Obedience No More He's the One I Deserved novel Chapter 229

His eyes carried a weight that felt endless, and for a fleeting second, a faint light flickered inside them before it vanished.

After dinner, Micah was pulled away by a call from Andy. Dawn let out a sharp breath of relief as she watched him walk off. "I don't understand how a kid can be that annoying."

The entire meal had been one long battle, Micah challenging her on everything as if she were his sworn enemy.

Ethan slipped an arm around her shoulder, his tone teasing. "But I don't think you dislike him as much as you say you do."

Dawn let out a frustrated groan. "Hating someone doesn't last forever. Give me until tomorrow, and I'll probably hate him all over again."

Ethan laughed at her face, his eyes lingering on her before he spoke again, calm and casual. "You ever notice the two of you are actually a lot alike?"

"Me?" Dawn jabbed a finger at her own chest, her brows rising. "You think I'm like that little punk? Absolutely not. I'm not half as unreliable as he is."

Ethan chuckled but didn't push it further.

He hadn't been talking about personality at all. What he saw was something neither of them had noticed. Their faces.

At first glance, the two looked nothing alike. But if someone looked long enough, the curve of their eyes and the shape of their mouths carried the same lines.

Even so, there was no point in saying something he couldn't prove.

The couple wandered through the mall together, their steps slow and easy.

They were about to head home when a call came from the police station. Sydney had hired a lawyer and wanted to see her again.

Ethan caught the look on her face and spoke gently. "If you don't want to go, you don't have to. We've already filed the lawsuit. There's no way they can reach a settlement now."

"Let's go."

Dawn steadied her breath. "I want to hear what she thinks she still needs to say."

When they arrived at the station, Dawn froze before she even stepped inside. She hadn't expected to see him there. Austin.

Her hand tightened around Ethan's as she forced herself to walk forward with resolve.

Inside, the police were explaining the charges to Austin.

Sydney had broken into someone's home, damaged property, and nearly hurt someone physically. The charges alone were enough to lock her up for years.

Her career was already finished. There was no saving it now.

As Dawn entered, several eyes turned to her.

She stopped in her tracks, stunned. She could barely recognize the man in front of her as the once proud, untouchable Austin.

His face was marked by exhaustion, his hair tangled and unkempt, his jaw rough with days of stubble. He looked less like the man she had once admired and more like a stranger who had fallen too far.

"Uncle Austin."

To Austin, the girl he had once raised now walked away holding another man's hand. She wrinkled her nose at something he said, her face lighting up with animation.

The man beside her listened with patience and leaned close to whisper something that made her laugh.

Once, she had looked at Austin that way too.

But now, those memories felt like they belonged to another lifetime.

Austin searched through every memory he had of her, but he couldn't find a single moment where he had shown her the kind of patience that man gave so freely.

She must have been disappointed in him so deeply that there was no way back. That was why she had chosen to marry someone else.

Austin shut his eyes, trying to bury every trace of feeling, but nothing could stop the pain that pressed heavy against his chest.

Dawn followed the officer to the visitation room. She passed her bag to Ethan and stepped in alone.

The room was small. Dawn pulled out a chair and sat down. When she lifted her gaze, she was met with Sydney's face, twisted with venom.

Hatred. Resentment. Fury.

And something else Dawn couldn't place.

One thing was certain. Prison had already changed her. In just a few days, Sydney looked like a shadow of herself. Her skin was pale, her body fragile, and her eyes empty, as if the fire that had once fueled her had been burned out from the inside.