64
Eloise’s throat was injured, so she was temporarily eating only soft or liquid food. According to the doctor, she’d be fine in a few days.
But she didn’t visit Sasha right away. She was worried Sasha might ask how she got hurt, and worse, she might assume Cosmo was the one who did it.
When Cosmo returned to the room, he found Eloise clearly upset. “Next time, don’t go making decisions on your own,” he said coldly.
Eloise simply nodded, calm and obedient. “Alright.”
Cosmo frowned, clearly unwilling to say more. He went downstairs for breakfast, then headed straight to the study.
There, he called Gabriel. The man didn’t refuse the call, and his voice on the other end was laced with sarcasm. “Well, well… What made you think of me all of a sudden, cousin?”
Cosmo smirked coolly. “Drop the act. Surprised to hear my voice? Too bad you didn’t manage to kill me last night.”
Gabriel kept pretending he didn’t know what he was talking about.
“Huh? What are you saying, Cosmo? I don’t get it. What happened last night?”
Cosmo grew irritated. “Your men are with me now. I’ll hand them over to Grandpa. And that accident I had before, you were behind it too, weren’t you?”
Gabriel laughed. “Wow, you’re really blaming everything on me. As if I’m the only one capable of doing something like that. If it were me, you’d probably be dead several times by now!”
Cosmo replied quietly, his voice cold. “Is that so?”
Gabriel kept going, almost mockingly. “But wait, you said you almost died last night? What happened? Now I’m curious.”
His tone made it sound like he was actually amused, or maybe disappointed that the plan failed.
Cosmo’s voice turned sharp. “Gabriel, if I were you, I’d stop pretending. You just missed your timing last night. Next time, you might not get another chance.”
Gabriel could tell from Cosmo’s voice that the plan had indeed failed. But he couldn’t figure out which part of it went wrong.
“Still… no matter what happens, you’re tough as hell, cousin. You always manage to get out of it. Seems like you’re not dying anytime soon.”
Cosmo didn’t respond. He ended the call and slammed the phone down on the table.
He had been investigating his past accident for a long time and had always suspected Gabriel. But Gabriel’s work was so clean, not a shred of evidence.
What happened last night was proof enough that Gabriel was involved. Paolo had also started his own investigation, hoping to find a link to the old incident.
But based on the style of the attack, Cosmo wasn’t convinced Gabriel was the mastermind. Gabriel didn’t seem like the type to plan something so precise and calculated. It felt like there was someone else, someone working behind the scenes, controlling everything from the shadows.
Two days passed. Eloise had recovered, around 70 to 80 percent.
During that time, even though she and Cosmo still shared the same bed, they barely spoke.
Whenever Cosmo looked at her, his expression was cold and indifferent. And Eloise, still feeling pain in her throat, didn’t feel like talking either.
The staff at the villa started to notice something was off, it was like the couple was in the middle of a silent war.
Later that day, Eloise asked where Gabriel was, and went to see him directly.
Gabriel was surprised to see her. “Hey, Eloise! What a coincidence running into you!”
Eloise gave a faint smile, though something was clearly hidden behind it.
“It’s not a coincidence. I came here on purpose to find you.”
They were at their usual meeting spot, a small gazebo where people often gathered. Gabriel was there, drinking tea and listening to music.
Rumor had it that he’d been hanging out there a lot lately, possibly smitten with a girl who sang in the area. They’d gotten really close.
Gabriel raised an eyebrow, grinning smugly. “Really? You came looking for me? Isn’t Cosmo going to get jealous?”
Without a word, Eloise grabbed the teacup in front of him and quickly poured it over his face.
Gabriel froze.
Thankfully, the tea had already cooled down a bit, otherwise, he could’ve been burned.
He calmly pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed his face. “So you came all the way here just to pour tea on me?” he asked, still composed.
Eloise toyed with the porcelain teacup in her hand, smirked slightly, and a second later, hurled it at Gabriel.
