Chapter 142 Selling My Body Has Nothing to Do with You!
Ella did indeed find Manuel quite impressive, and his qualifications were undeniably excellent—but he'd already given his heart to someone else, and she wasn't about to waste her time chasing a lost cause.
After a helpless laugh, she turned the tables: [Stop overthinking it. Mr. Wright clearly likes you—can't you see what's right in front of you?]
Arabella stared at the message, unsure how to respond.
Even if she successfully divorced Gabriel, she had no desire to fall in love or marry again.
Unable to continue this topic, she found an excuse to end the conversation.
Since moving out, Arabella had been sleeping poorly.
Even with the children away from her, she still woke several times each night, always thinking she heard crying.
To prevent her milk from drying up, she continued eating plenty and pumping on schedule, even getting up once or twice during the night to pump and store the milk in the refrigerator.
Sometimes after all that effort, she couldn't fall back asleep and would simply get up to work on her laptop or read.
Like tonight—after waking at 3 AM, she found herself wide awake again.
It was too cold to get out of bed, so she burrowed under the covers with her phone, scrolling through photos of the children in her gallery.
Looking at each picture, her face unconsciously broke into a smile, but as she smiled, overwhelming longing washed over her heart, and tears began rolling silently into her pillow.
Her phone suddenly rang, and her finger happened to be touching the screen as she swiped to the next photo—before she could react, the call connected.
When she focused on the screen, she saw the caller was Gabriel!
Startled, she immediately held her breath and wiped her tears, bracing herself.
He didn't speak, and she didn't dare to either—both maintaining a perfectly synchronized silence.
Arabella's heart pounded frantically, unable to understand why he was calling her at 3 AM.
After a long standoff, just as she was about to hang up, his low, cold voice came through the speaker: "You answered so quickly... holding your phone in the middle of the night?"
Arabella had been about to say she'd just gotten up to pump milk and was checking her phone—but realizing the topic was somewhat intimate and fearing that shameless man would make inappropriate comments, she adopted his cold tone and lied, "Just finished working, was checking my phone before going to sleep."
Gabriel was surprised, "What kind of work keeps you busy until 3 AM?"
As far as he knew, this woman hadn't been working a regular job since moving out and spent most of her time holed up in the apartment.
Arabella didn't want to elaborate, dropping a curt: "Work, anyway."
"You're not involved in some illegal activities, are you?" For a moment, Gabriel's mind actually went to some unsavory possibilities.
After all, such social news was common—some desperate women would do anything for quick money.
Arabella wasn't stupid; she caught his implication immediately and her anger flared, "What I do is none of your business! Even if I were selling my body, it wouldn't concern you!"
With that, not wanting to hear another word from him, she angrily hung up.
Back at home, Gabriel listened to the dial tone in his ear, his brow furrowing in displeasure.
Since Arabella left, he hadn't had a single good night's sleep.
After the children were brought back, they'd entered a mode of crying day and night.
They clearly weren't hungry, everything around them was comfortable, yet they couldn't sleep peacefully, fussing intermittently all night.
Both the night nurse and Mary were exhausted from dealing with them. Tonight, Isabella had even ended up sleeping in the master bedroom with him.
Strangely enough, after coming here, the little girl had finally slept soundly.
But as he breathed in his daughter's milky scent, he became increasingly awake, increasingly longing for a certain someone.
She carried that same milky fragrance.
Just smelling it made him feel at peace, made his blood run hot, made him want to do something.
The more he restrained himself, the stronger the feeling became—until finally, unable to resist, he'd grabbed his phone and called her.
He'd originally thought that at this hour, she'd definitely be asleep and might not even wake up.
Who knew she'd answer the moment the call connected!
Heaven knew how fast his heart was beating in that moment!
Unfortunately, she didn't have a single kind word, was extremely impatient, and hung up after just a few exchanges.
Gabriel set down his phone, breathing heavily, his mind wondering about the reason for her late-night wakefulness.
Had she really just finished working? Or was she also missing something, lying awake with longing?
Though even if she was lying awake with longing, it would surely be missing the children—how could she possibly think of him?
His inner desire wasn't relieved by those few words of conversation; instead, it only intensified his longing that had been suppressed for days. His frustration deepened as he turned over, forcing himself to close his eyes and stop thinking about her.
With his daughter beside him, as he closed his eyes and breathed in that familiar scent, it felt as if she were still there—miraculously having a hypnotic, calming effect...
Gabriel felt he must be going crazy, becoming obsessively infatuated with an ungrateful woman to such a degree.
---
Friday evening, Ella left work early, picked up her daughter from preschool, saying she wanted to come to the apartment to have dinner with Arabella.
Thinking this was her first time meeting the little girl, Arabella felt she should prepare a gift, so she went to the mall across from the apartment to browse, bought the gift, then went to the basement supermarket to buy groceries.
The weather was gloomy, with snow falling intermittently for several days.
Though it was only past 5 PM, the sky outside was completely dark.
Arabella walked into the apartment building carrying two large bags, not noticing the vehicles parked by the roadside.
At her front door, she set down the shopping bags and fumbled for her keys.
Her hands were a bit frozen, and it took her a couple of tries before the key went in and she turned the lock.
However, just as she bent down to pick up her things and prepare to enter, a voice suddenly came from behind—
"Ah!" Her heart lurched violently, badly startled. Before she could clearly see the dark figure behind her, she was grabbed by a powerful force, pushed through the door, and pressed against the door panel.
The shopping bags fell from her hands. Arabella was about to call for help when her chaotic vision caught sight of that familiar stern face she'd been separated from for days, while his familiar masculine scent invaded her lungs.
Gabriel!
That bastard had actually found her!
She mentally cursed, knowing she'd definitely be dragged back, so frightened for a moment that she forgot to resist. It wasn't until her cold chin was lifted by the man's warm, strong fingers, and familiar sensations overwhelmed her, claiming her breath—that she startled like she'd been electrocuted and snapped back to reality!
Bastard!
Pulling this kind of heart-stopping ambush just to force a kiss on her?
Was there something wrong with his brain?
If he wanted a woman, he could go find Emily, could go find other socialites and heiresses. With his reputation and status, she was sure countless women would throw themselves at him with just a crook of his finger!
What was he doing here attacking her? Deliberately disgusting her, humiliating her?
Arabella was both terrified and furious!
The moment his lips descended, she fought back with all her strength, but she'd underestimated the power of an adult male.
Gabriel had come to her door carrying a heart full of rage, and while waiting downstairs, he'd already contemplated countless ways to "torment" her.
Now that he finally had her in his grasp, not crushing her bones was already showing restraint.
He used all his strength to pin the woman against the door panel, as if trying to embed her into the wood.
Due to their height difference, to kiss her deeper, he practically lifted the woman so her feet left the ground, her body suspended in mid-air.
Arabella's resistance was nothing in front of him—those punches landing on him, through his thick down jacket, were at most like a back massage.
"Gabriel... let go—bastard!"
"Gabriel, don't... there's someone in the—"
"Gabriel!"