Chapter 32
32
Gabrielle’s POV
The morning had been unusually hectic, and as always, I was doing my best to keep up with the pace.
The office was buzzing with activity as Matthew called for a meeting with a few important investors.
We were in the conference room, the long oval table polished to a reflective shine, with sleek black leather chairs neatly arranged around it.
I had been asked to bring coffee for everyone, a task I knew well enough by now.
As I moved around the table, handing each person their cup of coffee with a polite smile, the atmosphere was tense.
Investors and coworkers alike whispered to each other in hushed voices. There was something about the air today ,heavy, charged with expectations.
When I reached the last investor, a man who seemed a bit too sure of himself, I made the mistake of misplacing his coffee in front of him.
“Here you go,” I said with a smile, about to walk away.
Before I could leave, he snapped. “Do you even know how to do your job properly? Are you completely incompetent?” His voice boomed across the room, filled with disdain.
The sting of his words hit me before I could even process them. I froze, feeling my cheeks flush with embarrassment. The sudden harshness caught me off guard, and for a moment, I couldn’t speak.
I stood there, trying to find the words, but my mind was blank.
And then, before I could even gather myself, the sound of a chair scraping against the floor cut through the tension.
Matthew stood up from his seat, towering over the table, his cold, intense gaze locking onto the investor.
“You.” Matthew’s voice was like ice, cutting through the room. His tone was so menacing that it made everyone else fall silent. I turned my head to look at him, wide-eyed, my heart pounding in my chest.
The room seemed to shrink as Matthew’s fury filled the space. His eyes were no longer the calm, collected pools they usually were. Instead, they were hard, his jaw clenched tightly, and the air around him seemed to vibrate with barely contained anger.
“You don’t talk to my wife like that.” Matthew’s voice was low, deadly, and every word felt like it could shatter the tension in the room.
I blinked, stunned. My wife?
My heart skipped a beat as the words settled in. Everyone turned to look at Matthew, and then at me, their eyes wide with shock. It was obvious none of them knew about our marriage.
The investor, a man in his mid-forties with salt-and-pepper hair, looked back at Matthew, his expression faltering slightly as he stood frozen. Matthew’s glare was unrelenting.
“Apologize. Now.” Matthew growled, his voice sharp and filled with authority.
The man, clearly taken aback by the sudden shift in power, took a step back. He had the look of someone who was used to being in control—until now. The room had shifted from professional to something much more intense.
I stood there, unsure of what to do. My mind was racing, trying to process what had just happened. Matthew had called me his wife so easily, so protectively. I hadn’t expected him to react this way.
The investor’s eyes darted from Matthew to me, and I could see the guilt settling into his face. After a long pause, he cleared his throat. “I... I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have... yelled like that.” His apology was strained, but it was enough.
Matthew didn’t soften. Instead, his eyes never left the man as he said in a tone that left no room for argument, “That’s better.”
The investor nodded stiffly, and I could see the ripple of unease pass through the room.
But it wasn’t over.
As I stood there, still reeling from the unexpected turn of events, I couldn’t help but wonder what the future held. Matthew’s protective side was something I hadn’t yet seen in full force, but seeing it now left me unsettled. Part of me wanted to be angry at the investor for treating me that way, but I couldn’t ignore the fact that Matthew had publicly claimed me as his wife.
I swallowed hard and returned to my seat, feeling the eyes of everyone in the room on me. The tension was palpable, but there was something else beneath it—a new understanding between Matthew and me. His actions spoke louder than any words could have.
We sat back down, and the meeting continued, but I could barely focus on what was being discussed. I couldn’t shake the feeling of what had just happened. My emotions were in turmoil, and I found it hard to concentrate.
I was still processing the weight of Matthew’s words when I noticed something that made my blood run cold.
A message flashed on Matthew’s phone screen, an alert that made his expression freeze.
“He’s here.”
Before I could even ask what that meant, Matthew stood up abruptly, his hand gripping his phone tightly. His entire demeanor shifted, and the air around him became tense once more.
“Excuse me,” Matthew said to the room, his voice clipped. “I have to take care of something.”
His gaze met mine briefly, and there was an unsettling seriousness in his eyes that made my stomach tighten.
“Gabrielle, stay here. Do not leave the building.”
The command was clear, and I nodded without question. Something had shifted. I could feel it in my bones.
The moment he left the room, the uneasy whispers began again, but I couldn’t focus on them. My mind was racing.
Who was “here”? And what did it mean for us?
I barely had time to process these thoughts when I saw the door swing open again, but this time it wasn’t Matthew who entered. It was someone—or something—that made my blood run cold.
A tall figure stood in the doorway, his eyes glinting red in the dim light of the conference room. He stepped forward slowly, his gaze locking with mine, and I froze.
It was Ruelle Margo.