It hit the side of his forehead before crashing to the ground and shattering.
“What a waste! You dodged too fast,” Eloise said, clearly annoyed.
The side of Gabriel’s forehead turned red, and when he touched it, he winced from the pain.
“Damn, you didn’t even hesitate!”
There were bodyguards nearby, but Gabriel just gave them a slight nod, and they didn’t come any closer.
“It was just tea. But me almost dying because of your men, that’s a different story,” Eloise said firmly, staring straight at him.
Gabriel leaned back lazily in his chair. “Well, you're still alive, aren’t you? So what’s the problem?”
“You wanted to go against Cosmo, that’s why I agreed to work with you. But why did you try to have me killed too?” The anger on Eloise’s face was impossible to hide.
Eloise knew Cosmo had captured the two men Gabriel sent, even though Gabriel claimed he’d hand them over to Grandpa. The truth was, she didn’t even know what really happened that night.
Gabriel pretended to think. “What did happen that night? Wasn’t our plan already solid? How did Cosmo catch you?”
Eloise replied, “Cosmo never really trusted me, not from the start. Even if I managed to lower his guard a little and convince him, he still had people watching me. Every move I made was being tracked.”
She gave a bitter smile. “You thought your plan was perfect, but it had so many holes. And because of what happened, he doesn’t trust me anymore.”
Gabriel watched her silently, trying to figure out if she was telling the truth or just putting on a show.
“You’re smart, I’ll give you that. Honestly, I think you were the first one to sell me out just to clear your own name.”
Eloise responded naturally, “Isn’t it Cosmo you’re trying to take down? I’m the one who’s with him every day, hiding in plain sight, constantly outsmarting him, trying to earn his trust. If I lose that now, everything I worked for will go to waste.”
Gabriel had heard that high-end brands were sending new products to Jingshuiwan Villa for Eloise. Clearly, Cosmo was investing in her. If he didn’t care, why spend so much on her?
Because of that, Gabriel grew even more interested in cooperating with Eloise, not just to bring Cosmo down, but to test whether she was still on his side or not.
“Does he still believe in you?” Gabriel asked, sounding genuinely curious.
“Halfway,” Eloise replied directly, no hesitation.
Gabriel nodded. “Yeah, he’s naturally suspicious, especially of the people close to him. He’s afraid of being betrayed.”
Eloise’s tone sharpened. “Stop insulting him with your passive-aggressive comments. Just admit it, you wanted me dead that night, and you were going to pin everything on me so I’d take the blame. Isn’t that right?”
Gabriel smiled, soft and almost innocent. “Of course not. I’m not that kind of person.”
Eloise raised an eyebrow, clearly mocking him. “It’s easy to wash your hands clean when lying comes naturally to you.”
Gabriel said nothing.
Eloise didn’t want to drag things out. “Gabriel, our deal is over. Don’t come looking for me again.”
She turned and walked away, head held high.
Gabriel watched her go, touching the red bruise on his forehead, and forced a faint smile.
As Eloise stepped out of the Moon Gate, a young girl in a white dress came walking toward her.
She wasn’t very tall, thin, and fragile-looking, like a gust of wind could knock her over. Her face was pale and small, her long hair left loose, and she had a quiet, delicate aura.
She looked at Eloise in surprise, then quickly gave a polite smile, like one you’d give a stranger.
Eloise returned the smile, formal and distant. The two passed each other, one going in, the other going out.
As Eloise walked farther away, the girl glanced back secretly, biting her lip before continuing on her way.
As she walked down the hallway, she saw Gabriel inside the pavilion.
“Gabriel,” the girl said softly, her voice gentle as she approached. “Did Eloise come here to talk to you?”
“Chloe, I didn’t realize you were here!” Gabriel turned to her and smiled, still holding the bruise on his forehead. “Yeah, she’s Cosmo’s wife now. That makes her my cousin-in-law.”
Chloe looked at him curiously. “Why did you meet up? Was it something important?”