Chapter 76 Cheesy Nickname
"Gabriel," Jessica called out his name.
Although her phone was clean and there were no shady messages, being accused by him like this made her heart heavy.
The feeling was as if she had truly betrayed him, betrayed the marriage, and committed some unforgivable act.
Yet, it was he who betrayed the marriage.
Well, since he was so eager to see, let him see.
Jessica lowered her hands, not resisting anymore.
Gabriel looked at her WhatsApp interface, initially not intending to look further, but his finger accidentally touched the chat with Vincent.
When he saw "Brother Lucas," he instantly clenched his fist, feeling a surge of uncontrollable anger rushing through him.
Brother Lucas?
This nickname echoed in Gabriel's mind like a curse, impossible to shake off.
She had never called herself that way, yet she used such an intimate term for another man.
Wasn't that revealing enough?
Gabriel lowered his hand, turned off the phone, and handed it back to Jessica.
With a sarcastic tone, he said, "So this is the reason you didn't want me to see your phone."
"What reason?" Jessica's head buzzed upon hearing his words.
What did he mean?
Her phone was perfectly clean, but now he made it sound like she was hiding some shameful secret.
"Gabriel, what do you mean?"
"What do I mean?" Gabriel looked at her with irony, "Such a cheesy nickname like Brother Lucas, I never knew you could use such a term."
Jessica opened her mouth to speak, but upon hearing Gabriel's words, she abruptly closed it, giving up.
Cheesy?
A polite term from her became cheesy.
And what about him?
Time and time again, he abandoned her for Diana, holding and comforting Diana in front of her, without considering her feelings.
Did he ever think that she, too, could feel pain, care, and hurt?
No.
Not at all. His heart and eyes were filled only with Diana.
If he had even a tiny bit of her in his heart, he wouldn't repeatedly hurt her.
"Gabriel, don't you think you're being too harsh? Me and Vincent have nothing between us, even if there were, it's all because of you."
Jessica was also frustrated, blurting out all sorts of assumptions, a reckless act of ‘self-harm.’
"What did you say?" Gabriel's veins bulged upon hearing this, visibly enraged.
His sharp eyes pierced Jessica like arrows as if he wanted to devour her whole.
"Gabriel, you believe you can do such things, but I'm not allowed the same? You and Diana have free rein, yet I'm condemned for using a simple nickname?" Jessica's hand pressed against her chest. "Is that really fair?"
Gabriel's deep eyes locked onto her coldly, "Just a nickname?
"What else do you want?"
Jessica fell silent, lowering her eyelashes, suddenly feeling a sense of desolation in her heart.
Often, explanations were futile.
Gabriel had no speck of trust in her.
Initially, upon seeing him, she was surprised but happy, joyful even.
She thought, for whatever reason, he had finally come to pick her up.
The incident with Grace at the mall had left a shadow in her heart, filled with grievances, worries, and fears.
She wanted to hug him, to share her fears with him.
But now, it seemed unnecessary.
Everything was pointless.
"Never mind, interpret it however you want.
"I'm tired and want to rest."
After saying this, Jessica went upstairs with her phone.
She filled the bathtub and soaked herself in it after rinsing.
Although she promised herself not to be sad, upset, or angry, once alone in a confined space, she couldn't help but overthink.
No one knew how scared she was when Grace asked her to call Gabriel at the mall.
Clutching her phone, her heart was pounding with fear, and nervousness, afraid that Gabriel would reject her call without hesitation.
She was even more afraid he wouldn't come to pick her up.
But all her worries turned out to be a joke; he didn't answer her call at all.
Now she asked herself:
"Gabriel, where were you when I needed you?
"I called you, seeking your help. Where were you?
"Did you know I was trapped in the mall today?
"Did you know when they escorted me out of the mall, I was so worried for the baby, I was afraid of being surrounded and chased by those fans?
"Do you know how scared I was when I fell into the crowd, and how much I hoped you would rush to me and hold me?
"You didn't know, you know nothing.
"And you won't know, if it wasn't for Vincent's arrival, if he hadn't rescued me from the crowd, I wouldn't have made it out.
"Truth be told, I could have been trampled to death right there."
Her legs still bore the bruises.
One after another, bruises of different shades, some light blue, some deep purple, looking terrifying.
She was tired, truly exhausted.
Too tired even to explain.
Jessica couldn't remember how long she soaked in the bath; she was too tired to keep her eyes open.
Finally, summoning the last of her strength, she put on her pajamas and crawled into bed, falling asleep.
When Gabriel came up, he carried a strong smell of smoke.
Seeing the person on the bed already in dreamland, he silently mocked himself.
He was downstairs smoking alone, feeling extremely unhappy; she, on the other hand, had already fallen asleep after bathing.
Sliding his phone, Gabriel called Oscar, "Look up this person named Vincent for me, I need his information."
After taking a shower, Gabriel emerged to see Jessica's phone lighting up and vibrating continuously.
He reached out instinctively to answer.
But recalling her resistance when he took her phone earlier, he withdrew his hand silently.
At that moment, his own phone rang.
It was Grace calling.
"Hello," his voice was cool and distant.
"Where's Jessica? Is she home?"
"She's already asleep," Gabriel replied.
Upon hearing that she was asleep, Grace breathed a sigh of relief. Remembering her fall in the crowd, she immediately asked anxiously, "How is she? Is she seriously injured? Has she received medical attention?"
"What do you mean, she's injured?"
