Belated Moonlight: He Regretted Only After I Left-Chapter 47: It’s Actually Him!

The footage was indeed as Jude Kensington described—extremely blurry.

Additionally, because it was repaired after being damaged, it was full of noise and frame jumps.

The angle was also tricky, showing only a small area at the alley entrance, dimly lit, barely allowing for the recognition of human figures.

The timestamp showed it was five years ago...

At first, it was Stella Sterling’s struggling figure, and a man roughly dragging her...

Jasper Hawthorne’s pupils suddenly shrank; even though the footage was blurry, he could feel Stella’s despair at the time.

At this moment, a tall and straight figure suddenly rushed in from outside the camera’s view, kicking the thug in the side of the waist!

The thug, feeling the pain, let go of Stella, cursing and turning around, pulling out a shiny knife!

The subsequent footage, due to the fight and angle issues, became even more chaotic and blurry.

In the chaos, the thug’s knife slashed across the chest of that figure...

The person grunted, punching the thug in the face, snatching the knife, and pressing the thug firmly to the ground!

And at this moment, due to the change in fighting angle, when the person slightly raised their head— 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

A blurry but recognizable side profile intruded into Jasper Hawthorne’s sight!

Despite the rough footage and dim lighting, the high nose bridge, the clear and sharp jawline, especially that... mole at the corner of the eye that was still vaguely discernible in such poor image quality...

The whole world suddenly spun, with only a sharp buzzing in his ears.

His eyes stared intently at the face on the screen, pupils dilated to the extreme, bloodshot lines spreading quickly.

Shane... Donovan...

In an instant, Jasper Hawthorne’s breath suddenly stopped, his blood seemed to reverse, rushing to his brain!

He stared intensely at the face on the screen—how could it be him?

"Hah..."

Jasper staggered back a step, crashing into the cold bookshelf, making a dull thud.

He couldn’t feel the pain.

What came from his heart was a sharper pain than a cut, like a tsunami, instantly drowning him!

He suddenly recalled the adoration and affection in Stella’s incredibly bright eyes when she first looked at him...

It turns out, all of this wasn’t meant for him...

The player window automatically closed.

The office fell into a dead silence.

Jasper let out broken breaths, a sweet metallic taste rising in his throat.

He abruptly straightened up, grabbed the phone on the table, and shakily dialed Jude Kensington’s number again.

The call was almost answered immediately.

Jasper’s voice was low and hoarse, "Back then, why... did he..."

Even though he didn’t finish the sentence, Jude understood what he was asking.

Jude was silent on the other end for a few seconds, sighing, "I checked... Shane Donovan was probably seriously injured at the time..."

He paused, continuing, "I used connections to check the police and hospital records from back then. After Stella was taken to the hospital, due to shock and the effects of medication, her memory was a bit confused. She only vaguely remembered someone saving her, that the person had been injured in the chest... After she woke up, she’s been searching for her savior..."

Jude didn’t continue with the rest.

But Jasper already understood.

By coincidences, or mismatched fates.

Because Shane Donovan was injured, he didn’t appear.

Because Stella’s memory was vague.

Because he happened to have a scar on his chest in a similar position...

Thus, he, "The Fake Lawson," replaced "The Real Lawson," occupying Stella’s heart and life for a full five years!

"Haha... hahaha..." Jasper suddenly started to laugh quietly, the laughter hoarse and fragmented.

Laughing, tears uncontrollably flowed out.

He was wrong.

Wrong beyond belief.

He thought he could start over with her.

But now, he didn’t even have the right to stand in front of her!

He didn’t know when the call ended, and Jasper, as if all strength had been drawn out of him, staggered back, heavily collapsing onto the cold floor.

He leaned against the large floor-to-ceiling window, outside of which was the dazzling, prosperous night view of Kenton, thousands of lights, neon flickering.

But in his eyes, all of this had lost color.

He raised his hand, looking at his empty palm.

He once thought he’d grasped the light.

Now he realized, he hadn’t grasped anything at all...

He had nothing.

...

The rain in Riveria always comes unexpectedly.

Just now the sky was clear, but in the blink of an eye, it began to drizzle, blurring the windows with misty water vapor.

Stella stood by the window, watching the hurried passersby below avoiding the rain, her thoughts entirely on the whiteboard in front of her.

The whiteboard was densely covered with writing, with the name William Miller at the center, with several arrows extending outward pointing to shell companies, overseas accounts, fifty thousand transfers, but they all ended in stagnation.

"Boss, this William Miller is too clean." Finn Lockwood scratched his head, looking troubled, "I even checked where he went to elementary school, but couldn’t find any direct evidence linking him to the Quinn Family mother and daughter."

Stella lightly tapped the words William Miller on the whiteboard with a marker, furrowing her brow, "The cleaner it looks, the more it shows how meticulous the person behind it is. Grace doesn’t have this kind of brain, it’s definitely Audrey Quinn’s handiwork."

She paused, her gaze sharp, "Actually, if we can’t find a direct link between William Miller and the Quinn Family women, we should check the indirect connections, look into Audrey Quinn’s social network, especially... male acquaintances."

Finn Lockwood’s eyes lit up, "Right! I’ll go dig up Audrey Quinn’s background!"

With that, Finn Lockwood left to complete his task, leaving Stella alone again in the office.

The sound of rain was incessant, making the room feel extraordinarily quiet.

Soon, it was time to get off work, but the rain showed no sign of stopping, becoming heavier instead.

Stella stood at the law firm’s entrance, looking at the pouring rain with some consternation.

She hadn’t driven today, nor had she brought an umbrella.

Just as she hesitated between braving the rain to get a taxi or waiting for the rain to lighten, a familiar black Bentley slowly pulled up at the entrance.

The rear window rolled down, revealing Shane Donovan’s well-defined profile.

"Get in the car."

Stella was taken aback, "President Donovan? How come you..."

"It’s on the way." Shane replied succinctly, his gaze falling on her rain-soaked shoulder, his brow barely furrowing.

On the way again...

Stella silently complained in her heart, but her face was full of smiles, "No need, I already called a taxi, it should be here soon..."

But just as she spoke, the car door was pushed open, Shane Donovan opened a black umbrella, and within a few steps, he was by Stella’s side.

"?"

Stella looked at him, full of bafflement.

"Weren’t you waiting for a car? I’ll wait with you."

"..."

Shane held the black umbrella, standing with poise next to Stella, with most of the umbrella tilted towards her side, while his own shoulder was soon dampened by the slanting rain.

He looked down at Stella, who slightly shivered beside him, and decisively took off his suit jacket, draping it over Stella’s shoulders.

"Wear it, don’t catch a cold."

The wide suit instantly enveloped Stella, the crisp woody scent belonging to Shane, mixed with a faint warmth, dominantly invading her senses.

The clothes still retained his temperature, fitting snugly against her slightly cool skin, bringing about a strange warmth and... palpitations.

Stella’s body slightly stiffened, instinctively wanting to push it away, "President Donovan, there’s no need..."

"Wear it."

His gaze fell on the tips of her ears, which were slightly red, his eyes deepening.

Just as this subtle atmosphere silently spread through the rain—

A screeching brake sound abruptly tore through the noise of the raindrops.

Only to see a black Maybach fishtailing sharply, stopping horizontally at the law firm’s entrance, splashing a large spray of muddy water, almost splattering on Shane Donovan’s straight trousers.

The car door was forcefully pushed open!

A tall and imposing man stepped out of the car...