Chapter 165 Introducing a New Partner to My Wife
Dominic's expression darkened slightly, his eyebrow arching. "Emily came to see you again?"
Gabriel didn't answer, waiting until he'd filled his own glass before pouring for Dominic. "Your brilliant advice was humiliating and useless. Don't you think you deserve punishment for that?"
Dominic looked puzzled. "What are you talking about?"
Gabriel still didn't respond directly, but raised his glass and said out of nowhere, "My divorce hearing is scheduled for early next month."
Dominic's eyes sharpened as understanding dawned on him instantly.
He quickly reached out to grab Gabriel's arm, standing up and snatching the glass away. "Fine! It's all my fault. I'll take whatever punishment you want, but stop drinking."
Gabriel's chronic stomach problems meant he couldn't handle much more alcohol without ending up in the hospital.
With two infants at home still needing care, and their mother absent, their father couldn't afford to be out of commission too.
After securing the glass and sitting back down, Dominic asked, "You told her how you felt and she still wants a divorce?"
As childhood friends, they knew each other well enough to read minds—Dominic had figured out why Gabriel was drowning his sorrows.
Gabriel relaxed his body, stretching his long limbs as he sank back into the chair, his handsome face tilted against the headrest.
The alcohol burned through his system, loosening his rational control even further. He closed his eyes, his mind filled entirely with her...
Her radiant smile, her fiery anger, the sacred glow when she was nursing, her sensual allure during their intimate moments.
Just thinking about it made his body stir with desire, a fierce urge rising to drag her into his arms and ravage her completely
"Dominic... God is fair. He gives you unlimited wealth, but he has to take something away in return... I'm destined to be alone forever."
The old saying about success in business meaning failure in love.
He felt like he'd never find a woman who truly understood him, someone who could give him happiness and joy.
Dominic looked at him with genuine sympathy, about to offer comfort before the weight of his own domestic troubles crashed back into his mind. He let out a heavy sigh.
"Compare your situation to mine and you'll feel better. My family's a complete mess, my marriage has been nothing but turmoil, and now even my chance at fatherhood has gone up in smoke—"
After laying out his troubles, he shook his head with a bitter laugh, suddenly feeling like he was the one who really needed to drink away his sorrows.
Gabriel caught his last comment and turned to him with confusion. "When did you start wanting to be a father? When Emily was pregnant, you were completely against her having the baby."
"That's what I thought at the time, but she was determined to go through with it, and I gradually started accepting the idea... A few days ago when she came home to pack, she found all these baby items and threw them all away. Watching her toss those things, something inside me just... broke."
Emily hadn't actually lived in their home for more than a few days during her pregnancy. After Dominic opposed keeping the baby, she'd stormed off to stay with the Davis family in a fit of anger.
But during those brief days in their home, she'd been so excited that she'd bought tons of baby items.
Bottles, tiny clothes, little blankets, stuffed animals for bedtime...
When packing her things, Emily had found all those items and immediately burst into tears, then threw everything into the trash without a second thought.
Watching those things get discarded, Dominic finally realized how much she'd been looking forward to their child's birth.
But then she'd miscarried anyway, and the baby that had existed in her body for nearly three months was gone forever.
"Gabriel... do you think this is my karma? Ever since we were kids, she's been following me around, chasing after me, clinging to me. She made the first move, she hinted about marriage—I never believed there'd come a day when she'd actually be willing to leave me..."
Dominic had seemed casual and carefree moments before, but in the span of minutes, his heart became shrouded in layers of darkness, his eyes clouding with unshed tears.
His marriage to Emily perfectly illustrated what it meant to be spoiled by unconditional love.
Emily had been threatening divorce for so long that he'd never taken it seriously.
He'd been convinced Emily could never actually leave him!
When she lost the baby, he'd honestly felt relieved, thinking that without a child complicating things, their marriage could continue. He'd figured he just needed to wait for things to cool down, then sweet-talk her a little, and Emily would definitely come around.
He never expected that when he finally tried to make amends—even swallowed his pride to apologize and admit his mistakes—instead of forgiveness, he'd received divorce papers.
After that, Emily had ruthlessly moved all her belongings out of their home.
Emily was serious about the divorce. Deadly serious.
With several shots of liquor loosening his tongue, Dominic rambled through their recent struggles in detail.
As Gabriel listened, his expression grew increasingly serious, and he finally understood why Emily had shown up at his house that day, saying what she'd said.
She'd reached that moment of clarity after being hurt beyond repair by Dominic.
She must truly regret loving Dominic instead of Gabriel all those years ago.
She probably was hoping that after both couples divorced, she could reclaim their lost love and start a new life—a happy life.
But fate was cruel. Gabriel had also fallen for someone else and no longer loved Emily.
"Dominic, you're a complete bastard! You don't deserve Emily, and you sure as hell don't deserve to have her bear your children!" Gabriel was purely speaking as a friend who felt Emily deserved better.
Dominic nodded. "You're right to call me that. I think I'm a bastard too!"
"If you have any conscience left, you'll grovel for her forgiveness and win her back properly!"
"It's no use..." Dominic smiled and turned to look at him, speaking with complete candor. "All she feels now is guilt toward you. She wants to be with you... Gabriel, you loved her for so many years—you can't just let that go overnight, can you? Since Arabella is determined to divorce you, just let it happen and be with Emily..."
Before Dominic could finish, Gabriel's face twisted with incredulous fury, his eyes fixed on his friend as rage rapidly built.
"The only thing I can do to make up for a lifetime of failing her is to let her go and choose the life she wants. I'm asking you as a brother—be with her, cherish her, love her properly. Consider it... helping me make amends—"
Before Dominic could finish speaking, Gabriel shot to his feet, grabbed him by the collar, and landed a vicious punch.
"You bastard! I'll beat you to death!" Gabriel had been bottling up frustration and desperately needed an outlet. Hearing his best friend spout such garbage—actually asking him to pay the emotional debts Dominic had racked up—made him lose all rational control. He grabbed Dominic's collar and threw three or four brutal punches.
Dominic had been drinking heavily and his head was foggy from the alcohol. Combined with his despair and self-loathing, he was too lazy to fight back, so he just took the beating limply.
It was only when Ralph, who'd been waiting outside the club, got word of the situation and rushed in that Gabriel was finally pulled away from his friend.
"Mr. Sterling, stop! Mr. Kingsley's face is going to be ruined!" Seeing his boss still wouldn't let up, Ralph held him back desperately.
"Mr. Sterling! How could you—" Dominic's assistant saw what was happening and rushed over to help his boss, glaring at Gabriel with anger he didn't dare voice.