Chapter 382
During the meal, Gabriel used the excuse of going to the restroom to sneak upstairs.
Teresa, enjoying her Croissant, didn't pay much attention and didn't notice that Gabriel had gone upstairs.
Back in the room, Gabriel hastily found a sheet of paper identical to the original and began to write, mimicking Teresa's handwriting to the best of his ability, down to every word and punctuation mark.
Having been with Teresa for half a year, he was quite familiar with her writing. Cloning it could have been better, but it was at least 90% similar.
After finishing the text, he tried to replicate Teresa's signature placement and signed his name. Then he grabbed Teresa's lipstick and pressed his thumbprint onto the paper.
After settling everything, he summoned a female housekeeper whose hands were quite similar to Teresa's. He had the housekeeper mimic Teresa's handprint and press it onto the pledge.
"Only you and I know about this," Gabriel threatened starkly after the housekeeper had pressed her handprint. "If a third person finds out, the consequences will be more severe than you can imagine. Understood?"
"I understand, Liam," the housekeeper nodded, not looking to spell her doom.
"Leave now!"
"Yes, sir." With another nod, the housekeeper quickly exited the room.
Once she was gone, Gabriel carefully folded the pledge the same way Teresa had originally folded it. He pressed it firmly and tucked it into Teresa's marriage certificate.
Feeling pleased, he went downstairs and continued to enjoy dinner with Teresa.
After dinner, Teresa spent over an hour playing with their dog, Croissant, before bathing him. She watched over him until he fell asleep, only then returning to her room.
As soon as she was back in her room, Gabriel emerged from the study, following her in and then embracing her from behind. Teresa was standing at the desk, engrossed in a book for her doctoral exams.
"I was preparing for my doctorate, wasn't I?" Teresa asked, glancing back at him.
After their intense afternoon together, Teresa and Gabriel had fallen back into their pre-amnesia routine.
Gabriel leaned down and kissed the shell of her ear, nodding. "Yes, my darling. You're going to be a professor," he whispered.
Teresa rolled her eyes at him and continued flipping through the pages of her book without a response.
"Sweetheart, weren't you looking for the pledge? I'll get it for you now," he said, pulling open a drawer on the desk. He then retrieved their marriage certificate and opened it.
Teresa turned her head, her eyes landing on the paper tucked inside the certificate. She set down her book, reached for the paper, and unfolded it.
The pledge read exactly as she had expected:
"I, Gabriel, take Teresa as my wife. From this day forward, I vow to love, protect and cherish her. I will never leave her side and willingly agree never to upset her for the rest of our lives. Should I ever make her unhappy, she can seek a divorce at any time, and I will not contest it. Furthermore, should a divorce occur, custody of our son, Michael, shall solely belong to Teresa, with no dispute from me."
The contents of the pledge matched word for word what she remembered in her mind.
Yet...
With a look of puzzling, she turned to Gabriel.
"Is something wrong?" Gabriel tightened his embrace and gently kissed her lips inquiringly.
"Did I write this? Since when did my handwriting get so good?"
Gabriel chuckled and nodded, "Of course, you write well, Sweetheart. You always have to write well."
Teresa furrowed her brow, thought for a moment, and then let it go. With a hint of suspicion, she turned to Gabriel and said, "Gabriel, have you really never made me angry?"
"Oh, I have, but you've already punished me for it," Gabriel said, removing the pledge from his hand and placing it on the desk. Then he turned her around to face him, looked at her earnestly, and said, "From now on, I won't ever make you mad again."
Teresa pouted, "Then where's the fun in arguing with my dear?"
Gabriel laughed heartily as he looked at her, the corners of his lips curling into a smile. In the next second, he leaned down, scooped her up sideways into his arms, kissed her forehead, and said, "If the joy of arguing is gone, we'll find it elsewhere."
"Hey, Gabriel, aren't you tired? Your legs aren't giving out?" Teresa realized where they were heading as he carried her towards the bed, and she quickly asked.
"I'm not tired, and I'm not at all weak. I could go another four hours," he replied confidently.
Teresa gave him a sideways glance.
What species is this man? An absolute beast!
...
Teresa and Gabriel's grand wedding was approaching, and Diana was supposed to be one of the bridesmaids, but now she no longer had that privilege.
Truthfully, she regretted it. I really regretted it.
She had shot herself in the foot.
Even though Gabriel hadn't taken it out on her, she knew that she and Teresa could no longer be friends, not even acquaintances. She had no chance of fitting into Teresa's high-society circles ever again.
Sitting on the carpet in front of her apartment's floor-to-ceiling windows, Diana genuinely didn't know what to do next—the past week had been the most confusing, helpless, and aimless time of her life.
Even more so than when she found out that Liam never loved her, to the extent of not even caring about the child she was carrying.
At least back then, Teresa and Hayden were willing to help her unconditionally.
Now, losing Teresa as her best friend also meant she completely lost Hayden as her friend.
"Ring... Ring... Ring..."
As she sat dazed, unaware of the time passing, the doorbell suddenly rang.
Who could it be looking for her at this hour?
With a sense of utter dejection, Diana dragged herself up and slowly opened the door.
"Diana, you wretched thing, feeling high and mighty, huh? Why don't you keep it up now!"
The moment the door swung open, a furious woman lunged straight at Diana, snatching her long hair with the speed of lightning and repeatedly smashing her head against the door as she cursed loudly.
Diana, caught off guard, felt her forehead slammed against the door with loud thuds. After several blows, she finally snapped to her senses and, in a surge of rage, forcefully shoved the woman, grasping her hair.
"Emily, are you out of your freaking mind!"
Emily stumbled backward, her high heels twisting beneath her. With a sharp scream, she toppled to the ground.
Lying there, Emily screamed in agony. Glaring at Diana with a twisted face, she continued to hurl insults: "Diana, you're nothing but trash. Liam got sick of you, tossed you aside like a used rag, and now what? You're sniffing around my brother again, trying to leech his money, huh? Let me tell you, forget it! You won't see a dime from my brother in this lifetime, nor will you step foot in the Cheng family's home."
