Chapter : Street Racing to Shake Off a Love Rival
"Stop fighting! Have you no shame? How old are you both? Gabriel! Manuel! Stop it."
No matter how much Arabella shouted, it was useless. Passersby had stopped to watch, pulling out their phones to record.
Arabella was terrified the incident would go public, what an embarrassing spectacle, so she rushed over to stop people from filming.
Behind her came a dull thud. She spun around in alarm to see Gabriel had slammed Manuel against the car hood again!
Who would have thought that Gabriel, who usually appeared so refined and delicate, could be so fierce and brutal in a fight.
Manuel, on the other hand, with his gentle, scholarly demeanor, was clearly not skilled in such savage confrontations.
"Gabriel! Let go of him!" Arabella abandoned trying to stop the onlookers and rushed back to pull Gabriel away.
But just as she reached the front of the car, Manuel suddenly counterattacked, rising up and landing a punch that sent Gabriel staggering backward.
Gabriel stepped back quickly, not realizing Arabella had just arrived behind him. Caught completely off guard, he crashed into her hard, his elbow striking her face directly.
"Ahh!" A piercing scream rang out as Arabella was knocked flying, hitting the ground. She felt like her nose had shattered, the excruciating pain blanking out her entire mind.
Gabriel spun around, his face going pale with horror.
"Arabella! Arabella!" He rushed to her side, kneeling down to lift her up, frantic with worry. "How are you? Where does it hurt?"
Under the dim streetlights, he couldn't clearly see how pale Arabella's face had become, but when she pulled away the hand covering her nose and mouth, the blood gushing out was unmistakable, a shocking sight.
Blood was streaming from Arabella's nose, covering her entire face!
Gabriel's expression tightened with pain and regret. Just as he was about to continue checking on her, Manuel rushed over too. "Arabella, are you okay? I'm sorry, I failed to protect you."
Manuel apologized guiltily, reaching out to help her up, but Gabriel suddenly looked up at him with a low growl, "Get lost."
Gabriel shoved Manuel to the ground with one palm.
The next second, he immediately scooped the injured Arabella into his arms, jogging quickly toward his car. "Just hang on, I'll get you to the hospital."
Manuel got up and followed. "Arabella, Arabella..."
Gabriel ignored him completely. Without asking if Arabella agreed, he carried her to his car, yanked open the passenger door, and placed her inside.
Arabella was dizzy from the pain. The direct fall had left her entire backside numb with pain, and she had no strength to resist Gabriel at the moment.
Only after he'd placed her in the passenger seat did she manage to regain some clarity, enduring the pain to say, "I'm fine, let me out."
"Sit still! Otherwise I'll kill that bastard out there and we'll all go down together." Gabriel was so enraged he'd lost all reason, speaking without restraint.
But Arabella was frightened by his vicious tone at that moment, not daring to doubt the sincerity of his threat.
People could do anything when pushed to the edge. She didn't dare defy Gabriel any further and could only sit there rigidly.
The passenger door slammed shut. Gabriel turned around to see Manuel approaching and grabbed him by the collar, his expression menacing as he warned, "Stay away from her! Or your son abroad might find himself in danger."
Manuel's expression froze, clearly stunned.
Obviously, he hadn't expected Gabriel to have investigated him and even know about his child.
Taking advantage of Manuel's momentary shock, Gabriel got in the car and started the engine as quickly as possible, speeding away.
Arabella's nose was still bleeding. As the numbness faded, the pain became even more pronounced, and tears kept falling.
Gabriel wasn't in much better shape.
His hair was completely disheveled, his collar askew, his jaw bruised and swollen, and his split lip was also bleeding.
The car kept accelerating, going faster and faster. Arabella endured the pain and her swimming tears, trembling as she said, "Could you... slow down?"
At this speed, she was terrified.
Gabriel was consumed with rage, and the high-speed driving gave him a sense of cathartic release.
But when he heard Arabella's trembling plea, he still forced himself to control his emotions, gradually slowing down.
As rationality slowly returned, he glanced at her, the coldness in his eyes replaced by concern and anxiety, "How are you? Does it still hurt?"
Arabella really suspected her nose was broken.
But she still downplayed it, "I'm okay now... could you let me out?"
She was still shaking as she spoke, an instinctive physiological reaction to shock.
Because that scene had truly terrified her. She'd seen Gabriel angry and furious before, but it was nothing compared to how he'd looked tonight.
For the first time, she realized how terrifying men could be when they lost control.
She just wanted to get away from this unhinged beast, afraid that one wrong move might provoke him again and she'd be torn apart.
Gabriel noticed her trembling all over, saw that her eyes held lingering fear when she looked at him, and realized that, she was scared of him.
Taking a deep breath, he tried to adjust his emotions, and when he spoke again his voice was gentler, "Don't worry, I won't hit you. What happened back there was an accident."
Arabella said nothing, not knowing what to say.
"If you and he hadn't been so disgusting right in front of me, I wouldn't have resorted to violence." Gabriel's gentleness lasted only a second before his resentment bubbled up again.
Arabella still remained silent.
Gabriel couldn't stand her silent attitude. The emotions he'd just suppressed began rising again, "Have you forgotten what I told you the other day? He has a son he abandoned abroad, he's not the good man you think he is. Do you really believe his feelings for you are genuine? He's just playing around."
Of course Arabella remembered, but she'd already lied, admitting to the affair. Tonight she'd dragged Manuel into it too, and he'd taken a beating for no reason. If she said now that she and Manuel had nothing going on, that they were innocent, wouldn't all of this suffering have been for nothing?
But she also couldn't bring herself to continue professing love for Manuel, especially fearing that doing so might further provoke Gabriel into flooring the accelerator and killing them both.
So she could only continue her silence.
Gabriel's anger flared higher.
But before he could explode, his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a car following behind them.
Manuel had actually caught up.
His eyes narrowed as he ground his teeth, then his right foot slammed down hard, and the Maybach instantly accelerated into a wild sprint.
Arabella was thrown backward by the momentum, and her barely-recovered nose immediately throbbed with pain again, bringing tears to her eyes.
"Gabriel, what are you doing? this is dangerous." She covered her nose, reproaching him through her pain.
Gabriel glanced at the rearview mirror while speeding, replying coldly, "He's following us."
What?
Arabella understood immediately and turned to look back.
The headlights were too bright for her to make out the car clearly, but she could guess it was Manuel, worried about her being taken away by Gabriel, driving behind them.
"What devoted lovers you are! Making me, the legitimate husband, look like the villain." Gabriel let out a cold, mocking laugh as the car shot through a yellow light at an intersection.
The Porsche behind him had to stop at the red light.
He'd lost him.
Gabriel looked in the rearview mirror, a cold smile crossing his stern, tense features.