Chapter 194 Breaking In at Midnight
That evening, Arabella moved into her new place.
Ella helped her transport her belongings, wandering around the apartment with obvious amazement. "You're usually so budget-conscious, but you really splurged on this rental—this place has got to run seven or eight thousand a month."
Arabella sighed, deciding not to hide the truth any longer. "This is an inheritance from an elderly family member who passed away. I'd been refusing it all along, didn't want to accept it, but for the children—so they'd have a decent place to stay when they visit... I finally took it."
Ella, who had just finished her inspection tour, looked at her in surprise. "Oh, I see! So... Mr. Sterling agreed to shared custody?"
"Yes."
Ella's smile turned knowing. "For a divorce, this is pretty... he's still looking out for you."
Arabella didn't feel like explaining further.
She knew exactly what she was doing and what kind of life she wanted moving forward. That was enough.
After Ella left, Arabella continued organizing the apartment.
But she couldn't shake a sense of unease.
Samuel had surely reported back to Gabriel after dropping her off. Given his temperament, even if he didn't show up to cause trouble, he'd at least call.
Half the day had passed with no phone call, which meant he was very likely coming tonight.
At this thought, Arabella felt a pang of regret—maybe she shouldn't have accepted this apartment.
But then she reconsidered. With his resources, whether she lived in Luminara or moved to the moon, he could track her down.
She made herself a simple dinner, and with the weather being cold, she couldn't bring herself to turn on the heat. So she crawled under the covers early, using her laptop to take online courses.
She and Ella had plans to start a video content channel after New Year's, but she was not very tech-savvy, so she'd been taking online courses to learn.
By eleven, drowsiness hit. She yawned, turned off the lights, and went to sleep.
She had no idea how long she'd been sleeping when the bedroom door was quietly pushed open.
In her dreams, she was completely unaware that an intruder had entered, continuing to sleep peacefully even as the tall, dark figure approached her bed.
Gabriel carried a faint scent of alcohol.
He'd originally planned to come straight after work, but an important business dinner had come up at the last minute—one he couldn't skip. That had delayed him until nearly eleven.
Samuel had given him the spare keys earlier that day, so he'd let himself in.
Having never been here before, he'd needed a moment to adjust to the layout before finding the master bedroom.
Looking at the woman sleeping so soundly on the bed—so deeply unconscious that she hadn't even noticed him approaching—Gabriel frowned, an inexplicable anger rising in his chest.
How could she have such poor security awareness!
If it hadn't been him tonight, but some burglar or criminal with bad intentions—how dangerous that would be for her!
What an idiot, sleeping like the dead!
But after that brief flash of irritation, the longing and desire he'd been suppressing for so long began to surge. He slowly sat down on the edge of the bed, contemplating how to wake her.
At this hour, he'd probably scare her to death!
His mind felt somewhat foggy. He exhaled slowly, reaching toward the woman's shoulder, his deep, smooth voice careful and gentle in the quiet darkness: "Arabella... Arabella?"
He called softly while gently shaking her shoulder.
Arabella, still adjusting to the new place, was not sleeping deeply. His touch immediately woke her—
Along with her scream!
"Ahhhh—"
The instant she shot up, Gabriel quickly tried to calm her: "It's me! It's me! It's Gabriel!"
He hastily identified himself while reaching for the bedside lamp and clicking it on.
The sudden brightness made Arabella instinctively squint, but she could still make out the man before her through her narrowed eyelids!
Instantly, she exploded with rage!
"Are you insane! Insane! Insane!" Her heart was still pounding as she grabbed a pillow and began beating him with it relentlessly!
Gabriel dodged but didn't block her attacks, saying helplessly, "I was going to call you, but I figured you were already asleep, so I thought I'd just come check on you."
"You're crazy! Who gave you permission to come in! How did you even get in!" Arabella had lost all reason, continuing to pummel him while furiously demanding answers!
It was terrifying!
Before bed, when he hadn't shown up, she'd thought she'd been wrong—that he wouldn't come after all.
She never imagined this bastard would sneak in like some kind of ghost while she slept!
This was hardly behavior befitting someone of his status!
How could she ever feel safe and secure living here now!
"Okay, okay, you're right, I was wrong. I shouldn't have let myself in, shouldn't have scared you in the middle of the night." Seeing that she was genuinely furious—her face flushed red with anger, tears of rage threatening to spill—Gabriel quickly apologized.
But Arabella ignored him, continuing her pillow assault until she was completely exhausted, finally stopping to glare at him while gasping for breath.
Gabriel sat on the edge of the bed, his usually stylish hair now sticking up like weeds, his handsome face red from the beating—a complete mess.
Seeing her finally quiet from exhaustion, Gabriel slowly relaxed, reaching toward her, but before he could touch her, she snapped angrily: "Don't touch me!"
"Alright, alright, I won't touch you." Knowing he was in the wrong, Gabriel complied, pulling his hand back.
Arabella was still furious and didn't want to look at him. She pointed toward the door and commanded: "Get out! Leave now!"
He frowned. "It's almost midnight, and I sent my car away."
He'd come intending to spend the night, so Ralph had dropped him off and left.
"If you don't leave, I'm calling the police!" Arabella's face was ice-cold—she clearly wasn't joking.
Gabriel could see that.
But first, it was too late to be running around, and second, he genuinely didn't want to leave.
After a moment's standoff, he tried to negotiate: "There are three bedrooms here, right? I could just crash in another room for the night?"
"There are no spare blankets."
"That's fine, I just need a bed. I don't mind the cold."
Arabella glared at him, refusing to respond.
Gabriel had come tonight hoping for some intimacy—he'd been fantasizing about it during the drive over. Who knew he'd ruin everything himself? He felt nothing but regret.
Seeing her unwavering stance, he had no choice but to stand up and back away: "I promise I won't do anything to you. I'll find another room to sleep in. You go back to sleep."
She was already wide awake after that scare—how could she possibly sleep now?
Gabriel turned to leave, pausing at the doorway to reassure her: "It's late. You should get some rest. I promise I won't disturb you again."
With that, he considerately withdrew, closing the door behind him.
Arabella closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath before slumping back against the headboard.
Her heart still hadn't completely calmed down. She really couldn't understand what Gabriel was trying to accomplish.
Was this his idea of "love"?
When he loved Emily, was he this irrational too?
If so, she could understand why Emily didn't love him back.
He was childish and ridiculous to the extreme!
She lay back down but couldn't fall asleep for a long time.