Chapter 126 Are You Jealous?
Gabriel ignored everything else, his eyes fixed unwaveringly on Arabella.
Arabella felt uncomfortable under his intense stare. Hearing his phone ringing persistently, she let out a mocking laugh. "She's calling you. You'd better hurry along..."
Without waiting for his response, she turned and walked away with cold indifference.
Ralph watched Arabella's retreating figure, then glanced at Gabriel, who looked ready to explode with rage. His brow furrowed with concern.
"Mr. Sterling... Mrs. Sterling is upset right now. Please don't take her words to heart. It's getting late—perhaps we should head back," Ralph said carefully, terrified that Gabriel might actually snap and do something violent in his current state.
Gabriel took a sharp breath, his chest tight with fury. He wanted nothing more than to punch something, anything, to release the rage building inside him.
The phone had been ringing for a long time before it automatically disconnected, only to start ringing again almost immediately.
Gabriel finally snapped back to reality. As he walked toward his car, he pulled out his phone, his face etched with irritation.
Seeing Dominic's name on the caller ID, he took a deep breath to calm the anger burning in his chest before answering. "Yeah, Dominic..."
"Gabriel, are you at the office?" Dominic asked.
"No, I'm out handling some business. What's going on?"
"What else could it be... Emily's out of surgery. The anesthesia wore off, and the moment she woke up, she's been demanding to see you." Dominic's voice was eerily calm, as if he couldn't care less about being betrayed.
Gabriel's anger flared at those words. "She's your wife. Why the hell does she want to see me? I'm done dealing with you two. Don't call me again."
He hung up without waiting for a response.
What a mess!
If it weren't for Emily, he and Arabella never would have reached this point.
————
Back in her department, Arabella could feel all her colleagues watching her with strange, uncomfortable looks.
Only Ella seemed relatively normal.
"I thought you'd be going home with your husband," Ella said, crossing her arms as she approached and spoke quietly.
Arabella let out a tired sigh, scanning the room as her coworkers quickly looked away to avoid eye contact. A wave of helplessness washed over her.
"He can go his way. I have work to do."
"Sounds like you two had a fight and haven't made up yet?"
Arabella replied wearily, "There's no making up this time."
Ella wasn't one for gossip, but Arabella's identity was simply too extraordinary to ignore—it had genuinely piqued her curiosity.
"Want to grab lunch together and talk?"
"I need to go home at lunch to check on the kids."
"Oh, right. Well, maybe when you have time then."
Ella walked away, leaving Arabella alone to stare at her desk, replaying the morning's events in her mind. Her head was pounding.
She was exhausted, running her hands through her hair as she tried to process everything that had happened, when suddenly an angry shout echoed through the quiet office, "Zane! Get out here right now!"
Everyone jumped, looking up in surprise.
A fashionably dressed young woman with perfect makeup had stormed into the office, shouting Zane's name.
Before Arabella could figure out what was happening, she heard a coworker mutter, "Isn't that Zane's fiancée? She looks like she's ready to murder him..."
No one had expected such drama after an already eventful morning. Everyone craned their necks to watch the scene unfold.
Zane, who had been on a phone call in his office, rushed out upon hearing the familiar voice.
Seeing Anna, he looked startled. "Anna, what are you doing here? What's wrong?"
Anna glared at him furiously and slapped him hard across the face. "Zane! We're done! It's over!"
Zane was stunned, holding his stinging cheek. "Why? What did I do wrong this time?"
"You know exactly what you did! Don't even try to deny it! Every night you lie to me about working late—you're with other women, aren't you!"
The office erupted with excited whispers.
Arabella frowned, sensing with growing certainty that Zane's sudden downfall was Gabriel's doing.
She felt disgusted by the manipulation, but at the same time, if Zane really was that kind of scumbag, then he deserved whatever he got.
Zane couldn't let his fiancée destroy his reputation in front of his colleagues. He dragged her toward the elevator, half-coaxing, half-threatening.
The office buzzed with gossip, everyone suddenly eager to share stories about Zane's questionable behavior.
Some of the sharper employees quickly connected the dots.
"Don't you think it's weird? Zane's been pulling this crap for ages without getting caught. Why did everything blow up today?"
"What do you mean?"
The person didn't elaborate, but cast a meaningful glance toward Arabella. The others immediately understood.
Even Ella messaged her on Facebook asking if this was Gabriel's handiwork. Arabella claimed she didn't know, though privately she was increasingly certain it was.
At lunch, while her colleagues went to eat, Arabella left work early.
The office atmosphere had become unbearable. After Zane left and didn't return, she only had that one project with Ella to work on. Once she finished it, there was nothing else to do.
Her coworkers were suddenly being polite to her, but no one dared ask her to do anything anymore. There was no point sitting around the office.
She might as well go home.
What she absolutely didn't expect was to see Gabriel's car parked by the curb as she exited the building.
Her heart sank. Shocked and confused, she prayed Gabriel wasn't actually in the car—maybe he'd just sent his driver to pick her up. But before that thought could fully form, the rear door opened and the tall, elegant man stepped out, adjusting his charcoal wool coat as he waited patiently for her to approach.
Arabella's expression turned ice-cold. She wanted to pretend she didn't know him and just walk away.
But Ralph was already approaching. "Mrs. Sterling, Mr. Sterling has been waiting for you for quite some time. Please, let's head home."
Other colleagues were still filtering out of the building. While not everyone recognized the couple, Gabriel's striking good looks and the attention-grabbing Mercedes-Maybach drew stares and murmurs from passersby.
Afraid that refusing would cause another scene, Arabella pressed her lips together and reluctantly walked over.
His handsome face broke into a satisfied smile. As she approached the car, he stepped aside, holding the door open with one hand while protecting her head with the other, his deep eyes gazing intently at her.
His gentlemanly, attentive gesture would make any observer think they were a loving couple, that he was a devoted husband.
Arabella was even more annoyed by his false display of affection.
After she settled into the seat, he bent down and slid in beside her.
Instinctively, she shifted toward the opposite door.
Gabriel shot her a sideways glance, mockery flickering in his eyes. "What, I wait for you all this time and don't even get a thank you?"
She stared out the window, responding coldly, "You should be with Emily. She needs you more right now."
Gabriel's lips curved into a smirk. "Are you jealous?"
Arabella realized it was impossible to communicate with him. Silence was better. She decided to ignore him completely.