Chapter 158 All Keeping Chaste for Manuel?
Gabriel lowered his head to kiss her—no, to bite her.
He bit down hard on her neck.
"Ah!" Arabella cried out, her whole body trembling from the pain. She struggled desperately, her hands frantically searching across the coffee table. Without looking, she grabbed something and swung it toward the man's head—
Gabriel let out a muffled groan, his frenzied movements suddenly freezing as he quickly covered his head with his hands.
His fingers touched something wet. When he pulled his hand away, he saw shocking crimson blood.
Arabella saw the blood on his forehead too and jumped back in fright. She hurriedly tried to explain, "I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, you forced me to..."
She still gripped the "weapon" in her hand—a square metal mesh pen holder.
The pen holder itself wasn't heavy, but her desperate force combined with the hard metal had split open the skin on his forehead.
Gabriel's expression darkened ominously, clearly not expecting her to actually strike him!
Images of her laughing and chatting with Manuel as they crossed the street flashed through his mind, forming a stark contrast with her current ruthlessness.
As the heat in his blood gradually cooled, he slowly sat back, touching the blood on his forehead again, then deliberately rubbing it between his fingers. "Already playing the devoted woman for Manuel?"
Arabella didn't answer directly. She said coldly, "No one likes being raped."
"What do you like about him? Do you know what he's been through overseas all these years? You think he's still the sunny boy from your childhood memories?"
Gabriel stared at the blood on his fingertips as if he couldn't feel the pain, firing off questions one after another.
Arabella's expression grew suspicious, her eyes watching him warily. "What do you mean?"
"He hasn't told you, has he?"
Arabella didn't answer immediately.
Based on her understanding of Gabriel, he wouldn't say something like this without reason—he'd had someone investigate Manuel's background and experiences over the years.
But what did the man's past have to do with her?
Seeing her expression, Gabriel knew she was completely in the dark.
He smiled coldly, reaching for tissues from the table to wipe the blood from his hand. "Your supposed gentleman is just better at pretending. He has an illegitimate child."
Arabella's eyes widened in shock.
"Don't believe me? You can call and ask him right now." Gabriel gestured with his chin, encouraging her.
"No need." Arabella quickly regained her composure, remaining rational. "He has a child, I have children—perfect match. Now I don't have to feel like I'm not good enough for him."
"What?" Gabriel's face twisted in disbelief. He hadn't expected such a response.
Seeing his plan backfire, Arabella knew she had responded correctly and continued, "I'm a woman with nothing to offer, paired with a wealthy, handsome overseas returnee—however you calculate it, I'm not losing out. Why should I care about other things that would only upset me? I could tolerate you openly loving Emily, so how could I not tolerate an innocent child?"
Gabriel had expected her to be devastated, never imagining she would react this way...
Unable to find words to describe his current mood, he stared at the woman with a strange expression for a long moment before spitting out, "When did you become so shameless?"
"I learned from you."
Gabriel was left completely speechless.
Arabella had finally regained the upper hand. Seeing his forehead still bleeding steadily, she stood and walked toward the door. Pulling it open, she said coldly, "Please leave. Don't die in my place and bring bad luck."
Gabriel had come with such fury, having planned countless ways to punish her, never expecting such a complete defeat.
His phone rang in his pocket. He didn't need to answer to know it was a call from home.
During the afternoon while waiting in the car, Joanna had already called twice, telling him to come home for dinner—she'd been taking care of the twins these past few days.
The two young children were pitiful—so Joanna had ordered him to come home early!
At this thought, Gabriel's dark, vicious expression suddenly showed a trace of a faint smile.
Taking out his phone, he answered and deliberately put it on speaker, then walked toward Arabella.
"Gabriel! It's almost five o'clock, why aren't you home yet? Those company matters aren't so urgent, and you were gone for a week—don't you miss the children? What kind of father are you!" Sure enough, Joanna started with complaints, scolding her son for focusing only on work while neglecting the children.
Coincidentally, just as Joanna finished speaking, children's crying could be heard from the other end. Whether they were hungry, needed changing, or simply missed their parents, they were crying heartbrokenly.
Arabella was holding the door, her face cold as she glared fiercely at the man. But the moment the children's cries came through, her expression changed completely, her eyes and brows overflowing with heartache and longing.
This week, because of her severe cold, she hadn't dared visit the children.
Due to her poor appetite, her milk supply had also decreased significantly.
Missing them and feeling guilty had already been tormenting her, and now hearing their cries, her forced cold facade instantly crumbled. Almost instinctively, she called out toward his phone, "Baby, mommy's here... don't cry, don't cry..."
On the other end, Joanna was shocked to hear her voice, then understood. "Gabriel, you didn't go to the office—you went to find her?"
"Baby, what's wrong... don't cry, mommy will come see you in a couple days, mommy loves you, don't cry, don't cry..." Arabella hadn't heard what Joanna said at all. Her heart and soul were entirely focused on the children's cries, the pain making her curl into herself, wishing she could crawl through the phone to immediately hold and comfort them.
Gabriel felt heartbroken for the children too, but he hated this stubborn woman more.
Seeing her instantly break down, losing her cold, hard attitude from moments before, he finally felt somewhat satisfied and deliberately provoked her. "I need to go back and spend time with the children. It's been a week—they probably barely remember their daddy anymore..."
The implication was clear, they'd soon forget their mommy too.
Arabella's eyes filled with tears of panic, and she glared at him like a torch.
But Gabriel smiled, "You have Manuel with you, what do children matter? It's just pitiful for my children, having such a selfish mother."
With that, before Arabella could continue trying to drive him away, he sneered and looked away, walking out of the apartment.
The call remained connected, with Joanna still talking, "Why did you go find her as soon as you got back? Still can't give up? She's already filed with the court—have some backbone and finalize the divorce!"
Gabriel ignored his mother's lecture, instead cooing gently, "Don't cry, sweetheart. Daddy will be right back. Daddy will find you a new mommy, guaranteed to be better than your birth mother."
Arabella stood at her apartment door. His words echoed in the hallway, reaching her ears without missing a syllable.
This bastard wanted to find a new wife? To find her children a stepmother?
Would it be Emily?
Emily had always hated her. Would she treat the children well? Would she be like the stepmothers in books, like those in news reports—beating and abusing the twins?
At this thought, her heart suddenly seized with pain. She reflexively turned and rushed from her room, standing in the hallway looking in the direction the man had gone. "Gabriel—"
Before she could finish, her throat seemed suddenly strangled. She collapsed to her knees crying, arms wrapped tightly around herself.
'Baby, I'm sorry... mommy's bad, it's all mommy's fault...'
If she had known it would come to this, she should have listened to Gabriel's suggestion from the beginning.
If these two children had never been born, everything would have been much simpler.