Chapter 18 The moment she walks out, he'll have a new bride walking in!
This scene filled Joanna with rage. Watching Gabriel's actions, her anger visibly escalated by the second.
Probably too furious to think straight, she lost all ability to react and simply kept glaring at them until they reached the dining room.
"Mom, let's eat." As they sat down, Gabriel looked at Joanna and reminded her.
Joanna blinked and finally snapped back to reality, her chest heaving as she swallowed hard before finding her voice, "Gabriel, you... look at how she acts, and you still spoil her! Has she put some kind of spell on you? This is just..."
Gabriel curved his lips slightly, remaining calm, "Mom, I'm married. Our affairs don't need your concern."
"What do you mean? Think I'm meddling too much?"
"That's not what I meant."
"That's exactly what you mean!" Joanna had no appetite left, slamming her cutlery on the table and looking at Gabriel, ready to have a serious talk. "Everything I just told you, you didn't take any of it to heart? She talked back to me and is demanding a divorce from you!"
"She spoke in anger. We're not getting divorced," Gabriel responded with steady composure.
Arabella was stunned again.
Why on earth wouldn't he agree to divorce? How painful it must be to spend a lifetime with a woman he doesn't love?
If they divorced, even if he couldn't win Emily back, at least he'd be free and single, and could still be her lover!
"Why not divorce? What's so good about this type of woman? Does she think having children will change her fate?" As expected, Joanna was very supportive of Gabriel getting divorced.
"But divorce is divorce—don't think you can take the two children with you! You can get out of the Sterling family by yourself!" She turned her gaze toward Arabella, making her position clear.
No matter how magnanimous Arabella was, being cursed at like this to her face couldn't leave her completely unmoved.
But the angrier she became, the calmer she grew. Looking at the imperious Joanna, she said, "I'll leave the Sterling family, provided Gabriel is willing to let me go."
"Gabriel, what are you hesitating for? Divorce her! With your qualifications, countless socialites would fight tooth and nail for you! The moment she walks out, you can have a new bride walking in!" Joanna was extremely agitated, ordering Gabriel, wishing they would divorce immediately.
Gabriel felt irritated, and after being provoked by Joanna, his temper flared as he shot back, "If Dad got divorced now, wouldn't countless socialites fight for him too? He could marry someone new, couldn't he?"
The dining room fell completely silent.
Arabella was also shocked, turning back to look at him in amazement.
Those words were truly disrespectful.
Joanna was stunned by the retort, taking a long moment to react. She suddenly stood up, so angry that her hands were trembling, "You've been defying me since childhood. Other people's sons are devoted boys who listen to their mothers and make them happy—but you, you've been making me angry since you were little! How did I get so unlucky to give birth to such an ungrateful bastard!"
With that, without waiting for Gabriel's response, she angrily pushed back her chair and stormed out.
The butler and servants in the villa didn't dare breathe, the entire building falling silent.
But Gabriel seemed indifferent, quietly continuing his meal.
Arabella glanced at him several times, feeling somewhat uneasy.
Although she didn't like Joanna's domineering and oppressive attitude, from Joanna's perspective, wanting her child to marry a better wife was only natural.
She hadn't intended to drive a wedge between them.
So after a moment, she said softly, "Actually, you don't need to anger Joanna like that just to defend me. She's only thinking of your best interests."
"Who says I did it for you?" Gabriel was full of rage and immediately retorted.
He'd rushed home worried that Joanna would mistreat her, only to find that she didn't understand his intentions.
"What have you ever done that would be worth me arguing with my own mother for you?" Seeing her face stiffen with embarrassment, he didn't stop there but continued, "Because you keep demanding a divorce every day? Or because you're secretly looking for a new husband behind my back?"
"Gabriel, stop making baseless accusations!" Arabella was furious, her eyes trembling as she retorted.
"Making baseless accusations? Then tell me, where have I wronged you that you absolutely must get divorced?"
"Do I really need to spell out where you've wronged me? Was it right to drink with Emily in the middle of the night? Was it right to peel shrimp for her in front of her husband? Was it right to go find her late at night and even embrace her?"
Gabriel stared at her, his handsome face showing complex, indescribable emotions.
"Our marriage was an arrangement of convenience from the start, and divorce was always part of the plan. I know Grandfather's health isn't good right now, so I'm not saying we have to divorce immediately."
Arabella paused, lowering her tone and taking a deep breath, "I won't bring it up again during this time, but you don't need to deliberately do anything either—it's meaningless."
These words were equivalent to slapping Gabriel in the face.
These past days, he'd shown obvious changes, gradually acting like a normal husband, even a gentle and considerate one.
But it was precisely this change that made Arabella more miserable.
She was afraid of drowning in what might be his temporarily feigned tenderness and abandoning her principles again.
If she got deeply involved and he showed his true colors again, where would that leave her?
It would be better if he remained completely despicable, leaving her heart dead to hope—cutting ties cleanly.
The dining room fell silent, the suffocating quiet making both of them feel as if their hearts were in purgatory.
Suddenly, a baby's crying broke through the deathly silence.
Arabella instinctively rose and walked to the baby carriage, picking up the wailing Isabella and gently rocking her soothingly.
Perhaps Isabella sensed something, too, crying especially pitifully. When Arabella couldn't soothe her, she had no choice but to carry her to the side parlor to nurse.
Moments later, the sound of a chair moving came from the dining room.
She didn't turn around, but knew it was Gabriel getting up to leave.
Her nose stung with emotion as she fought back the tears welling in her eyes, not daring to think that she could have fallen in love with such a man.
You made your bed, now lie in it.
————
That night, Gabriel didn't come home.
It wasn't until the next morning, when Arabella went to the hospital, that she learned from Samuel that he'd gone on a business trip.
"A business trip? Why didn't you go with him?" she asked curiously.
Samuel was Gabriel's personal bodyguard, and he usually accompanied his boss on business trips.
Samuel replied, "Mr. Sterling asked me to stay and look after things at home. He took Evelyn and two male assistants with him—everything's fine."
Arabella didn't respond, her eyes staring blankly out the window.
Arriving at the hospital, just before entering the room, she quietly adjusted her emotions and forced her facial muscles to relax, trying to look happier.
Pushing open the door, William was still unconscious.
These past few days, he'd been unconscious for longer and longer periods.
Yesterday, she'd specifically sought out the doctor to ask about William's condition. The doctor's face was grave as he shook his head, indicating that this time there really was no hope—William didn't have much time left.
To alleviate pain, the medication included many sedative and calming components, so William slept in a drowsy state all day.
The caregiver nodded slightly as a greeting when she saw her. She sat down gently beside the bed and slowly placed the soup she'd brought on the table.
Looking at William's weathered and haggard face, she was reminded of her grandfather, who had passed away several years ago.