Chapter 119 What a Thrilling Game You Two Are Playing!
Gabriel had said he'd be back early, but it wasn't until ten o'clock at night that the sound of a car finally came from the driveway.
Naturally, Arabella was sleeping in the guest room, with Isabella beside her.
Isabella was nursing to sleep, and Arabella lay on her side, checking her phone, continuing to discuss apartment hunting with Sophia while also mentioning the breast milk tampering incident.
Sophia was utterly shocked and immediately told her husband about it, then called back.
Seeing that Isabella was about to fall asleep, Arabella quickly hung up and continued typing on Facebook.
[Isabella's almost asleep, can't take calls.]
Sophia: [How are you planning to handle this? Zachary says this kind of behavior is criminal - you could report it to the police directly, have them take fingerprints, and they'd catch the culprit through comparison.]
Arabella had thought about that too.
But she worried that making such a big fuss would be bad for the company's image.
She'd only been at the job for a few days - if her personal issues dragged the company down, she'd feel terrible.
After all, this was just one person's malicious behavior.
Arabella: [Gabriel says he'll handle it. I'll discuss it with him first.]
Sophia: [That makes sense! With his connections and influence, he might be even more efficient than the police.]
Arabella was still typing when there was a gentle knock at the door.
She jumped, quickly looking down at Isabella in her arms. Fortunately, Isabella hadn't been awakened.
Since Isabella was sick, she hadn't locked the door to make it easier for Mary and the others to come in during the night.
The person outside knocked twice, then gently turned the handle and pushed the door open.
It could only be Gabriel.
"You—"
"Shh!"
Gabriel looked at Arabella on the bed, about to speak, when he saw her gesture for silence.
He immediately understood and went quiet.
"What is it?" Arabella looked at him, asking in a whisper.
Gabriel didn't answer, just raised his hand and beckoned to her.
Arabella glanced at Isabella, then carefully scooted backward and gently got out of bed.
Only after they'd stepped outside and closed the door did she ask quietly, "What's wrong?"
Gabriel had been out running around for five or six hours, showing signs of fatigue around his eyes as he looked at her. "How's Isabella doing? Is she feeling any better?"
"I gave her some medicine tonight. She's better than she was during the day - just fell asleep."
After answering, Arabella's mind returned to her conversation with Sophia, and she decided to discuss it with him.
"About the breast milk tampering - I've thought of a way to handle it. Could I try dealing with it first? If I can't manage it, then you can step in."
She still didn't want too many people knowing about their marriage, to avoid unnecessary complications.
Gabriel raised an eyebrow slightly, his eyes gleaming in the light. "What method?"
"..." Arabella frowned, reluctant to say.
He could see her hesitation and emphasized, "The children are both of ours, not just yours. I have a right to know how this will be handled."
Knowing his temperament and that she couldn't win this argument, Arabella reluctantly explained briefly: "I asked my colleague - there are no cameras in the break room, so it's hard to identify the culprit. However, we could confirm it through fingerprint comparison - assuming the person wasn't careful enough to wear gloves when touching my things."
"Fingerprints?" Gabriel asked, looking at her with what seemed like a hint of amusement. "You're pretty clever."
"..."
"But how would you get all your colleagues to cooperate with fingerprinting?"
"I was thinking of going back to the office tomorrow and bringing this up first. If the person admits their mistake voluntarily, then it's simple. If not, I'll report it to the police directly."
Gabriel raised an eyebrow, his eyes showing some surprise.
He'd thought she was timid and conflict-averse, but it turned out when faced with problems, she was quite clear-headed and could think of solutions.
"Why make it so complicated? I'll just call your company's CEO directly. Tomorrow the entire executive team will be at your department - I don't believe we won't flush out that bastard."
Employees in the same department worked together day in and day out - everyone knew each other's personalities. Under pressure, even without concrete evidence, someone would point out suspects, and the guilty party would likely give themselves away once identified.
Arabella frowned. "Please don't make such a big production of it. I just want to handle this quietly."
Gabriel was about to try persuading her when she proactively changed the subject: "You were out so long - did you find Emily?"
At the mention of this, Gabriel's expression shifted slightly. "Why are you asking about that?"
"Just wondering."
She really was just wondering - mainly trying to change the subject.
"We found her. Dominic's already taken her back to the hospital. If there are no complications, she'll have surgery tomorrow morning." Gabriel responded coolly.
They'd sent out many people to search all of Emily's usual haunts and called all her friends. Finally, they found her by the riverbank mudflats.
When Emily saw them, she'd gotten up and walked toward the icy river water, threatening suicide. Dominic had rushed into the water to pull her out and forcibly taken her to the hospital.
Originally, Gabriel could have returned much earlier, but Elara had called him, saying Emily was having a mental breakdown and wouldn't listen to anyone - maybe she'd listen to him.
Gabriel really hadn't wanted to play mediator - it wasn't appropriate emotionally or logically, and it made Dominic look bad.
But thinking that the fetus's death was somewhat related to him, he felt morally obligated and had reluctantly gone.
That's why he'd returned so late.
Hearing this, Arabella said mockingly, "So you'll have to go keep her company tomorrow too?"
"..." Gabriel was stumped by this comment, momentarily unsure how to respond.
Emily had indeed demanded that he come to the hospital tomorrow, saying she'd only go through with the surgery if he was there.
He was deeply resistant to this, but later Elara had spoken with him in the hallway, asking him to humor Emily for now - after all, her health was most important, and once this was over, they wouldn't interfere again no matter what he wanted to do.
Gabriel could only agree.
"Tomorrow morning, I'll go over for a while. Once she's in the operating room, I'll come back." For the first time in front of Arabella, he felt deeply guilty and ashamed.
Arabella's heart grew cold, and she said with a smile, "D&C procedures are still quite painful. You should stay and comfort Emily properly."
Hearing this, Gabriel's expression grew serious, his brow furrowing as he said earnestly, "I don't have feelings for her anymore. Everything I'm doing now is because the accident happened in my car that day, causing the fetal demise. I'm just taking responsibility for what I should be responsible for."
"In your car?" Arabella looked up at him questioningly, her mind unfortunately wandering to some inappropriate thoughts.
She wanted to say "What a thrilling game you two are playing," but stopped herself at the last moment.
Having such words come from her mouth would make her feel sick!
Gabriel saw the subtext in her expression and his face changed dramatically. He quickly explained, "It's not what you're thinking! I didn't do anything with her! That day, she..."