Chapter 266
Back in Jena, she seemed to be more sensitive to the cold, never venturing out in such thin attire during the deep winter.
Diana smiled at her, “I’m always in the office. It’s never cold there.”
Tessa observed their intimacy, reminiscent of close sisters, and it finally dawned on her why Teresa suddenly disliked her after learning about her relationship with Liam.
It was because of Diana.
“Teresa, Diana, I’ll leave you here. I’m heading back to the dorm,” Tessa said, ready to take her leave.
“Tessa, are you okay? Do you need me to call someone to take you to the clinic?” Teresa called out as Tessa started to walk away.
“No need, I can go by myself. Thanks, Teresa,” Tessa replied, shaking her head and then turning to leave.
Seeing Tessa’s sad figure, Teresa felt sorry for her. After all, Tessa was only nineteen.
“So, she’s your student,” Diana commented with a smile as they watched Tessa walk away. “We don’t bump into each other often. How about lunch together?”
Teresa shook her head, “Not today. I already have plans with Gabriel. How about the weekend? Come over to my place. Michael has been missing you.”
The news of Gabriel’s health issues was kept confidential, even from friends like Liam. Naturally, Teresa wasn’t going to share the information with Diana at this time.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her, but the news of Gabriel battling lymphoma could have unforeseen consequences for both Nebula and Capital Construction.
“Well, look at you, showering me with your lovey-dovey tales. I better get going, back to the grind,” Diana said with a teasing glance.
Seeing that Diana had apparently moved on from Liam, Teresa felt relieved and nodded, “Sure, I’ll call you this weekend.”
“Sounds good,” Diana responded with a nod, then got into the car.
Teresa watched Diana drive away before she got into her own car and headed to Nebula.
By the time she arrived at Gabriel’s office, Gabriel was in a meeting and not there, so she took a seat in his chair and grabbed a couple of books for her doctoral exams, planning to get some reading done.
But no sooner had she taken out the books than she noticed on Gabriel’s desk a cup of water that had long gone cold and a small pillbox containing three pills.
She recognized those pills immediately. They were expensive, high-efficacy cancer-fighting drugs—one of each type to be taken three times a day.
Clearly, the pills on the table weren’t meant for lunchtime as it wasn’t that time yet, but they were supposed to be taken earlier in the morning.
‘Gabriel hadn’t taken them’
In a surge of anger, Teresa shot up from the chair and stormed over to the office door, where she called out to Skylar, “Skylar, call Finley and bring him here.”
Skylar looked up to see Teresa’s barely concealed fury, felt a shiver down her spine, and nodded immediately, hurrying off to find Finley.
After getting Finley, the two went to see Teresa, sensing something was seriously off. They were both nervous, wondering what they could’ve possibly done to upset Teresa so unexpectedly.
Teresa, usually so easygoing and down-to-earth, had such a stormy expression on her face.
“You two, tell me what this is about,” Teresa demanded, gesturing to the three pills on Gabriel’s desk.
Just then, Gabriel, having learned of Teresa’s arrival, ended his meeting early and headed back to his office.
He halted just outside when he caught the tail of Teresa’s stern interrogation.
When Finley and Skylar saw the cancer medication Gabriel hadn’t taken, they instantly understood why the usually good-natured Teresa was so irate.
Though Gabriel’s cancer was kept under wraps from the public, both Finley and Skylar were well aware of it. Teresa had made it clear to them that whenever Gabriel was in the office, they had to ensure he took his medication.
“I’m sorry, Teresa. I had prepared Gabriel’s medicine this morning, and he said he’d take it in a bit, so I...” explained Skylar.
“No way, Skylar!” Teresa cut her off sharply before the woman could even explain, her voice so stern it bordered on scolding. “Skylar, I know you excel at your job, but if you can’t take my instructions seriously, then you’re out. And you too, Finley.”
“I’m so sorry, Teresa. It won’t happen again. I’ll make sure Gabriel takes his medication on schedule,” Skylar quickly promised.
“Sorry, Teresa. Next time, I’ll report Gabriel’s medication routine to you on time,” Finley apologized as well.
Having worked closely with Gabriel for years, they had come to respect their benevolent boss and naturally hoped for his swift recovery.
Their apologies were nothing if not sincere.
“Remember your words. There better not be a next time,” Teresa said, trying to calm her emotions. “Go on, get back to work.”
“Sure.” Both assistants nodded and respectfully made their way out, but upon reaching the door, they saw Gabriel entering and quickly nodded their heads to greet him, “Boss.”
“You can leave,” Gabriel said as he walked into the office, not sparing them a glance. His eyes were focused solely on Teresa as he dismissed them.
The pair nodded and hurried out, with Finley closing the office door behind.
“Gabriel, were you born yesterday? Don’t you realize how serious your condition is? How could you skip your medication?” Once the office door closed, Teresa confronted Gabriel, who was still standing by the doorway. Her eyes, now misty with emotion, looked at him with a mix of concern and anger.
Gabriel couldn’t help but smile at her fiery, teary-eyed expression. In an instant, he strode over to her and, before Teresa could react, wrapped her in his arms, holding her tight.
...
