Chapter 5
Anna slept for a long time. When she woke up groggy and thirsty, the room was completely dark.
She forced herself to sit up and reached for the nightstand–Gabriel always used to leave a glass of warm water there every night.
But it was empty tonight.
A hollow feeling hit Anna, followed by a self–deprecating smile. Since Rachel got pregnant, even Gabriel’s pretend love couldn’t go back to what it used to be.
She got up and went downstairs. Passing the guest room, she heard Gabriel’s voice and stopped.
“It’s my fault Anna got hurt. I shouldn’t have acted so carelessly,” Rachel sobbed.
“You can’t go hungry while pregnant. Anna’s just overreacting. It’s all my fault for spoiling her. Don’t cry, sweetheart. My heart breaks when you cry.” Gabriel held her, stroking the top of her head. “You’re becoming such a crybaby lately.”
“Don’t make fun of me,” Rachel cooed, pouting with a look of grievance on her face, which was incredibly alluring.
Gabriel gulped and looked away. The incident on the ship had been too intense, nearly causing Rachel to miscarry. He didn’t dare act carelessly
now.
“Do you miss me, Gabriel? Too bad Anna’s hurt. She can’t satisfy you
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now.”
“Even if she wasn’t hurt, she’s not as tempting as you, sweetheart. I can wait. Once the baby stabilizes, I won’t hold back,” Gabriel smirked.
“I can help you, Gabriel.” Rachel slid downward as she spoke, kneeling between his legs.
The contrast between her seductive expression and innocent tone, combined with her movements, made Gabriel groan involuntarily.
“Hmm, you little slut. You’re amazing.”
***
Seeing this scene again, Anna felt nothing in her heart. She numbly continued downstairs for water.
Due to her head injury, she had slept exceptionally deeply, only waking the next evening.
Gabriel rushed to explain, his eyes flickering. “Honey, I tried to save you, but you fell too fast. I couldn’t catch you.”
Anna looked at him, too tired to call out his lies, and just asked, “Where’s Rachel?”
“If you need someone to blame, blame me. The girl is just clumsy. She didn’t mean to crash into you. She could have gotten hurt herself,” Gabriel defended Rachel.
“I see,” Anna said, her voice flat and her emotions hard to read. “Tomorrow is the anniversary of my parents‘ deaths. Will you come with me?”
“Of course,” Gabriel said, relieved that Anna didn’t seem angry, but
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Chapter 5
then he looked at her again.
again
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He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was different. She seemed to love him less when she looked at him.
Before Gabriel could ask, Anna had closed her eyes.
She stayed groggy all night, stuck in a daze. Gabriel tried talking to her a few times, but she didn’t respond.
The next day was the anniversary of Henry and Maria Mitchell’s death —Anna’s parents. She woke up early, got cleaned up, changed into a black casual outfit, and left in Gabriel’s car.
Gabriel thoughtfully prepared breakfast and some items for the memorial. Seeing her pale face, he felt bad and assumed she was really upset, so he tried to make small talk during the drive.
Anna stayed uninterested, giving short answers.
As soon as the car reached the cemetery, Gabriel got a phone call that made him look worried. He slammed on the brakes, stopping suddenly by the roadside.
Anna was thrown forward unexpectedly, her shoulder turning red from the seatbelt. She couldn’t help asking, “What’s wrong?”
“Honey, there’s an emergency at the company I need to handle,” Gabriel said with a really upset face, unable to hide how tense and worried he was. “Go pay your respects to Mom and Dad first. I’ll be back soon.”
Anna nodded “thoughtfully” and stepped out of the car. Before she could steady herself, Gabriel sped off in a hurry, nearly pulling her
over.
Watching the dust kicked up by the tires, Anna smiled. Gabriel seemed
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to have forgotten his phone was connected to Bluetooth. She’d clearly seen the caller ID marked as Rae.
Rachel must have gotten hurt and called to cry to Gabriel, who didn’t hesitate to abandon Anna for her.
But Anna didn’t care anymore.
She no longer loved Gabriel, and it seemed even her resentment toward him had faded.
