Chapter 155 Gabriel, Are You Here for Me?
"Why did you lie to me?" Jessica asked angrily, her cheeks puffed up.
Upon witnessing the tense exchange, Quentin tactfully excused himself from the room.
"Have a seat," Gabriel said.
Compared to Jessica's anger, he appeared exceptionally calm, as if nothing was worth mentioning.
But the calmer he was, the angrier Jessica became.
"I'm not sitting!"
Jessica shook her head and continued to press, "I just want to know why you lied to me."
Gabriel lifted his eyes to look at her as she finished her words.
The next moment, his thin lips uttered the answer, "I was afraid"
Those words left Jessica suddenly stunned.
"How could you be afraid? What are you afraid of?" Jessica asked in disbelief.
Gabriel suddenly stood up, reached out, grabbed Jessica's hand, and led her to a relatively private place in the hotel.
Then, taking in a deep breath, Gabriel held her slender shoulders and said sincerely, "Because I was afraid that if you knew the truth, you would distance yourself from me."
Jessica pushed him away. "But you shouldn't have lied to me. That only makes me want to distance myself more."
She said, "Do you know how scared I was when I thought I had gotten drunk and pulled a random stranger to stay with me? I even thought, thank goodness..."
Realizing something, Jessica abruptly shut her mouth.
"Thank goodness what?" Gabriel pressed.
"Nothing."
After saying that, she lowered her eyes.
She was extremely grateful that the person she pulled wasn't someone else, but him.
Did he know how scared and worried she was at that time?
"I have a question for you," Thinking of Grace's words, Jessica said.
"Go ahead."
"Well..." Jessica felt a bit embarrassed and hesitant to speak.
But to get to the bottom of it, she mustered up the courage to ask, "Grace said you came to Seabrook Valley specifically to find me. Is that true?"
She couldn't deny that when she asked this question, she still held a sliver of hope in her heart.
In the few seconds waiting for the answer, her heart suddenly raced, pounding away.
She was anxious, and also nervous.
How would he answer?
After posing the question, Jessica almost held her breath, quietly awaiting his response.
Thinking about how he almost scared her off, Gabriel lowered his eyes and replied, "No, I happened to have business to handle here. Quentin said he wanted to surprise Grace, so we came together. It was a coincidence that we met you."
When she got the answer, it wasn't what she wanted at all.
Jessica's eyes, which had just brightened a bit, suddenly dimmed again. Her heart felt bitter and sour.
She knew she shouldn't have hoped, because the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.
But what could she do?
She still felt a blockage in her chest, and it felt so uncomfortable.
Forcing herself to gather her emotions and compose herself, she lifted her head and tried to smile. "Thank you for your honest answer."
"It's quite reasonable for friends to travel together. Alright, I understand," Jessica added.
Jessica swiftly turned on her heels, flung open the door, and dashed away in haste.
She was afraid.
Afraid that lingering any longer would expose all her emotions—her disappointment, loneliness, and unease—she worried that he would simply view her as a mere joke by then!
It was just a normal trip, and she was overthinking it.
Besides, they were both divorced.
'Jessica, you fool. You're divorced, what are you still hoping for?' She mocked herself inwardly.
Back at the hotel, she quickly packed her luggage and headed to the airport.
It wasn't until she reached the airport that she called Grace, "Grace, I'm sorry, I'm already at the airport. I plan to leave today."
"What?" Grace was naturally surprised, "You've only been here for two days. Didn't you say you'd leave tomorrow? I'll see you off."
"No need," Jessica refused.
Then she said, "I know you're very busy. You took time off just for me, and you'll have to stay up late to catch up on work later. It's very tiring."
"And..."
Thinking of the other reason, Jessica's voice noticeably lowered. "I asked him, and he denied it."
"He said it wasn't true. Quentin wanted to surprise you, so he didn't tell you in advance. He did tag along."
Hearing this, Grace suddenly felt very frustrated.
It was all her fault. If she hadn't said anything, Jessica wouldn't have asked and wouldn't have been hurt again.
"I'm sorry, Jessica, I..." Grace wanted to explain, to comfort her.
But halfway through, she didn't know how to continue.
"Grace, it's okay. I know you meant well. How could I blame you? I just don't want to see him right now. When you're done filming, we can meet up again," said Jessica.
Grace reluctantly said before hanging up the phone, "Alright, Jessica, make sure to stay safe and take care of yourself."
"Don't worry, I will."
After hanging up, Grace sighed and walked out of the bedroom.
"What happened?" Quentin asked.
"Gabriel," Grace said through gritted teeth.
"When did he offend you?" Quentin asked.
"I even spoke up for him, thinking he came here to chase after Jessica. But no, he was on a business trip and just happened to run into Jessica," Grace said as she was holding her anger.
"Douchebag, it makes me so mad."
The more Grace spoke, the angrier she became.
Quentin was stunned for a moment and asked in confusion, "Just happened to run into Jessica? Who told you that?"
"He told Jessica himself!" Grace said in frustration.
Quentin shook his head and said, "No way. He came here specifically to chase after Jessica."
"Forget it, I don't believe a word you guys say anymore," said Grace.
"I swear," Quentin said solemnly, "Gabriel did come here to chase after Jessica. It was intentional, not coincidental."
"Forget it," Grace shook her head. "There's no point in arguing about this now. Jessica has already left."
"Left? When?"
"Just now."
Quentin immediately called Gabriel. "I have bad news for you. Your ex-wife has already flown back."
"What did you say?" Gabriel was completely caught off guard and was utterly shocked.
After hanging up, Gabriel immediately called Jessica, but her phone was already off.
As the plane soared into the sky, Jessica closed her eyes and sank into her seat.
The two-hour journey flew by swiftly. Feeling fatigued from the lack of rest during the trip, Jessica grabbed a bite to eat upon arriving home and promptly retired to bed.
Hours later, the doorbell rang frantically.
Looking at the time, it was already 10 PM.
'I have slept for almost four hours?'
Outside, the doorbell was still ringing frantically, over and over. It was very noisy.
It definitely wasn't Grace, so who could it be?
Dragging her tired body up from bed, Jessica opened the door.
However, when she saw the person outside, she was instantly stunned, as if she had turned to stone.
