Chapter 13
In a moment of distraction, Gabriella lost her balance and fell off the surfboard.
At the critical moment, Emilian opened his arms and caught her firmly, preventing her from falling into the waves.
“Are you alright?”
Meeting Emilian’s concerned gaze, Gabriella shook her head, indicating that she wasn’t hurt.
Daniel, looking flustered, asked anxiously, “Gabriella, are you hurt anywhere? Should we go to the hospital?”
“Mom, Mom, don’t you recognize me and Dad anymore? We’ve been looking for you for so long, and finally found you…..”
Jerome couldn’t hold back his tears. He wanted, just like before, to throw himself into his mother’s arms whenever he fell or felt sad, knowing she would always comfort him gently.
But this time, even as he sobbed and gasped for breath, Gabriella didn’t reach out to pat his back. Instead, she coldly stepped back, hiding behind another man, as if Daniel and their son’s arrival was a disaster.
Daniel could clearly see Gabriella’s rejection and distance toward him and their son. His heart ached, but he still forced himself to smile, lowering his pride to plead with the woman before him.
“Gabriella, I’ve figured everything out. Can we go home and talk? Jerry and I both need you. These past two months without you have been
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terrible, and we know we were wrong.
“You’re not safe with Emilian. He’s not as good as you think. Maybe everything is just a scheme to numb your judgment.”
Daniel’s cold gaze met Emilian’s, and an undercurrent surged in the air.
Unable to recover Gabriella’s body, with Jerome gravely ill, and learning of Cynthia’s betrayal, Daniel had fallen into utter darkness.
He drowned his sorrows in alcohol, sitting in the room he once shared with Gabriella, reminiscing about their happy past. Eventually, he was sent to the hospital for gastric lavage due to alcohol poisoning.
He knew he had made a terrible mistake and broken Gabriella’s heart.
But soon, he noticed something was off about Emilian.
Emilian had always been his sworn enemy, constantly setting traps for him in the business world.
More importantly, Emilian had pursued Gabriella before, even shamelessly declaring, “If Daniel ever lets you down, you can always come back to me.”
After Gabriella disappeared, Emilian was also absent from the
company, claiming to be abroad expanding the market. Daniel finally sensed something was wrong.
With Emilian’s resources and status, he could easily help Gabriella fake her death and escape.
That was why he took his son and searched everywhere for Gabriella and Emilian. After two months of hardship, they finally found them on this small island.
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He felt as if his dying heart was revived the moment he saw Gabriella.
As long as they met again, there was hope for reconciliation.
Unexpectedly, Emilian was the first to speak, interrupting his confession.
“You have the nerve to stand in front of Gabriella? Daniel, what did you promise me back then? You said you’d treat her well for a lifetime, but you made her into a shell of a person, so broken she’d rather die than return to that suffocating home!”
Daniel’s eyes darkened as he spoke arrogantly, “Emilian, she’s my wife. It’s not your place to take care of her. Our issues are none of your business!”
“You’re asking for it.”
Emilian’s anger had long been simmering. Now, seeing Daniel’s ugly face, he had no intention of holding back any longer.
He punched Daniel in the face so quickly that everyone was startled. Caught off guard, Daniel was knocked straight into the sea.
“Daniel, you’re asking for it! Do you deserve to show up in front of her and make her suffer again?”
Thinking of the medication Gabriella took to ease her emotions, the nights she woke up from nightmares, and how she always forced a smile to suppress her sadness, Emilian couldn’t stop himself. He pinned Daniel down and beat him mercilessly, grabbing his hair and submerging his face in the seawater.
“Don’t hit my dad!”
Jerome panicked, crying uncontrollably, and looked to Gabriella for
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help: “Mom, can you ask Emilian to stop hitting Dad? Dad and I just missed you so much—”
Gabriella simply watched as Emilian beat Daniel one–sidedly, feeling neither particularly satisfied nor relieved.
She looked at Jerome’s tear–streaked face, puzzled. Did they really miss her? Shouldn’t they be building a happy new family with Cynthia? How could they possibly miss someone like her, who was just a stumbling block?
So she ignored the two men still fighting and the sobbing Jerome nearby. She simply picked up her surfboard and walked up the beach, as if none of it had anything to do with her.
Even if Emilian killed Daniel, it would be nothing more than a passing joke to her.
