Chapter 201 The Last Move
After a moment of silence, Gabriel cleared his throat and spoke up. "About the herbal medicine... I'll arrange for someone to pick it up and have it prepared at home every day, then bring it to you. Dr. Wood says if you keep taking it consistently, this condition will improve."
"That's not necessary. I can prepare it myself," she said, not wanting to owe him any favors.
"Making herbal tea is time-consuming, and you're too busy anyway. Besides, Mary and the others often bring the twins over, so it's convenient."
Arabella stayed quiet, and it was hard to tell if she had agreed or not.
After another two seconds of silence, Gabriel lowered his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose without even realizing it. "Listen... what happened that morning was my fault. I apologize for my impulsive behavior, and also... for not taking proper precautions. I'm sorry about that too."
That morning, he had sat in his car and watched Arabella go to the pharmacy, later learning she had bought emergency contraception.
At the time, he had been furious.
But now his feelings were complicated.
Part of him regretted that she had taken the pills—if she hadn't, she might be pregnant again.
But then again, given their current relationship and situation, she definitely wouldn't want to keep it. If he tried to force her to, their conflicts would escalate even further. And if he let her terminate it, the abortion would certainly cause more physical damage than what she was experiencing today.
So after thinking it through, he realized his behavior that morning had been completely inappropriate.
He had pleased himself for a moment but left her to bear the painful consequences—it was nothing but irresponsible.
With these thoughts weighing on him, he stated solemnly and seriously, "From now on, I'll be careful—really careful—and I'll never let something like this happen again. I won't put you through this kind of suffering."
Arabella turned her gaze away without looking at him.
Hearing these words, anger sparked within her.
"I don't want there to be a future..." she said quietly.
Gabriel frowned. "What do you mean? You want to back out?"
"Yes. If you don't agree, then we'll continue with the court proceedings."
Gabriel breathed a small sigh of relief, wanting to tell her that going to court a hundred times wouldn't make any difference. But considering she wasn't feeling well today, he suppressed his temper. "Let's talk about this later. You should rest now. What would you like for dinner? I'll have something prepared at home and sent over."
"That's not necessary. I just hope that when I wake up, I won't have to see you anymore." With that, Arabella turned over with her back to him and settled down to sleep.
Gabriel stood there, staring at her wrapped tightly under the covers, wanting very much to lie down beside her and help keep her warm.
But her heartless, cold words echoed in his ears, stirring a bit of pride in him.
Fine, I'll leave. Who needs this, anyway!
From under the covers, Arabella heard footsteps leaving, and after a while, the sound of the front door closing. Knowing he was gone, she finally relaxed.
She believed she had to take care of herself.
Whatever major issues there were could wait—she'd deal with them after she had rested properly and her body had recovered.
————
As New Year's approached, all industries became increasingly busy.
The "Say No More" social media account was receiving more and more sponsored content opportunities, which actually put Arabella and Ella in a difficult position.
After all, this account was positioned as a relationship advice blog, and if they posted too many advertisements, it would definitely turn readers off and damage their reputation.
After discussing it, they decided to make tough choices—they'd rather earn less for now than risk losing their reputation later.
Arabella's coming-of-age novel, which she had originally planned to serialize after New Year's, was already being published early due to her efficient editing pace.
As for a pen name, she couldn't be bothered to think one up, so she simply used Arabella.
Manuel called to ask if she had managed to arrange a meeting with Chase, and if not, he would bring it up when he went to the state capital for an investment conference.
Arabella panicked and quickly said she had already arranged a meeting.
After hanging up, she clutched her phone, feeling conflicted.
But thinking that this might be the only way at this point, she wrestled with herself for a long while before gritting her teeth and making up her mind.
When she opened her phone's contact list, she realized she didn't actually have Chase's contact information.
However, she was friends with Chase's wife on Facebook.
After some searching through her Facebook contacts, Arabella found Chase's wife's profile picture and opened the chat window. She spent a long time carefully crafting her message.
[Hi, this is Arabella. I need a favor—I'd like to ask Chase for help. Could you send me his contact information?]
After sending the message, Arabella exhaled with relief, though her heart remained anxious.
She didn't interact much with Chase's wife, Hazel Sterling. All she knew was that Hazel worked at the Municipal Cultural Affairs Bureau, where she was already in middle management, and had a passion for theater, occasionally sharing theater promotions or performance announcements on her social media.
After waiting several minutes without a reply, she gradually felt deflated, assuming the woman simply couldn't be bothered to respond. Just as she was considering other options, her phone suddenly chimed with an incoming voice call request.
Looking closer, she saw it was from Hazel!
Arabella anxiously accepted the call. "Hello, Hazel!"
"Arabella, what do you need from Chase? He's incredibly busy these last few days before New Year's, so he might not have time to help you with whatever it is. You can tell me about any problems—I might be able to help just as well."
Hazel spoke gently and politely, with no hint of looking down on Arabella.
Arabella knew she was busy too and didn't have time for lengthy Facebook exchanges, so she got straight to the point. "Hazel, here's the situation. Gabriel and I... our marriage has completely broken down, and we can't continue living together. But he keeps refusing to agree to the divorce and uses the children to manipulate me in every way... I really can't bear to be separated from the kids, but I'm more afraid that if this situation continues, one day I'll just break down completely..."
"Gabriel is so stubborn—he won't even listen to his parents. He used to listen to his grandfather, but now that grandpa's gone, I don't know who else could possibly influence him... After thinking it over, I thought maybe Chase could speak with him. Sometimes brothers can get through to each other better."
Arabella had been suppressing these feelings for so long that once she started speaking, tears began streaming down her face uncontrollably.
Despite her efforts to remain calm, Hazel could clearly hear the suppression and pain in her voice.
"Arabella, stay calm. I understand what you're saying. Don't worry—I'll talk to Chase about it. In the next day or two, we'll find time to have a conversation with Gabriel."
Arabella hadn't expected things to go so smoothly and kept thanking her over and over. "Thank you, Hazel. I'm so grateful. I really didn't know who else to turn to..."
"It's fine, really. I understand completely. No need to be so formal."
After ending the voice call, Arabella took a deep breath and looked out the window.
New Year's was getting closer and closer—she wondered if her life would finally turn a new page.
Her phone rang, pulling her from her thoughts.
Looking at the screen, she saw it was Sophia calling.
"Hello..."
She had barely spoken when Sophia's tearful voice came through, "Arabella, what time do you get off work today?"