Scarlet died.I remember sitting alone after hearing that.Part of me felt sympathy.Another part of me rejected it.I told myself she was acting.I told myself she was protecting the family.I told myself that grief could be real and guilt could still exist at the same time.I had no idea how cruel that thought was.

The next day, when Snow approached me, I barely looked at her."Good morning.""Morning."She smiled."Are you okay?""I'm fine.""You seem angry.""I'm not."She watched me for a moment.Then she nodded."Okay."She walked away.I watched her leave.I wanted to call her back.I didn't.That night, I hated myself.I had pushed her away because I was afraid.Not because she had done anything wrong.I was afraid of what I was becoming.I was afraid that if I let myself care about her, I would lose the anger that had kept me alive since Ana died.Anger has become my strength.It gave me something to wake up for.Something to fight for.Something to believe in.Snow threatened that.Because around her, I began to feel something other than anger.I began to feel peace.And I did not think I deserved peace.Not yet.Not while Ana was dead.So I kept fighting myself.Every time Snow came closer, I stepped back.Every time she trusted me, I reminded myself why I had entered her life.Every ti

The days after the trial were worse.The truth spread everywhere.News reports talked about the case.People talked about Scarlet.People talked about the Ford family.People talked about me.Some called me a lawyer who had made a terrible mistake.Some called me cruel.Some questioned how I could have accused Snow without enough proof.I did not defend myself.What could I say?I had no excuse.I had believed I was right.That was not an excuse.It was the reason.I went back to my office.Everything looked the same.My desk.My files.My chair.The walls.But I was not the same.I opened a drawer.Inside was the black cardholder.The first clue.The beginning of everything.I took it out.I stared at it for a long time.It suddenly looked very small.Almost meaningless.This tiny object had helped shape an entire nightmare.I had found it near the accident.I had decided what it meant.I never stopped to ask what it did not mean.I had taken one piece of evidence and built an entire

Two years had passed since the storm.Two years since I had sat beside Blake in that small clinic in Siargao, holding his bandaged hand while the morning sun slowly returned to the island.Two years since I had finally allowed myself to believe that some things could be rebuilt.Not repaired.Not erased.Rebuilt.There was a difference.Broken things could be glued together, but the cracks would always remain. Sometimes they became reminders of what had happened. Sometimes they became proof that something had survived.My heart was one of those things.It had survived.And somehow, it had learned how to love again.I stood in front of the mirror in my small hotel room in Manila and slowly fixed the collar of my simple cream-colored dress.Manila feels different now.Or perhaps I was the one who had changed.The city was still loud. Cars still filled the streets. Tall buildings still covered the sky. People still hurried from one place to another as if stopping for even one second mean

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of the ocean.Siargao.Home.The sun was rising over the water.Blake was sitting outside with two cups of coffee.He looked toward me."Good morning, Doctor.""Good morning."I sat beside him.For a while, we watched the waves.No words were needed.I thought about the girl I had once been.The girl who believed she was less important.