Chapter 162 Let's Live Well, No Divorce
Even Samuel, an outside observer, found Emily's words unbearable to hear.
Saying something like that in front of Arabella—what was Emily thinking?
Wasn't she basically announcing her intention to be the other woman?
"Ms. Davis, please leave." Samuel grabbed Emily's arm and tried to pull her toward the door.
Emily refused to budge, still staring at Gabriel as she made her desperate plea, "Yes, I hurt you—but you hurt me too! I lost my baby because of you—isn't that revenge enough? But I don't blame you. I'll consider it my punishment. Now we're even. Neither of us owes the other anything. Can't we start fresh? Gabriel, please just give us one chance..."
"Samuel!" Gabriel never expected Emily to be shameless enough to spout such nonsense.
Seeing his boss's fury, Samuel abandoned all concern for propriety between men and women, almost wrapping his arms around her as he forcibly escorted her out of the room.
Arabella was so absorbed in the drama unfolding before her that she forgot she was still nursing.
Meanwhile, Henry in Gabriel's arms seemed frightened by his father's angry expression, staring with wide, tearful eyes, too confused to make a sound.
The room fell into deathly silence.
After a moment, Arabella noticed their son's frightened state and gently reminded Gabriel, "You should... you should give him to the nanny."
She was afraid his anger might make him lose control and drop the baby.
Gabriel closed his eyes briefly, composing himself.
Arabella watched him carefully, noting his effort to regulate his emotions, and couldn't help asking, "Did you cause her miscarriage?"
Although they'd touched on this topic before, it had never been fully explained, and she hadn't particularly cared.
But today her curiosity resurfaced.
When she'd been pregnant, he'd also advocated for termination—it was she who had fought against everyone's opposition to carry the babies to term.
So when Emily was pregnant, he had also...
Was it because of his deep, unwavering love that he couldn't accept Emily bearing another man's child?
But if that were the case, why had he rejected Emily's confession so decisively? Even rudely throwing her out?
Arabella's thoughts were a tangled mess—she simply couldn't understand what Gabriel was thinking.
Gabriel, seeing the cold, rejecting expression on her face, realized she clearly viewed him as some heartless executioner. He knew she was definitely connecting this incident with his past attempts to force her to terminate her pregnancy—his heart immediately lurched.
This absolutely had to be clarified!
"Her miscarriage was an accident. She just happened to be in my car at the time, so I do bear some responsibility." Gabriel spoke with righteous conviction.
Arabella was somewhat skeptical. "An accident? Was there a traffic collision?"
"No..." Gabriel saw her pressing for details. In the past, he would definitely have responded with irritation, but now—since he held hope for their future and wanted her to change her mind—naturally many things needed to be explained clearly to prevent her from overthinking and pinning more blame on him.
"If it's something difficult to discuss, don't force yourself. I was just asking casually—I'm not really interested." Arabella saw his hesitation and immediately offered this out.
She remembered they'd discussed this matter before, and Gabriel had been evasive then too.
She estimated it was probably some kind of struggle between them that accidentally injured Emily, leading to the fetal loss.
As for the specifics of their struggle, whether there had been any improper behavior—she didn't want to know.
"There's nothing I can't discuss. That day when we returned, she insisted on riding in my car. On the way..." Gabriel hesitated briefly, then decided there was no need for concealment and spoke frankly, "On the way she said things similar to what she just said. I rejected her. I didn't want to continue driving her, so I called her family to have their driver pick her up. She lunged for my phone, and in the struggle..."
So that was what had happened.
Arabella understood.
"What's so hard to discuss about that? She likes you, you love her—it's perfectly fine." She'd thought the two of them had engaged in some inappropriate behavior in the car and lost control, accidentally harming the pregnancy.
"I don't love her anymore!" Gabriel stared at her, stating his position once again.
Arabella smiled slightly. "You two getting revenge on each other—how interesting."
Gabriel closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Sure enough, no matter what he said, she wouldn't believe him.
So even if he confessed his feelings now, she'd just treat it as a joke.
Isabella had been nursing diligently for a long time but still couldn't fill her little belly. Arabella apologetically coaxed her daughter to let go.
The little girl refused, and after being forcibly separated from her food source, her rosy little mouth pouted as if she was about to cry again.
Arabella had no choice but to stand and walk around with her, soothing her as she moved.
Mary stepped forward, wanting to take the baby so the couple could have some private space to talk things through properly.
But Arabella was reluctant to part with her daughter and also didn't want to be alone with Gabriel, so she shook her head in refusal. "I'll put her to sleep. She's getting drowsy."
Mary checked the time. "It is indeed nap time."
The stroller was in the back garden. The weather was beautiful today, and the sunshine outside was warm. Arabella bounced the little girl as she headed to the rear of the house, deliberately putting distance between herself and Gabriel.
It didn't take long before Isabella fell peacefully asleep. Arabella placed her in the stroller, gently rocking it while gazing at her with reluctant affection.
She should leave now.
There was no possibility of staying for dinner.
But thinking about separating from the children again made her heart ache with unbearable reluctance.
Her phone chimed. She pulled it out to check Facebook—it was a message from Ella about work matters.
After tucking Isabella's blanket around her properly, she lowered her head to gently kiss her daughter's forehead, smiled at her angelic sleeping face, then turned to go.
Unexpectedly, when she looked up, she saw the man leaning elegantly and casually against the garden gate, his handsome, deep features thoughtful—she had no idea how long he'd been watching her.
Her bag was still on the sofa in the side parlor, or else she could have left directly through the small gate in the back garden without returning.
When their eyes met, she pressed her lips together, her nerves instantly tightening.
Gabriel had that heavy, thoughtful look of someone with something important to say, making Arabella wish she could vanish on the spot.
However, there was no escaping, and she couldn't start a conflict. After a moment's hesitation, she had no choice but to continue walking toward the gate, saying in a calm, casual tone, "Isabella's asleep. You can wheel her back to her room in a bit."
As she finished speaking, she'd already reached the man's side.
Gabriel straightened up, immediately creating a sense of pressure for her.
But he made no aggressive moves. Instead, with rare gentleness and warmth, he said, "Could we have a proper talk?"
Arabella stopped and looked at him. "About what?"
Standing so close, with the bright outdoor light, they could clearly see into each other's eyes.
Arabella had indeed lost a lot of weight recently. Her chin had become pointed, and her entire face was barely the size of a palm.
Perhaps due to her recent recovery from illness, her face carried obvious signs of frailty, making her appear even more pitiable.
Looking at her, Gabriel clearly experienced what it meant to feel heartache. His palms itched—he wanted very much to pull her into his arms and hold her quietly for a while, but he was afraid such actions would make her resistant and disgusted, so he ultimately restrained himself.
The two gazed at each other silently for a moment. His Adam's apple bobbed as he spoke in a low voice, "Could you not divorce me? I'm being serious. For the sake of my sincere desire to change, and for the sake of our two children—let's make this work. Let's not get divorced."