Chapter 216
"Mom, I'm hungry. Can we have breakfast now?" Teresa asked, watching them with a smile of relief.
"We've been waiting just for you! Come on, and Michael, let's hit the breakfast table," Sophia said as she picked scooped up the little one, and the four of them made their way to the dining room.
Whether it was hunger or an attempt to drown sorrow in food, Teresa was silent at the table, and her focus was solely on devouring her meal.
Patrick and Sophia exchanged worried glances at her pace; after she downed two bowls of Tacos al Pastor, several buns, two eggs, and a plate of noodles, and showed no signs of stopping, Sophia finally intervened, "Teresa, if you keep eating like that, you're going to fall sick."
And as if on cue, at the sound of Sophia's words, Teresa felt a wave of nausea, something rushing up her throat. She clamped her hand over her mouth, bolted to her feet, and raced for the bathroom.
With wide eyes, Sophia and Patrick glanced at each other, momentarily stunned, before following her.
"Grandpa, what's happening to mommy?" Little Michael asked from his high chair, his big, shiny eyes flittered between Teresa and Patrick in curiosity.
"Mommy just ate a little too much, buddy, no worries. Here, Michael, have another bun," Patrick said calmly, placing a bun on the little boy's plate.
Michael grabbed the bun, stuffed it in his mouth, and continued to chew the bun while keeping an eye on the surroundings.
In the bathroom, Teresa was bent over the toilet, retching violently, everything she had just eaten pouring out. Witnessing her discomfort, Sophia felt a pang of deep sympathy and stood behind her, gently rubbing her back.
A moment later, Teresa finally felt a bit of relief and stopped.
"Here, rinse your mouth," Sophia said as she took a glass of tap water from the housekeeper and handed it to Teresa.
Taking the glass with a shaky hand, Teresa rinsed her mouth and, with some effort, slowly stood up, feeling utterly weak and miserable.
"Teresa, before you got back, Katherine called me. She talked about Gabriel, he..."
"Mom, I'm so tired, I just wanna sleep for a little while," Teresa interrupted her, her eyes pleading with Sophia.
Seeing her daughter's wan face, Sophia's heart clenched with sympathy, "Alright, go get some rest. We can talk after you've slept," she agreed promptly.
With a feeble nod, Teresa turned to go upstairs, and Sophia supported her, personally escorting her back to her room.
It must have been due to extreme fatigue; the moment Teresa hit the bed and closed her eyes, she fell asleep within minutes.
Still, her dreams were strange and fragmented, and her sleep was restless. When she woke up and saw the twilight setting outside her window, she had no idea how long she had been asleep.
Feeling a dull ache in her lower abdomen, which she assumed was just her period approaching, Teresa didn’t think much of it. She got out of bed, found a tampon, and headed for the bathroom.
Indeed, her period had started, confirmed by the stains. However, the pain in her lower abdomen was more pronounced than usual, yet Teresa didn't dwell on it and went back to bed after leaving the bathroom.
……
At this moment, aside from lying in bed, she doesn’t want to do anything else; even her phone was switched off, not wanting any disturbances.
Although it was the weekend, William was overseas, caught up in a whirlwind of events and networking, utterly swamped. It wasn’t until he was on his way back to the hotel that he finally got a moment to himself.
He’d already seen the trending news about Gabriel and Kay Baxter. By now, the trends had been taken down, but domestic news and social media sites were awash with scandalous stories about Kay.
Anyone with a bit of sense could tell what kind of move this was.
Regardless, William was certain that Kay was not innocent, and whatever was happening to her, she had it coming.
After quickly scanning the latest reports about Gabriel and Kay Baxter, he searched for Gabriel's number and gave him a call.
Dakota had someone plant cameras in Teresa's office, and although she was reluctant to let him get involved or to bring it up to Gabriel, there is a good chance that Dakota contributed to their disagreements. It could clear up some confusion and soothe their strife if Gabriel found out.
At the other end of the phone, Gabriel, clad in his riding gear, had just finished a couple of laps around the yard on horseback. Now in the stables, he was carefully bathing and brushing the horses, his meticulous movements outshining both the housekeeper and the horse trainers in earnestness and professionalism.
The white purebred he was grooming—a beauty airlifted from Siberia three months back, procured for millions in an extravagant gesture for Teresa—stood calmly under his detailed care.
Of course, there was also the pony he had bought along with it, a gift for their beloved son, Michael.
On those free weekends, Teresa would join him for leisurely rides through the estate, though Michael was too young to ride and could only enjoy being held in the saddle for a while.
Now, as he groomed Teresa's horse, she flooded his thoughts.
He had tampered with her exam—his mistake, and he was willing to apologize. She could hit him, curse him out, even ignore him for days on end.
But one thing he couldn’t stomach was her entanglement with another man. Witnessing her make a choice in front of him was especially unbearable.
He loved her; he could indulge her in any whim but sharing her with another man was an absolute deal-breaker.
If she truly had something going on with Terry, well then, he was ready to end the marriage.
