Unmasking Mrs. Newton's Secret Identities novel Chapter 1825

No woman could resist the helpless plea of someone who felt like an older brother, and Abigail was no exception.

Once again, she found herself compromising.

Beneath her tough, distant exterior, few knew just how soft her heart truly was.

…

The Fitzgerald residence was located in the suburbs, and Taylor was escorted out in a private car.

To say he was "being driven" was an understatement—it was more like he was unceremoniously dumped off.

Not long after leaving the estate, the driver casually stopped in the middle of an isolated forest park and tossed Taylor out of the car.

Taylor muttered a curse under his breath as he stepped out. After only a few paces, the heel of his right shoe snapped off without warning.

"Just my luck," he grumbled. "When it rains, it pours."

He knocked the heel off the other shoe against a stone curb. With both shoes now ruined, he continued marching toward the city, his frustration mounting.

If everything went according to plan, he'd cross paths with someone before nightfall.

After nearly two hours of walking, Taylor's feet were in agony. When he finally removed his shoes, the backs of his heels were nearly raw. Frustrated, he threw the shoes aside and pressed on barefoot.

"This is actually more comfortable than I thought," Taylor muttered to himself, trying to find some humor in the situation.

Just then, a woman's desperate cries for help pierced the air.

"Help! Ah, slow down! Stop, please, stop!"

Taylor immediately crouched low, scanning the woods. He spotted a petite woman being dragged by a large dog, crashing into tree stumps as the animal charged forward relentlessly.

Taylor managed a faint smile. "Yeah, role-playing."

He stepped aside and gently untangled the leash from her hands. "You're so petite. You should stick to smaller dogs. A big breed like a Malamute will overpower you when it gets wild."

"But I just love them!" she replied, her face lighting up with a beaming smile. "Don't you think big dogs are so cuddly? Sure, they drag me around sometimes, but the joy far outweighs the trouble. By the way, do you have a dog too?"

Her eyes sparkled with warmth and excitement, a lively energy that suggested a pampered, privileged upbringing.

At the mention of dogs, Taylor's mind immediately drifted to Clover—and then to Abigail.

A flicker of sadness passed through his eyes, but he quickly masked it, replying in a nonchalant tone, "Yeah, kind of. I had one, though it was a bit smaller than yours."

"That's awesome! Let's be friends!" the woman chirped, eagerly pulling out her phone. "We can meet up sometime and let our dogs play together!"

"Actually, I'd rather not," Taylor replied, uninterested in making new connections. "I'm leaving Miravell soon, so adding me would just clutter your contacts."