Chapter 202 Worst Case, Divorce and Move On
However, as he entered and caught sight of what was taking place inside the office, he was thunderstruck, frozen in one place.
But the shock lasted only a second before Gabriel charged forward, his astonishment replaced by rage. Seeing Terry passionately kissing Teresa, pinning her on the office desk, Gabriel grabbed him by the collar, yanked him up, and swung his clenched fist fiercely.
"Ah!" "Thump!"
Terry cried out in pain as his body slammed against the wall.
Gabriel paid Terry no further heed and quickly took off his overcoat, draping it around Teresa.
At that moment, Teresa was half-lying on the desk, her blouse torn open, revealing much of her fair skin.
Just as Gabriel bent down to wrap her in his coat, Teresa's consciousness snapped back into focus. She looked around, piecing together the events that had transpired with Terry and felt utterly confounded. How had she ended up in Terry's tangle? Gabriel had been the person in her thoughts a few minutes before, hadn't it?
"Teresa..." Gabriel began.
"Thump!"
Terry had taken a punch and was lunging for Teresa again. Gabriel finished covering her with his coat, then spun around and landed another brutal punch, catching Terry completely off guard, and he crumpled to the ground dazed.
Two punches were hardly enough to satisfy Gabriel's fury.
Without hesitation, he grabbed Terry by the shirt once more, pulled him up, and readied his fist for another blow to his face...
"Gabriel, enough!" Teresa don't know what happened to her, but seeing Terry with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, she immediately threw herself in front of him, shielding him and glaring at Gabriel with rage.
Gabriel's fist, already in mid-swing, stopped in its move as his eyes, once filled with towering anger, rapidly gave way to shock and pain.
He couldn't believe it. Teresa was actually defending Terry.
"Teresa, you and him... was it consensual?" His hand was still gripping Terry's collar, veins throbbing on the back of it as he looked at her, his striking and usually composed features now marred by a pain he'd never shown before.
By now, Terry had come to his senses after taking a couple of solid punches, and as his consciousness fully returned, he was completely stunned by everything unfolding before him.
Facing the man so close to her, Teresa didn't even understand what she and Terry had done, with no rational explanation handy. And her anger toward Gabriel didn’t subside as she bit back, "Yes, it was consensual. Didn't you see it all?"
"Teresa!" Gabriel's voice was almost a growl, the call laced with pain and anger so vehement it seemed as if he could crush every tooth in his mouth.
"It was you who told me to choose, remember?" Teresa’s words came out more harshly than her heart intended.
"I told you to choose... Ha..." Gabriel let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh, "So that's it, you've quickly moved on to Terry?"
Teresa frowned slightly, her lips parted to speak, but no words came out.
She just didn't want Gabriel to keep meddling in her decisions and her life like he did this time.
She loves him, but not to the extent of abandoning everything, let alone her dreams and dignity.
"Teresa, it seems that I have poured all my heart into someone who doesn't appreciate it!" Gabriel sneered coldly, articulating each word as if it bled from deep within, and then he let go of Terry, turned on his heel, and strode past Teresa, out the door.
Standing there, her mind was a blank canvas buzzing with noise that was shattered by the resounding slam of the office door. She faltered to the floor as her knees gave out.
"Teresa!"
"Don't touch me!"
Before Terry could even touch her, Teresa had already sidestepped, wrapping Gabriel's trench coat tightly around her.
"Teresa!" Terry knelt before her, consumed by self-reproach, stammering, "I don't know why I did that, but I do like..."
"Stop," Teresa cut him off before he could finish, mustering a faint smile, "Terry, let's pretend nothing happened today. From now on, let's just be colleagues, okay?"
"Teresa, I'm sorry, I really don't know why I was so impulsive today, I..."
"There's no need," she interrupted him again, "Maybe it's best you don't come to my office anymore. If there's something important, have someone else pass the message or just call or text, alright?"
She didn't want any more misunderstandings about her and Terry to spread. Maybe she should've been more cautious and kept her distance from him earlier.
She had always thought that nothing could ever happen between them, which may have contributed to the way that today played out and even allowing Gabriel to catch them in the act.
"Alright," Terry nodded heavily after a long look at her, agreeing with a twinge of sorrow, "I'm really sorry, Teresa. If that helps, I can explain things to Gabriel."
"No need, don't say anything to him, it's better that way," Teresa replied hastily, shaking her head.
Some things only get messier with explanations. Her situation with Gabriel was complicated enough already.
"Okay, I get it," Terry agreed with a nod, and after giving her one final look, he turned and walked away.
...
Teresa had no idea how she made it through the afternoon classes.
Afterward, she went back to her office, splashed her face with cold water, and sat blankly at her desk, lost in thought.
The early evening darkness of winter set in quickly. After almost two hours in a daze at her desk, it was past six when little Michael sent a video call invite. Teresa snapped back to reality, cleared her mind, and took the call.
Michael said she missed her and Daddy and wanted them to come home for dinner.
After ending the call with Michael, Teresa gripped her phone, looking at the pinned contact of Gabriel on her chat screen. She remembered the night Gabriel assertively pinned his own contact, and her lips involuntarily curved into a sweet, blissful smile.
