Chapter 292 Relationship Breakthrough

Chapter 292 Relationship Breakthrough

Aside from Manuel and Gabriel, few people actually knew much about Arabella's background.

Though she and Sophia had been friends for years, Sophia only knew that she had no parents, was raised by her grandparents, and became an orphan after they passed away. She knew a kind benefactor had funded Arabella's education through college graduation, but that was all.

Now with this situation suddenly emerging, Sophia was somewhat bewildered.

"Arabella, if she really is your biological mother, don't you want to reunite? After being separated all these years, now that you finally can..."

Sophia spoke from common human sentiment, hoping to see a happy ending.

But before she could finish, Arabella interrupted with calm detachment, "She abandoned me when I was five or six and left. It's been nearly twenty years now... What kind of mother abandons her young child and doesn't see her for twenty years? If she's suddenly looking for me now, odds are she wants something from me..."

Sophia found herself at a loss for words.

They were both mothers now. They both understood that feeling that your child means more than your own life.

Forget abandoning Lily—just a few days ago when her mother-in-law took her daughter, Sophia had felt that heart-wrenching, life-or-death desperation.

"I understand... Then you rest at home. Ella and I will figure out how to handle this." Sophia knew better than to judge—she hadn't walked in Arabella's shoes, so she quickly understood her friend's position.

Before the call ended, another incoming call alert sounded. Arabella glanced at it, her brow furrowing slightly.

Manuel...

They'd just had dinner together last night and discussed that woman, and now she'd already tracked her down this quickly.

Arabella felt somewhat uncomfortable. Though she didn't believe in superstition or mysticism, she couldn't help thinking that Manuel had somehow brought this trouble to her doorstep.

So she declined the call.

Mary, seeing she'd nearly finished eating, came over to explain, "Ma'am, Mr. Sterling was worried the children would disturb your work here, so he asked us to take them back. They're both asleep now, which makes it convenient to leave—saves them from making a fuss when they wake up and see you..."

Arabella nodded and stood, walking over to the babies sleeping in their stroller. She gently touched their little faces. "Alright, drive carefully. Call me if anything comes up."

Thinking about the online situation, Arabella worried that fans' doxxing abilities were too powerful and they might uncover her home address too. Having the children return to Parkside Estate was indeed safer.

"Mary, don't bring them over for the next few days. I'm busy with work. Once I get through this period, I'll spend proper time with them." As she walked them to the door, Arabella added this instruction.

"Of course." Mary understood and supported her work completely.

————

At that moment, Gabriel was still on his way to the office.

He was in an excellent mood today. When Ralph came to pick him up, he could tell from the first glance.

As they neared the office, Dominic called. "I'm coming by your place to visit."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow slightly. "What is it that can't be said over the phone? You have to waste my work time?"

Dominic said irritably, "If you weren't divorced and single, I'd think you had no humanity! Now I can't even come see you unless it's some major crisis?"

They used to hang out together every few days—playing ball, having meals, entertainment. Even during Gabriel's two years of marriage, their social pattern hadn't changed.

But now that he was divorced and single again, he'd suddenly vanished from the social scene. Every time Dominic called him out, it was always "I'm busy" or "No time."

Hearing his friend complain, Gabriel smiled leisurely, "I really am busy. After work I have to go home and take care of the kids, and sometimes I have to take them to see their mother. I don't have free evenings."

Dominic asked incredulously, "You two are still tangled up together? Didn't she get sick of you long ago?"

"So what? I've got the kids. Keeping her on the hook is easy as pie."

Dominic couldn't respond, while deeply regretting in his heart—he should have had a kid with Emily back then. That way he wouldn't be alone now, miserable and desolate.

Seeing him fall silent, Gabriel relented, "Fine, I know you've been down lately. Let's have lunch together."

"See you at noon then."

But before noon arrived, Gabriel learned about Arabella's troubles.

It was reported by Mr. Zhang from Starsea Media.

Gabriel opened his phone to check the online situation. After scrolling for just a moment or two, his expression darkened considerably.

He stood and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window behind him, directly dialing her number.

Unexpectedly, he heard the automated message indicating the phone was off!

Turned off?

Gabriel's brow furrowed. What was going on?

After Arabella sent Mary and the others off, she stayed home alone, continuing to revise her manuscript.

Her mind was actually quite chaotic, at a loss, unable to figure out how she should respond if Jade suddenly appeared before her, trying to stage an emotional scene of long-lost mother and daughter reuniting—

But panic, fear, and anxiety were useless. She forced herself not to think about those things first, staying focused on the work at hand.

Her phone number had apparently been leaked. Strange calls kept coming in intermittently, so she simply turned it off.

Anyway, if Ella needed to reach her, she could still use Facebook. She logged into the desktop version.

Suddenly a video call request flashed in the bottom right corner of her computer screen, startling her. Looking closely, it was Gabriel.

She understood immediately.

This guy definitely knew.

She didn't want to accept the video call, so she clicked decline and sent a text: [What's up?]

Gabriel: [Answer the phone.]

Arabella: [Too many strange calls, so I turned it off.]

Gabriel: [Are you at home or the studio?]

Arabella: [Home.]

He didn't reply again. She figured he'd probably come find her right away.

Regarding Gabriel's forceful interference, she no longer had the consciousness to resist.

Because resistance was futile anyway. She might as well let him do as he pleased.

Sure enough, within an hour, Gabriel appeared at her door.

He already had a key to this place and didn't need to knock—he simply let himself in.

Seeing the woman sitting perfectly fine at the dining table with her laptop in front of her, still focused on work, Gabriel raised an eyebrow with some surprise, "You're quite calm. I thought you'd be sitting in a daze, completely lost."

Arabella said evenly, "Being in a daze won't solve the problem. Better to do something productive—it keeps me from overthinking."

Gabriel walked over and asked, "Do you want to pack up and come with me? Your studio has people staking it out. I figure this place will get doxxed sooner or later."

Arabella shook her head. "No need."

Gabriel's face darkened. "What, even at a time like this you're still trying to distance yourself from me? Haven't you learned your lesson from last time?"

Arabella explained calmly, "It's not about distancing myself from you. It's that I don't want this matter to end up implicating you. My personal information has already been pretty much exposed. They'll probably soon find out we were husband and wife. I don't want that woman to know about my relationship with you, so right now we'd better not associate temporarily. Let the outside world think that after our divorce we became complete strangers with no contact whatsoever."