Chapter 43 Gabriel Collapses
Seeing this, Arabella's face also tightened with alarm. She stared at him for several seconds, sensing something was seriously wrong, and anxiously moved closer, "What... what's wrong?"
Gabriel's face was contorted in pain, his handsome brow furrowed tightly.
Seeing Arabella's concern, he gave her an irritated glance, wanting to speak, but the pain sent cold sweat down his back. He immediately pressed one hand against his left abdomen and remained silent.
Arabella was terrified.
After two years of marriage, she vaguely knew Gabriel had stomach problems. The kitchen staff always prepared his meals with special care—how could his condition still flare up despite all that attention?
Though she was determined to divorce him, she didn't want his health to suffer, especially since he was the father of their two children.
After a brief hesitation, Arabella immediately got out of the car and came to the driver's side.
Opening the car door, she leaned in and touched Gabriel's forehead—it was covered in cold sweat.
Her heart lurched with worry and panic, "Is it your stomach acting up? Do you have any medication in the car?"
Gabriel turned his head toward her, his eyes squinting with pain yet shooting cold light as he sneered, "So you do care about me? Weren't you planning to divorce me? What does my health have to do with you?"
Arabella's good intentions were met with mockery, making her angrily retort, "What's wrong with you? This isn't the time for this attitude!"
After scolding him, she leaned directly across Gabriel's body, searching through the dashboard's storage compartment with one hand.
Gabriel leaned back in his seat, feeling the woman pressed against him, his emotions growing complex.
She kept talking about divorce, yet her actions showed such concern for him, even throwing herself at him so brazenly without any pretense. Ha, women really were all about mixed signals, playing hard to get to perfection.
A fragrant scent wafted to his nose—the delicate fragrance from her hair mixed with her natural sweetness, creating a uniquely intoxicating aroma.
The stomach spasms continued, and though he was drenched in cold sweat from the torment, another kind of desire began stirring in his heart.
They'd been sleeping in separate rooms for days now. He'd been abstinent and empty for too long, his self-control growing increasingly weak.
Arabella stretched across his lap searching, but there was no stomach medication in the compartment. She anxiously turned back to ask the man, "Don't you keep any—mmph!"
Gabriel's large hand suddenly cupped the back of her head, pulling her forward forcefully.
That painfully handsome face suddenly magnified before her eyes, and her unfinished words were swallowed by his burning breath.
Arabella froze like a statue, staring wide-eyed, completely losing all reaction!
At a time like this?
He actually had the mind for a forced kiss?
Was the pain all an act? A deliberate trap to lure her in?
After the initial shock came overwhelming fury!
In the past, when she still adored this man, such sudden passionate kisses would have been thrilling, but now that they were on the verge of divorce, this behavior was nothing but blatant humiliation and assault!
Instead of getting lost in the kiss, she snapped back to reality and immediately fought back, "Gabriel! Let go of me... mmph—"
Gabriel not only didn't release her but held her even tighter in his arms, kissing her more deeply.
As they struggled and fought, they accidentally hit the car horn, the piercing honk startling them both.
Arabella took advantage of his momentary distraction to push him away forcefully, finally breaking free from his grip.
But unfortunately, that push hit directly on his stomach, and the intense pain made the man grunt in agony, his entire body tensing and freezing.
Arabella stood by the car door, her hair disheveled, still in shock.
The sound of his pained, suppressed groan echoed in her ears, and seeing his increasingly pale face, the woman's heart raced with greater panic.
"Hey... are you okay?" Seeing Gabriel's condition deteriorating, she grew nervous again, reaching out to shake his shoulder.
But he hung his head limply, unresponsive.
Arabella was terrified. She leaned back into the car and patted his face, "Gabriel, how are you? Stop pretending! I... I won't fall for it!"
Her voice trembled as she spoke, but after repeatedly patting his face with no response, her heart rate continued accelerating. She gathered courage and cupped the man's face with both hands.
God! His eyes were tightly shut—he had actually fainted!
"Gabriel! Gabriel! Wake up!" Tears fell instantly as she shook and called out continuously, but nothing worked.
Stepping back out, she looked around frantically. This road was the private drive from Sterling Manor to the outside world, and with darkness having fallen, there were no passing vehicles at all.
Her heart was burning with urgency. She wiped away her tears and forced herself to calm down quickly, then returned to the passenger seat to get her phone and called 911.
After explaining the situation to emergency services, she immediately called Samuel.
The ambulance and Samuel arrived almost simultaneously. She accompanied the unconscious Gabriel into the ambulance while Samuel arranged for someone to drive the Bentley away, then followed behind in his own car.
Halfway there, Gabriel woke up.
With his eyes half-open, he saw the worried, tearful woman sitting beside him and coldly turned his head away.
Seeing him awake, Arabella's heart, which had been tight with suffocating anxiety, finally relaxed a little.
Normally, as a married couple, this would be the moment to hold hands and share heartfelt words. The thought crossed her mind, but she simply didn't have the courage.
Combined with Gabriel's extremely cold and distant reaction, she feared that if she reached out to take his hand, he would cruelly push her away.
At the hospital, Samuel busied himself running back and forth with arrangements.
Somehow, word had leaked out, and soon, hospital administrators had all arrived.
Arabella was pushed to the periphery, watching as a group of white coats surrounded Gabriel with concerned attention, suddenly feeling superfluous.
Just as she turned to leave, Samuel approached with a stack of documents, respectfully saying, "Mrs. Sterling, the doctor says Mr. Sterling has acute gastric mucosal inflammation and needs to be hospitalized for treatment."
She startled and stopped in her tracks, her brows furrowing deeply.
Hospitalization? Was it that serious?
Samuel sighed, "Mr. Sterling didn't eat breakfast this morning. He went to the Davis family's place, then returned to the company for two consecutive meetings. Evelyn had ordered lunch for him, but it went cold while he only ate a few bites and drank black coffee to stay alert. He didn't eat dinner either, rushing home from work just to bring you back to Sterling Manor."
Arabella listened silently. To say she felt no emotional impact would make her cold-blooded.
But all these troubles and complications—weren't they all of his own making? He had no one else to blame.
"Ever since Mr. William Sterling's passing, Mr. Sterling has been deeply melancholy. With heavy company responsibilities and all the online controversy, during this period, he's been overwhelmed trying to manage everything, exhausted from overwork. His body simply couldn't handle it anymore."
Samuel was Gabriel's personal bodyguard, having followed him for years, and he understood Arabella's heart well.
Gabriel certainly couldn't bring himself to say these things to Arabella directly—it had to come from him as an outsider.
Arabella was kind-hearted and soft. Knowing the full truth, she would definitely feel sorry for Gabriel.
And indeed, that was exactly the case.
Arabella fell silent for a moment. Though her mind wanted to think "serves him right" and "brought it on himself," her feet involuntarily moved back toward the emergency room again.