?<strong>Chapter 966:</strong>


    “Mr. Stevens,” she said, her voice dripping with mockery, “surely you don’t believe I still have feelings for you.”


    Once Allison realized Colton had nothing to back up his ims, she decided she was done with their tangled history. Her response hit him like a punch to the gut, in and brutal.


    “I only saved you because I didn’t want Keanu to copse from the shock. And as for using you? I don’t feel even a shred of guilt about it. You think Ken is a dangerous lunatic who loves killing. But do you really believe I’m any better?”


    Her wavy hair danced lightly in the breeze, and her heels clicked softly as she shifted her weight. When their eyes met, her gaze was cold as ice.


    “Colton,” she said, her tone cutting, “let me be clear — I don’t have a single feeling left for you. You can go back to hating me like you always did.”


    “I don’t believe that,” he replied, his voice shaking.


    Colton stared at her, his face pale and drawn. “Even after almost dying that day,” he said softly, “I can’t bring myself to hate you.”


    It wasn’t until he had brushed so close to death that he realized the truth — he had fallen for Allison without even realizing it. For thest three years, he had been nothing but a pathetic coward.


    He hadn’t just failed to confess his feelings — he’d also driven Allison away because of his own misguided assumptions.


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    “Is that so?” Allison said, her voice calm as her eyes flicked to his wounds.


    The injuries looked serious, almost life-threatening. Her lips curled into a faint smile. “I nearly killed you, and yet you don’t hate me?”


    Colton held her gaze steadily. “The only thing I hate is how Ken manipted and brainwashed you and that I failed to protect you well.” His fists tightened as Ken’s face shed in his mind, a burning frustration simmering beneath the surface. If Ken hadn’t interfered, Colton believed that Allison would still love him.


    “Allison, I know I messed up before,” Colton said quietly. “If you hate me, that’s fine. At least you can still use me likest time. That’s better than having no connection at all.”


    Deep down, Colton had always known he was a coward. His father had been unfaithful, and his mother had always tried to control every aspect of his life. Because of that, he’d never dared to believe in love.


    But years ago, when someone had risked everything to save him from that alley, he couldn’t stop himself from falling. By some cruel twist of fate, though, he had convinced himself that person was Mny. Over the past three years, Allison had slowly reached his heart, but he had stubbornly ignored it, lying to himself again and again. In the end, his pride was the chain that kept him from moving forward.


    “Allison,” Colton said softly, his voice almost breaking. “What can I do to earn your forgiveness?”


    “Forgiveness?” Allison repeated with a faintugh. “Mr. Stevens, you’ve got it wrong. I don’t hate you, so there’s nothing to forgive.”


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