Chapter 91 Forced to Overhear
"No." Arabella rejected him without hesitation.
Gabriel frowned. "What? Your period isn't over yet?"
Worried she might lie, he reached down to check for himself.
Arabella knew she couldn't fool him. She twisted away from his probing hand while explaining: "It's not that... I'm too exhausted. I need to sleep."
"You'll sleep even better afterward."
"No..."
"Who was it on the phone earlier, saying I could scold or punish her however I wanted? Now you're full of excuses." Gabriel pressed close against her, each word seeming to burrow into her very pores.
Arabella's entire body tensed, her throat tightening as she protested: "I meant... after we got home, not here."
"What's the difference? We haven't done this in days - don't you want to?" They'd indeed abstained during her period.
Arabella couldn't answer, thinking him utterly shameless!
But Gabriel never gave her the option to refuse once he'd made up his mind.
He pulled her blocking hands away, pinning them against the cold pillow, then rose slightly to trap her beneath him, raining down delicate kisses.
Arabella couldn't stop thinking about Manuel in the room across the hall. In this dead-of-night silence, how could this ancient wooden bed possibly hold up? The creaking sounds it would make - Manuel would definitely hear everything. How could she face him tomorrow?
"Gabriel... don't do this... really—"
"Gabriel, you... you came all the way here, what about the children? With me gone... and you gone too—"
"Gabriel... you..."
She desperately searched for topics to derail his train of thought, but Gabriel was beyond patience. No matter what she said, he ignored it completely, focused entirely on undressing her.
Arabella hadn't nursed all day. Though she'd expressed some milk, she was still quite full.
When Gabriel suddenly latched onto her breast, her unfinished words cut off abruptly, her entire body going rigid.
In the stillness, a cell phone suddenly rang.
Both of them startled, especially Arabella, who snapped out of her daze in panic, frantically looking around.
"Phone!"
"It's not mine."
Not his?
Before Arabella could figure it out, she heard fluent foreign conversation drifting through the walls.
—It was Manuel's phone, probably some international call.
If they could hear conversation that clearly from over there, then when they...
Gabriel had obviously reached the same conclusion.
In the darkness, a wicked smile crossed his handsome face. Without any warning, he suddenly thrust forward.
"Gabriel!"
Arabella was furious, clenching her fists and pounding his shoulders, but he paid no attention.
The wooden bed, which had only been slightly trembling before, gradually began swaying rhythmically with someone's - whether intentional or not - movements, creaking ominously.
During particularly vigorous moments, the headboard would knock against the wall with audible thumps.
Arabella was going insane!
How could this man be so shameless!
Such obvious sounds - what would Manuel think if he heard?
Driving four or five hours through the night, just to act like a complete bastard at midnight?
She absolutely couldn't accept this!
After a moment's shock, Arabella protested violently again, hissing through gritted teeth: "Gabriel! Get off! I'm really angry!"
Seething with rage, she grabbed Gabriel's ears and face, twisting mercilessly, her harsh words matching her ruthless grip.
Don't mistake this for playful lovers' quarreling - she was genuinely at her breaking point! If she'd had a knife right then, she could have stabbed him without hesitation!
But Gabriel remained indifferent.
In fact, this unprecedented experience gave him an entirely new thrill.
"What are you afraid of? Worried he'll think badly of you? Don't think I can't tell - he's interested in you! You're still my wife, yet he dares act so arrogant in front of me. If I don't give him this chance to learn his place, he'll keep coveting what's mine!"
Gabriel loomed above her, grinding out his words with equal venom, finally releasing the fury he'd suppressed all evening.
When he'd sat in his car watching the two of them emerge together, who could understand what he'd felt?
She was his woman, yet here she was sharing a room with another man - a man and woman alone together, spending the night!
As if they were the married couple, while he was the outsider!
In all his years, Gabriel had never suffered such humiliation!
He understood that Arabella beneath him was trying to maintain her image in front of Manuel. Who knew what they'd discussed during their entire day together?
Maybe they'd already planned where to settle after their divorce!
Yes! At that thought, Gabriel suddenly snapped back to reality—
"You've been demanding a divorce - is it because of him? You two have been in contact for a long time, haven't you?"
He'd been misled, thinking she had something going on with that lawyer!
The real lover was Manuel all along!
Arabella bit down hard, terrified of making noise. Hearing his wild accusations, she burst out angrily: "Gabriel, you bastard! It has nothing to do with him! I want a divorce because you're not worth it! Not worth me wasting any more time with you! Stop blaming everyone else!"
"I'm not worth it? Then who is? That damned guy sleeping over there?"
He laughed darkly, pressing down as his burning breath hit her ear.
Seeing her turn away, his expression darkened. One hand gripped her chin, forcing another deep kiss.
"Gabriel, I hate you... bastard! I hate you..." Arabella struggled desperately, but he wouldn't let go.
He seemed possessed, perversely addicted to this twisted, tormenting game.
Arabella couldn't bear to think about facing Manuel tomorrow morning.
Tears fell as she wept silently, her strikes against Gabriel's arms gradually losing strength...
Amid the bed's grinding sounds, Manuel's phone conversation cut off abruptly.
Gabriel, like some demon, deliberately made even more noise once the house grew quieter.
"Silly girl, why bite your lip like that? If you bruise it, how will you face people tomorrow? They'll think I don't know how to treat a woman gently." He smiled wickedly, deliberately prying at her tightly bitten lips.
Arabella's hatred reached its peak. She bit down on his thumb, wishing she could bite it clean off!
"Hiss—" Gabriel sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes narrowing in the darkness. "You hate me that much?"
He'd originally planned just a small punishment, but seeing her still so spirited, he changed his mind and drew out the torment.
Across the narrow hallway in the opposite bedroom, Manuel lay quietly.
Though he desperately didn't want to hear these sounds, the persistent creaking accompanied by intermittent wall-knocking made it impossible to ignore.
His fists gradually clenched as he imagined Arabella being cruelly mistreated by Gabriel, anger burning in his heart.
He finally understood why Gabriel didn't love her, yet maintained such possessive control.