Chapter 137 Gabriel's Resolve
Gabriel didn't immediately leave the hospital. Instead, he sat in his car with his eyes closed, his chest heaving with each breath, his brow still trembling uncontrollably.
Teresa wanted a divorce? Now, of all times, she decided to drop such a bombshell?
Why? Was it because she didn't love him anymore, regretted the day they made it official with that piece of paper?
Gabriel's mind was in disarray, a kind of chaos he'd never experienced before, leaving him clueless about what the right move was.
His phone vibrated over and over in his pocket, a relentless distraction he tried to ignore, desperate to regain some semblance of calm.
But the calmer he tried to be, the more agitated he felt, and Teresa's face kept flashing through his mind.
Dammit!
He wasn't sure what was more infuriating: his inability to settle down or the persistent buzzing in his pocket.
Abruptly, he opened his eyes, took the phone out, and saw it was Mason calling. He took the call.
"Gabriel, I heard you landed," Mason's weary voice came through, sounding older than its years.
"Yeah, at the hospital."
"How's Teresa? Did she wake up?" Mason's concern was palpable.
"Yeah, she's awake. Seems to be okay."
"That's a relief," Mason exhaled, "You've seen the videos online, right? If you have, head over here now."
Gabriel, with a quick furrowing of his brows, didn't ask any questions and just coolly replied with "Okay," then hung up to head straight for the police precinct.
...
Mason had spent a sleepless night worrying about Teresa and Liam, rushing to the precinct early in the morning to get the full picture.
But Mason wasn't the only one running on fumes; Raymond and William had also been up all night.
Currently, they were all at the precinct with Mason. Patrick had been concerned too and had wanted to come, but he hadn't fully recovered yet. William reassured him, promising justice for Teresa and ensuring she wouldn't suffer any further indignities. With that, Patrick was able to rest easy.
Gabriel arrived and immediately stormed into the conference room where Mason, Raymond, and William sat waiting.
"Gabriel... take a seat."
"What exactly happened?" Gabriel cut to the chase, his voice icy, not even waiting for the official to finish speaking, nor did he bother with greeting Mason or Raymond. His urgency left no room for niceties.
A few people glanced at Gabriel and shared a knowing smile. One of them gestured for him to take a seat, speaking promptly, "Gabriel, have a seat. The officer in charge of Mrs. Garcia’s case will fill you in on all the details in just a moment."
"What's the rush? Come over and sit down!" Raymond, a bit aggrieved that Gabriel had dashed back without signing a major contract and not even heeding Mason's words, growled at him with a stern face.
Gabriel gave Mason and Raymond a fleeting look, remained standing, and simply told the officer in charge, "Go ahead."
"Gabriel, here's the situation. The whole thing is actually a trap set by Yvonne to get back at Teresa." The officer didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point while looking at Gabriel. "Yesterday afternoon, Yvonne went to Liam's apartment, exploited Liam's trust, and drugged him with two substances. First, she knocked him out with one, and then, using Liam's phone, she called Teresa and sent panicky messages, claiming Liam felt sick and urging Teresa to come over. When Teresa tried to call and text Liam back with no response, she probably got worried something serious had happened to him, and went to his place."
As Gabriel listened, he stood still with his eyes narrowing and brows slowly knitting together in concentration, silent, waiting for the case officer to continue.
"Once Teresa arrived, she went up to Liam's apartment alone, not expecting the ambush Yvonne had set. Someone was waiting behind the door, and as soon as Teresa entered, she was seized, silenced, and sedated," the case officer recounted each detail with clarity.
"And then?" Gabriel pressed when the officer paused.
"Well, then..." The officer hesitated before adding, "Gabriel, you should really see for yourself the footage from the hidden cameras Yvonne installed in Liam's apartment. All the recordings were meant to be destroyed, but we had experts work through the night to recover them. There's no audio, but the visuals are crystal clear."
With that, the case officer brought over a laptop and set it in front of Gabriel. His expression grave, Gabriel settled down at the conference table and watched intently as the play key clicked.
The screen was indeed clear. On the laptop display, Teresa could be seen, unconscious, carried into Liam's bedroom by a tall man. On the large bed, Liam lay motionless as well.
After settling Teresa into bed, the man made a phone call, then began to undress both Teresa and Liam...
Unwaveringly, Gabriel's eyes were glued to the computer screen. As the video footage continued, his brows were tightly knit. The sorrow and disappointment that once darkened his eyes were slowly being replaced by anger and regret.
Although Teresa and Liam ended up in the same bed, and Liam had been drugged, nothing had happened between them.
To avoid hurting Teresa, Liam had deliberately injured himself in the bathroom, bloodied and battered. And there he was, her husband, who had not only failed to protect her from such danger and adversity but had also doubted her instead of trusting her, confronting her with accusations the moment he appeared.
His distrust, his questions were an insult, a blow to Teresa, who was both wounded and proud. It was probably no less devastating to her than everything Yvonne had done.
"What about the rest of the video? Who recorded that?" Gabriel's voice broke as the footage stopped right after showing Teresa, wrapped in a bath towel and drenched, leaving the apartment. When he finally spoke, his voice was hoarse and unrecognizable.
Since Liam had knocked himself unconscious and was carried out by the bodyguard, what about the rest of the video, which showed a man and a woman entangled in an embrace?
