Chapter 110 Marital Duties!
"Gabriel... mmph, let go! Release me!" Arabella fought back resolutely, refusing to cooperate no matter how he kissed her.
But Gabriel was ruthless. His long, powerful fingers gripped the back of her neck firmly while his other hand held her wrist twisted behind her back. With Arabella pinned against the wall, she had only one arm free to resist.
But that small amount of force was futile against him.
"Let go? You seem to forget your position. As long as we're not officially divorced, my making love to you is perfectly legal." Gabriel's fury reached its peak, and for a moment, he truly lost his rationality, wanting nothing more than to snap her neck!
It would be better if she were paralyzed for life, bedridden—then he could care for her forever!
She just couldn't be allowed to leave!
Never!
Arabella cursed angrily, "Bastard! Even between spouses, I can refuse! I'm refusing right now! Don't touch me!"
"Try fighting me off first!"
The words carried double meaning—referring both to their physical disparity and the gap in their social power.
In this moment, she was a delicate, petite woman unable to overpower a tall, strong man.
In terms of divorce, a humble, insignificant member of the disadvantaged class was equally powerless against wealthy, influential elite.
After delivering his threat, Gabriel didn't care whether she was willing or not. He bent down and hoisted her over his shoulder, carrying her upside down as he opened the door.
Arabella felt the world spinning, her hair falling loose and swaying, obscuring her vision. She could only sense Gabriel carrying her toward the master bedroom, and panic completely overtook her!
"Gabriel! You can't do this! I can call the police! This is domestic violence! It's illegal!" With her hands free, she protested while frantically pounding his back.
But Gabriel remained silent, kicking open the master bedroom door. He carried Arabella inside and kicked it shut behind them, the room becoming like a prison that completely trapped her.
She continued struggling when Gabriel suddenly threw her forcefully. She was flung onto the bed, landing hard.
Dizzy and aching all over, she ignored the pain, driven by fierce resistance, crawling up to escape.
But before her feet could touch the floor, Gabriel's tall, imposing figure loomed over her, pressing her back down onto the bed.
"I advise you to accept reality, or you'll only end up hurting yourself more." Gabriel pinned her down, using his legs to trap her firmly beneath him while his arms rose to swiftly remove his loungewear.
Arabella was still struggling when Gabriel roughly tore off her clothes. She desperately reached for the bedside phone, but before she could touch it, Gabriel grabbed her hand and pulled it back, intertwining their fingers tightly as he completely claimed her.
"..." She couldn't make a sound, her beautiful features contorting in extreme discomfort, eyes squeezed tightly shut.
The wild emotions raging in Gabriel's heart suddenly stalled when he saw the pain overflowing on her face.
That impulsive fury gradually died down. He supported his weight above her, suspended in mid-air as he stared down at her intently, as if trying to see through her, to understand exactly what was in her heart.
Arabella had braced herself for abuse, but the storm abruptly ceased, leaving her already taut nerves suddenly hanging in emptiness.
In the eerie silence, she slowly opened her eyes and met his profound gaze.
Whether it was her imagination or not, she seemed to see a trace of pain and helplessness in his eyes—the kind of defeated resignation that comes from being unable to obtain one's beloved despite exhausting all efforts.
How could that be possible!
Could Gabriel, this irresponsible scumbag, actually feel pain or deep helplessness?
He only indulged his desires like a beast, never caring about the other person's feelings!
Seeing her staring at him with searching, scrutinizing eyes, Gabriel suddenly snapped back to awareness, his heartbeat skipping a panicked beat.
Realizing he'd revealed emotions he shouldn't have, he grew secretly frustrated, then raised one hand to cover her eyes—only this way could he force himself to ignore her feelings and focus solely on his own release.
Outside the room, the nanny held a awakened child looking for mama, hesitating repeatedly but not daring to disturb them.
When the master and mistress had relationship problems, servants like them had the hardest time, walking on eggshells every day.
The nanny looked at Isabella in her arms, whose little mouth was puckering as she was about to wail, and quickly coaxed, "Oh oh, Isabella, sweetheart, don't cry, don't cry... Let's go see if there's any breast milk left in the refrigerator."
————
When Arabella woke up, she was still pinned beneath a heavy weight.
Ever since the babies were born, her sleep had been fragmented. Even when the children weren't beside her and didn't need feeding, she would still suddenly wake from dreams, as if hearing their cries.
However, opening her eyes, she didn't see the babies' tender, adorable little faces, but rather that distinctly handsome, sculpted masculine face.
In an instant, all the terrible memories from last night came flooding back like a tide, causing extreme physical discomfort and making her body involuntarily shudder.
That shudder awakened Gabriel, who had been holding her captive in his arms.
Gabriel opened his eyes, his already prominent double eyelids appearing even more profound and attractive in the just-awakened morning state, especially with his gaze still unclear, giving him an innocent, harmless quality that was particularly captivating.
In the past, Arabella would have been charmed by this sight, but now she felt only rejection and resistance toward the Gabriel before her.
The moment their eyes met, she said nothing, simply slipping silently from his embrace and turning to retrieve her clothes scattered at the foot of the bed.
The sheets were soiled again, but she didn't need to worry about it—someone in the house would clean up.
She dressed quietly, without crying, making a scene, or uttering a word, then opened the door and left.
Gabriel remained lying there, his expression shifting from the drowsy languor of just waking to gradually growing cold and stern, hatred uncontrollably accumulating in his heart once again.
He truly couldn't understand what more he had to do to satisfy her, to make her return to her former gentle, obedient self.
Arabella went to the guest bathroom to freshen up.
Standing before the mirror, she immediately frowned.
That bastard Gabriel hadn't just forced himself on her last night—he'd gone crazy kissing marks all over her body.
She turned her head to examine the love bites on her neck—they were on both sides, and the bruises were deep. They probably wouldn't fade for two or three days.
The guest room only had a few simple clothes, no turtleneck sweaters, and she didn't want to go back to the master bedroom's walk-in closet to search. After rummaging around for a while, she could only use a silk scarf to cover them.
Fortunately, the weather had turned cold, so this style of dressing was reasonable—her colleagues shouldn't notice.
Downstairs, Mary was busy tending to the children.
Henry and Isabella had both had bowel movements first thing in the morning, making quite a mess. She'd just changed their diapers and dressed them when Isabella spit up again, soiling her clothes once more.
Thankfully, there were plenty of servants in the house, or dealing with two babies taking turns like this would have been truly overwhelming.
Arabella was still adjusting her neck scarf as she came downstairs, afraid it might shift position and reveal the marks.
Seeing her, Mary frowned with a puzzled expression. "Ma'am, Henry and Isabella both suddenly have diarrhea, and Isabella's been spitting up badly too—it looks like indigestion symptoms."