Chapter 75 Don't You Think This Is Disgusting?
Gabriel said, "Think whatever you want, as long as you come back home and do what you're supposed to do as a mother."
"Yes, I am a mother, but I'm also myself. I've told you before—even if my worth seems small, I want my own life, not just to be defined as the children's mother. A mother who loses herself can't properly guide her children. Everything I'm doing is to make things better for the kids and me."
Gabriel actually laughed, turning his head away as if her stubbornness was particularly amusing, even pathetic.
Seeing his dismissive expression, Arabella's anger flared, "Gabriel, I know you're powerful, successful, that wealth, influence, and status come easily to you. But that's not a reason to look down on me. We're equals, even if what I earn in a month of hard work doesn't match what you spend on a single meal. I'm still your equal. I'm not beneath you!"
After saying this, she wanted nothing more to do with him, turning back to her computer screen. "You can leave now. I have work to do."
Gabriel never expected that what he thought was a reasonable conversation would end with her lecturing him instead.
His own anger rising, he stood there coldly, making his words even more cutting, "You just want to prove yourself, don't you? You think you've finally taken this big step and can't bear to back down, afraid of losing face, afraid I'll mock you—fine. Keep struggling. The longer you try, the more pathetic you'll look when you fail."
With that, he turned and strode away, slamming the door behind him with a resounding bang.
The door slam made Arabella jump, her face freezing in shock, her carefully constructed thoughts instantly scattered.
How could she possibly focus on work now?
Her eyes reddened with fury as she cursed that bastard in her mind!
Since he'd seen through all her thoughts anyway, she'd work even harder, prove herself even more.
Someday, she'd be able to support herself through her own abilities and strike back at his contempt and indifference!
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Early the next morning, Arabella rushed out of the estate again, hurrying toward the subway station.
She'd worked until midnight last night, then gotten up twice during the night to feed the children, managing only about six hours of sleep total.
Tired were her dominant feelings.
That bastard Gabriel was probably trying to make her give up sooner—he'd stopped offering her rides in the morning.
Not wanting to ask for the family driver in front of him, she could only jog toward the subway entrance.
As the Bentley passed by, she caught a glimpse of the smug face inside and didn't hesitate to roll her eyes at the retreating vehicle.
Samuel, watching Arabella in the rearview mirror, carefully ventured, "Mr. Sterling, are you sure you don't want to give Mrs. Sterling a ride? It's at least a twenty-minute walk from here to the subway station."
Gabriel had seen Arabella perfectly well. At Samuel's words, he replied coldly, "If you're so concerned about her, get out and walk with her."
Samuel didn't dare say another word, pressing the accelerator to speed away.
Arabella rushed to reach the company, barely making it on time.
At lunch, she didn't go home, hoping to save time to finish her work early and leave on schedule that evening.
However, the breast milk she'd stored in the break room refrigerator was accidentally discovered by a colleague.
"Whose stuff is this? It looks like breast milk, sitting next to my lunch box. Gross."
A female colleague, opening the fridge to get her lunch, spotted a large transparent sealed bag containing what looked like two small milk pouches. Thinking it might be yogurt someone had brought to share, she picked it up to ask.
But when she examined it closely and saw "Breast Milk Storage Bags" printed on the small packages, she immediately started making a fuss.
Another colleague came over. "Is this some mom pumping at work?"
"Who in our department is breastfeeding?"
"I don't know... nobody's had a baby recently!"
Hearing the commotion, Arabella hurried over and quickly took the sealed bag from her colleague's hands. "That's mine."
Several colleagues looked shocked, staring at her with surprise and suspicion, "You have a baby?"
"You're breastfeeding? No wonder your chest is so..." The rest of the comment was swallowed when she noticed male colleagues present.
Even though the sentence went unfinished, everyone's eyes inevitably drifted toward her chest.
Arabella felt mortified, turning to put the breast milk back in the refrigerator.
But the female colleague immediately protested, "Hey, there are all kinds of prepared foods in there. It's not appropriate to put that stuff inside, is it?"
Arabella asked, "What's inappropriate about it? This is clean and hygienic too."
"Even if it's clean and hygienic, it's still... it's breast milk! Don't you think this is disgusting?" the colleague couldn't help raising her voice.
"Disgusting? Plenty of working mothers pump. Why is it disgusting? Besides, didn't you grow up drinking this stuff?"
Having grown up poor and parentless, constantly looked down upon and bullied, Arabella had initially been timid and self-conscious. But she'd learned that the more she cowered, the worse the bullying became, so she'd started fighting back.
The female colleague hadn't expected this newcomer to talk back to her, and her expression froze as she looked around. "Well, why don't you ask everyone if they're okay with you putting that kind of thing in the fridge? If everyone agrees, I'll have no problem with it."
The room fell silent.
Everyone present was either young and unmarried or married without children yet. They all felt awkward about what should have been a perfectly normal situation, and no one spoke up.
Arabella hadn't expected her first workplace lesson to come in the form of discrimination from a fellow woman, and her heart sank.
Just as the situation reached an impasse, a calm, cool voice spoke up, "I'm okay with it."
Everyone turned to see Ella entering the break room.
Arabella looked over, recognizing her from before.
She could tell that Ella was clearly excellent at her job and, while not management, held a certain status among her colleagues.
Ella walked in, making herself a strong coffee while saying, "Arabella, you go ahead and keep your breast milk in the fridge. Anyone who finds it gross can just not use this refrigerator."
Arabella felt a warmth in her chest. "Thank you." She turned and put the breast milk back in the fridge.
"Nora, you're a woman, too. You'll probably be a mother someday. Why do this? Women already face enough discrimination and unfairness in the workplace. Standing there judging other women from a male perspective—are you out of your mind?" Ella took a sip of her coffee, looking at the troublemaking colleague.
Nora Adams bit her lip, her pride wounded. After a pause, she said with bitter sarcasm, "Ella, don't assume everyone's like you, desperate to be a mother, getting dumped by some guy, and still insisting on having the baby to become a single mom. I'm never getting married or having children. I'll never have such an embarrassing moment."
With that, she stormed off angrily.
The other onlookers dispersed as well, though the colleagues continued using the fridge normally, with no one actually avoiding the stored breast milk.