Chapter 98 Your Job Is To Take Care of Gabriel!
Arabella had plans to meet Sophia that evening and needed to leave soon, so she had no choice but to go downstairs.
In the living room, Joanna was holding Henry and playing with him, while James had picked up a small toy to entertain Isabella.
When Arabella came down, she hesitated slightly before addressing them properly, "Dad, Mom."
Joanna glanced at her, her expression subtle, and asked, "You went back to Whispering Pines yesterday?"
As expected, Joanna had come to hold her accountable, probably blaming her for being willful and dragging Gabriel into it.
Arabella nodded. "Yes."
"Why didn't you tell Gabriel you were going back? He drove through the night to find you—do you realize how dangerous that was?" Joanna began her attack.
Yesterday was Saturday, and she'd called Gabriel in the evening, inviting them to bring the children over for dinner to liven things up.
Gabriel had said he wasn't available—he was on the highway.
Only after pressing him did she learn what had happened.
She'd initially assumed Gabriel had taken a driver with him, which would have been fine.
Later she discovered he'd driven alone—five to six hundred miles—which worried her sick and made her resentment toward Arabella reach new heights.
From a mother's perspective, Arabella could understand Joanna's feelings.
Honestly, learning that Gabriel had driven alone through the night in the rain all the way to Whispering Pines to find her had shocked her too!
If something had happened on the road, she would have been to blame, and the Sterling family would never have forgiven her.
Thank God he'd arrived safely.
Facing Joanna's accusations, Arabella felt somewhat guilty but refused to admit fault, "I didn't ask him to come looking for me in the middle of the night. In the past when I went back, I'd tell him and he never seemed to care. I thought he wasn't interested. Of course, I can understand that—it's my hometown, not his, so it's normal he wouldn't have feelings for it. Besides, Whispering Pines is so remote and backwards, he wouldn't be comfortable there anyway."
Joanna caught her meaning and grew even more displeased, "What are you implying? That he was being presumptuous?"
"Those are your words, not mine."
"You—"
If Joanna hadn't been holding Henry, she would have rushed forward to point at her and start yelling again.
Upstairs, Gabriel had taken his stomach medication and was feeling somewhat better, trying to rest after such an exhausting drive.
He'd just fallen asleep when he heard voices from downstairs. He immediately woke up and hurried down.
"Mom."
Seeing Gabriel come down, Joanna immediately began her complaints about Arabella, "Gabriel, did you hear what she just said? Arabella called you presumptuous!"
Gabriel had certainly heard.
But he was used to hearing much harsher words from her, so he showed no reaction.
"If you're here to see the children, then see them. Don't come here to start fights. If you're staying for dinner, let the kitchen know to prepare." Ignoring Joanna's accusations, he coolly changed the subject.
Joanna grew even angrier hearing this, about to give Gabriel a piece of her mind when she suddenly noticed his poor color and general condition.
"Gabriel, what's wrong with you? You look terrible. Are you feeling unwell somewhere?" Noticing Gabriel's condition, Joanna immediately stood up, handed Henry to the nanny, and approached him with concern.
Gabriel was indeed unwell. Fighting through his discomfort, he walked over to the sofa and slumped down lazily, waving away Joanna's reaching hand and turning his head away, "I'm fine, just tired."
Joanna huffed, "Of course you're tired! Driving that far alone, how could you not be? Why didn't you take a driver with you?"
"It's nothing..." Gabriel maintained his indifferent attitude, clearly too tired to even talk.
Mary stood nearby, not daring to speak.
She'd called Walter earlier, and he would probably arrive soon.
But at this rate, if Joanna found out Gabriel's gastritis had flared up, she'd be even angrier and blame Arabella for sure.
She secretly fretted, thinking of sneaking away to tell Walter to come later, when she heard car sounds from the courtyard.
Joanna was also curious, looking toward the door and muttering, "Who's coming?"
The next second, Walter entered with his medical bag.
Joanna immediately understood. "Gabriel, are you sick? I said you looked terrible—it didn't seem like just fatigue. What's wrong? Fever or something else?"
Walter entered to find Joanna and James there too, assuming Gabriel was seriously ill and his elders had come to visit, so he hurried forward.
But before he could speak, Gabriel raised his hand and said, "I'm fine, no need for an examination. You can go."
"What?" Walter was stunned, confused. "Mary said your gastritis flared up and asked me to come take a look..."
"Gastritis flared up again?" Before Gabriel could continue his denials, Joanna had already stood up to make room. "Dr. Wood, please examine him right away! A young man with such severe gastritis—if he doesn't take proper care of it, how can that be acceptable?"
William had died of stomach cancer, so Gabriel's gastritis always made the family somewhat anxious, not daring to take it lightly.
Walter was pulled over by Joanna, who insisted he examine Gabriel.
Arabella had remained silent throughout, her expression serious.
She needed to leave, but given the current situation, if she just walked out, who knew what Joanna would say to her.
Just as this thought crossed her mind, she saw Joanna suddenly turn to look at her, and sure enough, another lecture began, "Arabella! How are you taking care of this household! You don't look after the two children, and Gabriel is suffering from gastritis! We provide you with such excellent conditions—you should focus on caring for the children and taking care of Gabriel. Why do you need to go to work? Does the Sterling family lack the resources to support you? If people from other families found out you need to work, they'd think the Sterling family was stingy, that Gabriel refuses to provide for you!"
Joanna had been holding back her displeasure all evening, and now seeing Gabriel's gastritis flare-up and his ashen complexion, all her emotions piled up as she pointed at Arabella with a thorough scolding.
Arabella had just been thinking she should take some responsibility for this situation, but now being lectured by Joanna and made to sound worthless, her rebellious emotions flared again.
"He got sick because he refused to eat and literally starved himself. What does that have to do with me?"
"You—"
Before Joanna could respond, she continued, "Besides, what you just described isn't the image of a wife, but the job description of a servant or nanny. This house has plenty of staff already—I don't need to compete with them for work. I may not earn much, but it's money I've earned through my own efforts, and no one has the right to belittle or look down on that."
Seeing her dare to talk back, Joanna grew even more furious, but before she could retort, James's voice stopped her, "Enough! Say less!"
But Joanna, in her rage, completely ignored James, "Why should I say less? She's in the wrong—can't I speak up?"
"That's enough!" Before he'd finished speaking, a sharp rebuke came from the sofa.
Gabriel's face was dark, his mood extremely irritated as he looked at Joanna without courtesy, "If you want to see the children, see them and be done with it. Don't interfere in my affairs!"