13

GABRIEL
After a few minutes of silence, Elazar spoke again. “By the way, Gabriel, Coulson. It’s only a week until your company’s sports fest, right?”
Coulson wiped his mouth. “Yep, what of it?”
“The Exclusive magazine called my office today, and they wanted to feature both of you on their front page and some pages, I think.” Elazar ate another forkful of this food.
“But don’t they only cover celebrities?” Helen asked. “Do they target businessmen now?”
“Exactly, we are not. And don’t you know? Exclusive has a reputation for publishing biased information. I wouldn’t want my face plastered on their magazine.” I sighed and put my utensils down. “They already called us last week, and I had their calls blocked in our system.”
“Have you spoken to them?” Elazar queried.
“No.”
“Well, they reached my assistant’s direct line,” he informed. “And they had been bugging Wallace for days. However, what they offered seemed promising, to be honest. I actually considered letting them cover our estate in Southampton and offered that you use the place for your sports fest.”
“The idea is actually brilliant—covering sports fest and the estate seems to be a good commercial that’d benefit both the apparel and the Stark’s businesses. But Gabriel’s right. Exclusive Magazine is biased.” Coulson shrugged.
“It might’ve been my fault,” Maya interjected. Four pairs of eyes shifted in her direction.
“Why do you say so?” Helen asked.
“It’s Carla. She’s back, and she contacted me. She seems well, and she told me she works as a Marketing Director at Exclusive, and she’s, well, your ex, so I passed her to Wallace’s line.”
I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist in unison. Right. Maya didn’t really know what happened between me and Carla. She knew all this time that Carla and I split because of our differences, nothing else, and she always thought Carla and I still had a chance to reconcile.
Coulson smirked. “Carla Garner. Your greatest nightmare,” he commented. “I thought you already got rid of her?” He shook his head, sighing.
Well, that was what I thought, too.
“What else did she want from your brother?” Elazar asked. “I thought it was her who ended things with him?”
Coulson and I shared the same look. We both knew something they didn’t. Carla didn’t break up with me. I did.
Carla and I had differences, it was true, but she once rescued me from my pathetic self. I couldn’t say that I loved her. Maybe I did not, but I couldn’t trust anyone (except for the Starks), and she was the first person outside the family who showed me I could live normally again.
She made me happy just by staying by my side. She was smart, beautiful, and sweet. She taught me how to fuck, as well as my first. Suddenly I found a new direction in my life, but she betrayed me.
She was just like everyone else, just like the Hopkins.
“Is this the reason why you asked me to come here, Maya?” I asked, trying to calm myself, but I was already burning with anger inside.
“I’m sorry, Gabe. I couldn’t tell you right away.” She pouted. “She said she needs to talk to you, and she’s sorry for everything.”
“And you believed her?” I questioned.
“Of course! This is Carla, the only woman who—”
I shut my eyes. “Alright, that’s enough. See me in the library.” I wiped my mouth with a napkin and sprang up. “I’m sorry,” I apologized to our parents and left the dining room.
A few minutes later, Maya and Coulson came to the library. Coulson remained standing by the door.
“What else did she tell you?” I asked.
“She didn’t tell me anything. I’m really sorry, Gabe. I should have told you.”
“Right, damn, you should,” I said. “Tell her to come to my office tomorrow, and I want you to stop replying to her messages or change your number if necessary. I will deal with her myself,” I concluded.
Coulson tensed up. “Is that alright? You’re just going to let her step into our building? Gabriel, this is Carla. Your crazy ex-fiancée who almost cost us everything.”
“And it will cost us everything if we don’t get rid of her. For good.” I wiped my face down to my chin in frustration.
“Almost cost you—what? What are you two walking about?” Maya questioned. Clearly, she still didn’t know a single thing.
“Maya. Gabriel broke up with her, not Carla,” Coulson finally said. “Something else happened that all of you don’t know, and it’s all her fault.”
Her expression was surprised. “And you know this?”
He sighed. “Yes, but we couldn’t tell you.”
Her eyes widened. “I can’t believe you!” her voice raised. “All this time, you aren’t telling us everything—not even Dad or Mom? And you see now what happened? I let her in again because you didn’t tell me a single thing!”
I looked at her. “Do you really want to know what happened?”
“Yes! I am your sister. I deserve to know!”
I shot Coulson with a look of approval. It took him a few moments to decide, but he eventually shook his head. It wasn’t really my position to tell. In time, maybe.
“Maya, can you excuse us for a minute? I need to talk to Gabriel,” Coulson said. “Please.”
She sighed in defeat. “You’re not really going to tell me, are you?”
I didn’t answer.
“Maya,” Coulson prompted.
“Fine!” she shrieked, then she turned around and stomped away, slamming the door shut as she exited. Coulson waited a few more minutes before he spoke.
“So now tell me? What are you planning to do?”
“I will lure her out of her comfort zone, and then I will make her pay for what she did.”
Coulson walked towards the desk and sat in front of me. “She holds a great threat to all of us, you know that, right? She worked with Thomlinson once, our business rival.”
I looked at him. “She’s not stupid enough to make the same mistake, but she’s up to something, that’s for sure.”
He nodded, and then he crossed his legs. “So what now? Are you really going to keep doing this, Gabriel?”
“Do what?”
“Making people pay for what they did to you. You can never move on if you keep doing this,” he said.
“The last thing I want is you lecturing me,” I retorted. I picked up the stress ball from the desk and squeezed it hard.
“So, the woman who started all your misery appears. Miss Hopkins. What are you going to do about her?” he inserted out of the blue.
Alright, he got me there. Coulson didn’t just become my brother, but my best friend I could count on as well. It was surprising that he knew much more about my life than myself.
“Why should I tell you again? So you could come and try to befriend her like you did earlier in the exhibit? Why did you approach her, Coulson?”
He heaved a sigh. “Gabriel, from the moment you stepped into our lives, we were both troubled, but then you saved me from myself, and it is time I save you from yours. Audrey Hopkins isn’t the person whom you told me she was. I realized that while she was working with us. I say, she’s also a victim of her family’s severity.”
I banged the wooden desk with my fist. “You don’t know what you are talking about.”
“I never wanted to meddle in your affairs, but this woman… She’s rather innocent, diligent, and kind. Can’t you see it? She doesn’t even know you’re still alive.”
“Then don’t meddle,” I said, almost pleading. “I almost died, Coulson, and it’s because of her. I will make her and her family pay for what they did to me. How many times do I have to tell you?”
“But you didn’t,” he retorted. “You didn’t die. You were given a chance.” He raised his hand in surrender, and finally, he sprang up. “I am your friend, Gabriel, not your enemy. I’m saying this because I think you are making a mistake.”