Chapter 23 William's Passing
Though he felt displeased inside, Gabriel understood William's intentions.
In his heart, William still hoped Arabella would remain with the Sterling family, to have somewhere to belong.
Gabriel didn't care what methods she had used to convince his grandfather—at this crucial moment, he needed to let William pass away without worries, peacefully and serenely.
Besides, deep down, he himself hadn't actually wanted a divorce.
"Grandfather, I was wrong... I'll change from now on. I've cut ties with Emily completely—I won't have any contact with her anymore. The children are still too young to be separated from their mother. I'll try harder to treat Arabella well and earn her forgiveness." After a brief moment of consideration, Gabriel immediately made a solemn declaration. "We won't be getting divorced."
Hearing this, Arabella's heart jolted in disbelief.
William was also somewhat surprised.
He stared steadily at Gabriel, his increasingly weakened condition making it impossible to ask many questions. He could only fix his gradually dimming eyes on his grandson.
Gabriel squeezed William's hand again, reaffirming his promise, "I'm serious about this. Arabella is wonderful—she's a good wife and a good mother. I have no reason not to cherish her. I was too foolish before, but now I've come to my senses."
"Good... good..." William became excited, though he could barely speak anymore.
He could only struggle to turn his eyes toward Arabella, who was still weeping beside the hospital bed, tears slowly sliding down his own cheeks.
These were tears of comfort, tears of a life without regrets, tears of joy for Arabella's sake.
"Ara... bella..." His throat trembled, his lips could barely move, producing only broken syllables.
"Grandfather, I'm here!" Arabella straightened up, joining Gabriel in grasping William's hand.
Knowing what he wanted to say, she wiped her tears with her other hand and quickly assured him, "Grandfather, please don't worry, I'll take good care of myself. And Gabriel—he really has changed a lot recently. Please rest easy, we'll be fine."
William moved his mouth contentedly without speaking, his eyes gradually becoming vacant until his life came to an end, and he slowly closed his eyes.
"Grandfather!" Arabella sobbed uncontrollably, collapsing beside the bed.
Gabriel fought back his tears but couldn't suppress his overwhelming grief.
Instinctively, he crouched down and pulled Arabella into his arms.
Arabella was gray with heartache, her mind somewhat oxygen-deprived and dazed from extreme sorrow. When he embraced her, she offered no resistance, clutching his shirt and wailing in his arms.
Gabriel held her close. In this moment, the two shared a sense of mutual understanding, warming and healing each other.
For just an instant, his heart surged with the desire to protect her for the rest of his life.
————
William's death had a significant impact on Luminara.
Especially given the Sterling family's prominent social standing.
The funeral was extraordinarily grand and elaborate.
Gabriel was stretched impossibly thin.
Although the Sterling family had many members and not everything required his personal attention, as the head of Sterling Group and the heir apparent of the younger Sterling generation, many matters needed his input and decision-making.
Combined with a mountain of company business, he didn't return home until well past midnight each day.
Arabella had been immersed in grief these past few days, her mood depressed. Between that and getting up at night to care for the children, her sleep suffered, leaving her looking utterly haggard.
Mary, feeling sorry for her, took both children away and didn't have them sleep with her, hoping to let her get some proper rest.
Who would have thought this would backfire spectacularly?
Without the babies nearby, Arabella slept more soundly and forgot to pump, resulting in clogged milk ducts that led to mastitis.
Though Mary immediately applied hot compresses and massage once she discovered the problem, the effect was minimal.
By evening, Arabella had developed a fever.
The household staff wanted to call Gabriel, but she didn't want to burden him with such a trivial matter when he was already overwhelmed, so she refused to let them call.
At eleven o'clock that night, Gabriel returned home to find the staff still bustling about in the kitchen and curiously asked what was going on.
Only then did he learn that Arabella was ill.
"Ill? What happened? Did she see a doctor?" His expression darkened as he yanked off his tie, and before he'd finished speaking, he was already striding toward the stairs in a few quick steps.
Just as he reached the guest room door, Mary emerged from inside.
"What's going on? If she's sick, she should go to the hospital. Why is she still at home?" Gabriel's voice was tense, sounding almost like a reprimand.
Mary looked somewhat embarrassed, clearing her throat before explaining, "She started running a fever around evening. I gave her a sponge bath and used ice packs for physical cooling. The fever's broken now, but the thing is..."
Gabriel pushed open the door while asking, "But what?"
"Well... it's just that for nursing mothers, mastitis is quite common. It's caused by clogged ducts—once it's cleared up, she'll be fine." Mary figured the master probably didn't understand such things and quickly explained to prevent him from getting too anxious.
Arabella had just broken her fever and was drowsily trying to get some sleep when she heard Gabriel's voice and opened her eyes again.
The two had barely seen each other these past few days, their relationship neither strained nor reconciled.
With William's funeral imminent and so many people watching, they had to maintain at least a facade of harmony.
"You're back," Arabella greeted softly.
Gabriel looked at her luminous, watery eyes, her unusually flushed cheeks, and the fine beads of sweat on her forehead. His brow furrowed as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Are you in a lot of pain? I'll take you to the hospital."
He reached out to lift her, but she refused.
"No need. Mary spent ages helping me, and the fever's broken." Though her chest still ached terribly.
Gabriel frowned and pressed his hand to Arabella's forehead.
Sweat had soaked through, carrying away body heat, and she indeed felt cool to the touch—no longer feverish.
Mary, with impeccable timing, saw their interaction and quickly said with sudden inspiration, "Mrs. Sterling, you need to take a shower and change into dry clothes. These sheets are all sweaty too—they need changing."
Before either of them could react, she began directing Gabriel, "Mr. Sterling, you should carry Mrs. Sterling back to the master bedroom. These beddings are all damp—impossible to sleep in."
Arabella's cheeks, which had just cooled down, immediately flushed red again.
She was about to say it wasn't necessary, that she could walk to the bedroom herself, when she saw Gabriel already standing up and looking at her. "Let me carry you over."
"No need, I'm fine now, I can..." Before she could finish, he bent down, lifted the covers, slipped one arm around her shoulders, and threaded the other under her knees.
The moment her body left the ground, her heart seemed to take flight with it.
To keep from falling, she had to quickly wrap her arms around Gabriel's neck, instantly closing the distance between them. When she looked straight ahead, she could clearly see his sharply defined jawline.
He'd lost weight.
In just these few short days, he'd obviously lost weight, and the dark circles under his eyes were pronounced. Clearly, he hadn't been getting enough rest either.
The distance from the guest room to the master bedroom wasn't far, but being together in this position made the time feel particularly torturous.
Arabella quickly searched for topics to break the awkwardness, "So, has everything been finalized for Grandfather's funeral?"
"Yes, it's set for next Monday at Greenwood Memorial Park."