Chapter 114 Catherine's BFF
With Karen as Katherine's BFF and Dakota being Aaron's cousin, he couldn't just target her, or it would seem heartless.
If Dakota hadn't maxed out on embarrassment, he was going to see it through, to the bitter end, and maybe...
A sly, sensual smirk curled the corners of Gabriel’s lips as he pocketed his phone.
Meanwhile, just out of the restroom, Teresa's phone started buzzing non-stop in her pocket. It was a message from Diana in their private group chat.
"Dakota’s got some nerve, showing her face after your man's gone public. Why's she making a mockery of herself like that? Desperate much?"
Teresa chuckled as she opened the image Diana sent of Dakota’s latest Twitter post.
"Why lose your cool, Diana? Teresa's got her Gabriel. Dakota’s just digging her own grave." No sooner had she sent the message, Hayden chimed in.
"Jealous much..."
"Jealous much..." Hayden echoed.
Teresa just stared, speechless. Rather than joining the fray, she decided to ghost them, stowed her phone away, and pretended none of it happened as she returned to her seat.
"I’m ready, let’s go," Teresa announced to Gabriel as she rejoined him.
"Sure thing." He gracefully took her hand, and they left as naturally as any couple would.
After a hearty meal and a few drinks, Teresa felt drowsy. She yawned delicately, letting herself be wrapped in Gabriel’s embrace and resting against his broad, warm chest. Before she knew it, sleep had whisked her away.
She wasn’t sure how long she had slept when she finally woke up, fully rested, from Gabriel's bed in Garcia’s mansion. Picking up the silenced phone, she was shocked to see it was already past four in the afternoon.
She'd conked out for nearly three hours, and Gabriel didn’t wake her.
Apart from the time, her phone screen was bombarded with a barrage of messages and two missed calls.
She got out of bed and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows. After returning the calls, she sifted through the messages, replying to the important ones and ignoring the rest. But her brow furrowed instantly when she opened the group chat with Hayden and Diana.
Those two could really talk. During her nap, they'd blasted over a hundred messages. Scrolling to the unread messages at the top and, upon opening the first, all she could muster was a stunned silence.
There they go again, talking about Teresa!
The first screenshot Diana sent nearly took her breath away... sheesh! It was a post from Gabriel on Twitter.
Since when did Gabriel even use Twitter?! Unbelievable.
But the content of his post was even more astounding.
The caption read, "The love of my life, forever and always," followed by two photos.
One photo was of intertwined fingers, their hands, and matching rings visible and distinct. Teresa glanced at her own ring finger; there was no doubt, it was her hand and the ring she wore.
The second photo was of Gabriel, cradling Teresa in her sleep, his lips pressed gently to the top of her head.
Their faces were mostly hidden, with only the lower portion of Gabriel's face and a little portion of Teresa's were visible, the remainder of their features tucked under the bend of his neck.
That sneaky guy! He must have snapped these shots on their way home while she was passed out.
"Teresa, the single folks of the world are forced to witness PDA by your very own hubby," teased Hayden's message.
"I can't do this anymore. Starting today, I'm deleting Twitter. Otherwise, I fear I'll end up as Teresa's sworn enemy," Diana teased.
"Count me in. I'm thinking of leaving this group," Hayden followed up, then promptly changed her group nickname to 'This person has left the group.'
Teresa hastily exited the app and opened Twitter, only to find that, in just a few hours, Gabriel had rocketed to the top of the trending list with the headline, "Following their official announcement, Gabriel showers the internet with more PDA."
Curious, Teresa clicked through, and there it was, the post that had set the internet ablaze.
The reposts have hit the million mark, with several million comments and over ten million likes.
At this point, there's no chance of her getting Gabriel to delete it.
That jerk, what's next? Plastering her name and picture all over Twitter? Picking a fight with someone like Dakota? Childish and so petty!
Fuming, Teresa stuffed her phone into her purse and stormed out of the room, heading downstairs.
"Mommy, Mommy!" Downstairs, Gabriel was engrossed in playing with Croissant. Seeing Teresa, the little one immediately darted into her arms.
Hugging her son tightly, Teresa kissed his chubby cheeks and cooed, "Sweetheart, Grandma and Grandpa miss you. How about we go see them now, sounds good?"
The little guy nodded vigorously, grinning ear-to-ear, "Uh-huh, I want to go with Mommy and Daddy to see Grandma and Grandpa."
"No Daddy, just you and me," Teresa corrected, holding her son close as they made for the door, signaling to the housekeeper to get the car ready.
Gabriel, noticing Teresa's irritation with him, couldn't help but smile and followed them out the door.
"Honey,...."
"Shut it. Don't you follow us." Teresa cut him off before he could finish, her pout firmly in place as she commanded.
With those words, she got into the car with Croissant.
"Bye Daddy, we're off!" the little guy waved happily.
Gabriel watched the pair drive off, a resigned smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Even though Gabriel was clear about his feelings for Teresa more than three years ago, her mixed signals still left him guessing whether she'd actually fallen for him or not.
...
