Chapter 33: You Can’t Speak?
Abigail barely registered the impact of the collision until she felt herself stumbling backward. Her breath hitched as a strong hand instinctively reached out to steady her. Heart pounded as she lifted her head, ready to apologize.
Then she saw him.
The world seemed to freeze as time stopped.
Jamal.
Her eyes widened in shock, disbelief flooding her system like ice. Was she seeing things? Was this a trick of her exhausted mind?
Her gaze darted over his face— sharp jawline, familiar warm brown eyes, the shape of his lips— everything was the same, yet... different. His hair had changed. It wasn’t blonde like before.
She almost convinced herself she was mistaken. Maybe she was just desperately clinging to memories that refused to fade. But then he spoke.
"Are you alright?" His voice was gentle, just as she remembered.
A sharp breath escaped her lips. That voice. She would recognize it anywhere. It had been years, but it still had the same effect on her—soothing yet overwhelming, like an old song she had once loved but hadn’t been able to listen to for too long.
How could she be running into him this way in Husla of all places? She had just thought about him as she always did less than two hours ago and here she was standing in front of him. What manner of coincidence was this?
"Miss? Are you alright?" Stefan questioned when she didn’t say anything and merely stared at Jamal with a shocked expression.