Chapter 40 Who is he?
Gabriel glanced at her expressionlessly and remained silent.
That's when Jessica remembered her cell phone was still ringing. She quickly grabbed the phone and answered, "Hello?"
Mackenzie's voice came from the other end, "Finally decided to pick up my call? I rang you several times Yesterday and even knocked on your door; you didn't answer or open the door. If you didn't pick up today, I was about ready to get someone to break the lock!"
Jessica raised a hand to her forehead, regaining some clarity. "Yesterday? Did you call me? Came to my place?"
"I dropped by yesterday afternoon and knocked for ages. Your phone was ringing inside for quite a while; don't tell me you weren't home."
"I left without my phone yesterday afternoon. I was about to go out when I noticed it was dead. I left it charging at home, then went to pick up Danielle before heading to the supermarket to get some stuff."
From the other side, Mackenzie's exasperation was palpable, "So you're saying you've been clueless this whole time?"
She couldn't believe it. From Yesterday until now, all the critical calls from the production side, Jessica had been at home all day going through scripts, not in contact with anyone else, oblivious to everything!
Mackenzie smiled helplessly, letting out a sigh of relief. Ignorance was bliss in this situation. No change was good, although Mackenzie needed help to fathom why the production team and Joseph had changed their mind.
Despite Mackenzie's not being explicitly clear, Jessica, as an adult, sensed to the urgency in Mackenzie's voice. Over the next two days, she probed indirectly and managed to catch wind of some of the situation.
But if SH Entertainment were pushing someone for the part, by all logic, her role would likely be jeopardized. Yet, oddly enough, the rumor mill suggested someone was fighting to keep her.
She couldn't figure out who among the people she knew had the clout to actually make SH Entertainment, an authoritative company in the entertainment industry, compromise.
She asked Mackenzie, but Mackenzie didn't know. When Mackenzie asked her, she knew even less. Just who could it be?
At the old Harriman family estate in Xyleria, Nicholas was confined to the house by Michael. Bored out of his mind, he decided to call Gabriel.
Surprisingly, Gabriel actually answered today.
"What's up?" Gabriel's voice was deep and slightly cold. He suspected the call wouldn't be about anything important. Still, given that he was away from the Harriman family and Michael wasn't in the best of health, with the company overwhelmed with complicated matters, emergencies could arise. When he saw the call, he didn't hang up and answered.
True to expectations, Nicholas started with some trivial chatter, " Gabriel, when are you planning to come back?"
"Are you hoping I will come back to divert Michael's attention from you so he will stop lecturing you all the time?"
Nicholas was speechless.
He coughed and said, "I'm just anxious to meet your girlfriend. You said you have a girlfriend now, but you haven't told the family. Grandpa has been waiting for so long. When are you planning to bring her home?"
Before Gabriel could respond, suddenly, an elderly yet robust voice sounded at the door, "What?"
Nicholas, who had been lounging with one leg over the other while on the phone, quickly sat up straight, "Grandpa?"
On the other end of the line, before he could explain, Gabriel's eyelids twitched fiercely as he fell silent.
Michael walked in, leaning on his cane and looking at Nicholas with a tense face. "You on the phone with your brother?"
Nicholas: "Ah... yes..."
"The girlfriend you just mentioned, is it what I'm thinking?"
Nicholas swallowed hard, sensing Michael's increasing annoyance with him due to Gabriel's absence. He felt like the cane in Michael's hand might come crashing down on him at any moment.
Suddenly, he burst into laughter, not bothering to hang up the phone, and said with an exceptionally hearty laugh, "Yes, He got a girlfriend!"
On the other end of the line, Gabriel closed his eyes and warned sternly, "Nicholas!"
With his brother not around to intervene, Nicholas found the immediate threat of the walking stick more pressing. He removed his cell phone from his ear, ignoring Gabriel’s stern voice coming through the line. Flashing a cheeky grin at Michael before him, he proclaimed, "Grandpa, my brother's already taken. You'll be holding your great-grandkid in future!"
Michael beamed with joy, "Really?"
"Cross my heart!" Nicholas swore, then decisively hung up the call.
Gabriel was left speechless.
