Rebirth of Billionaire's Wife - Chapter 77

Chapter 77: Why did it feel so real?

With a nervous gulp, Tiffany dropped the food and turned to face Susan. She sensed that her mother was suspicious of her motive for carrying this picture, and Susan would not believe her explanation, whatever it might be.

“M-Mom I…” Tiffany was about to say something, but before she could get her mouth working, their house door burst open and Jacob entered.

Tiffany stared in shock at her father, who looked slightly drunk but not nearly drunk enough to collapse any time soon. Still, his arrival gave her a brief window of opportunity to flee.

“I appreciate the supper. I am going to bed,” Tiffany said as she hurried from the dining area, racing into her room and shutting the door behind her.

Sensing her intention, Susan sighed and quickly looked away to tend to her husband.

“Why do you not give up drinking? Are you unaware of how seriously it is harming your health?” Susan spoke as she observed Jacob take a few steps to balance on the chair in front of the table.

Despite his inebriation, he was able to understand what she was saying and the moment she asked him to stop drinking, he let out a humorless chuckle.

“Did you forget why I started drinking in the first place?” he asked, staring at her with a brooding expression.

Susan paused, her face hardening as his words struck a chord deep inside her.

“How long will you allow your suffering to overcome you? Did you not do that some years ago? Perhaps our lives would not have to be like this,” she remarked.

“You still think I made a mistake? I was this close to getting what I wanted, but he ruined it and you cheap women ask him for help,” Jacob said, sounding disgusted as he recalled Susan’s decision to work for Jonathan even though she was aware of his intense dislike for the man.

They too would have been wealthy, just like them, had he not betrayed him.

“Years have passed since that incident occurred, and since I simply forgot, you ought to follow suit. Rather than being angry with him, you ought to be grateful that he still gave your wife a job even after knowing what you did to him.” Susan stated it.

Seeing his wife remain faithful to the man who was the cause of their life’s decline in quality infuriated Jacob.

Thud!

“I am not hungry anymore,” Jacob declared as he got up and left the house, leaving Susan speechless.

“How long will you continue to hold others accountable for your errors?” she muttered accusingly as she got up, becoming disinterested in the dinner.

****

[Study Room]

When they eventually decide to call it a night after two hours of study, Eveline quickly gathers her books and gets ready to go. But Gabriel stopped her before she could get to the door.

“You desire to express something; what is it?” he inquired, halting her in her tracks.

After giving her some thought, Eveline turned to face Gabriel. In a matter of seconds, he was in front of her, taking long strides in her direction.

Though shocked, Eveline quickly composed herself and cleared her throat, to which Gabriel responded with a scowl.

“My throat seems to be in perfect condition.” She clarified further, saying, “I am just getting ready to talk.”

Eveline rarely stopped speaking her mind, and especially when it came to him, Gabriel had no idea why she was so thoughtful in her remarks. But now that she wanted to take a moment to gather her thoughts, who was he to stop her?

Eveline took a deep breath and forced her gaze to meet Gabriel’s, saying, “I will be grateful for your help this time, even though you did not need to get involved in my situation.”

Gabriel became glum upon hearing her unthankful remarks. Still, he bided his time until she was done.

“So, thanks, but please do not waste your time attempting to assist me in the future.” She concluded only to find Gabriel’s face void of any emotion.

“Are you done?” he inquired, surprising Eveline, but all she could do was nod.

“Good, feel free to leave,” he said, turning to leave the study and shutting the door behind him, leaving Eveline behind.

Eveline needed a few moments to come out of her daze before she hurried outside and witnessed Gabriel’s retreating figure.

She couldn’t understand whether Gabriel agreed with her or not; however, she considered the latter and slowly made her way to her room.

****

[Hayes Mansion]

“What is so important on that phone of yours that you are not paying attention to what you are eating?” Nancy observed Stefan occupied typing on his phone.

His face flashed a small smile before he cut the conversation short to focus on the dinner.

“Just a casual conversation,” he winked at Nancy, capturing her attention.

“Are you dating someone?” she asked abruptly.

“Ahem!” Marcus cleared his throat, seizing both his wife’s and son’s attention.

“Do you not think that discussing women with him is too normal? Did you forget that he had been acting silly for a while, and this is how you are responding to him?”

Marcus was thankful that Stefan had refrained from going overboard and getting any girls pregnant, even though he was aware of his playful nature. However, as he entered the real world, he wanted his son to take responsibility for his actions and begin dating or pursuing women seriously.

“What’s wrong in asking him that?” Nancy said, glaring at Marcus, who immediately lowered his eyes fearfully.

Stefan laughed as he observed his father act like a dutiful child in front of his mother.

“I am not dating anyone, Mom. I am just talking to a friend, so do not make any assumptions.” After clearing the room and consuming his meal rapidly, Stefan headed upstairs to his room.

He collapsed onto the springy mattress, opened his phone, and perused Ella’s text.

‘ Please refrain from considering that your words affect me, because they don’t. I simply removed my glasses because I no longer felt the need to wear them.

Stefan typed back, grinning as he read her response.

‘Okay, if that’s what you say. By the way, I didn’t lie when I complimented you. Your eyes are truly as beautiful as your face.

Stefan wondered what her reaction would be this time. It was unusual for him since he never planned to compliment someone on their appearance, but with Ella, he could not help but think she was one of the most stunning women he had ever seen.

A minute passed and he didn’t get a response, so he assumed that Ella would have been flabbergasted by his remark. Still, he believed it to be true.

Stefan put down his phone and took out his laptop from its case, placing it on his lap. “Anyway, let us get back to the work Gabriel gave me,” he said.

He had no trouble obtaining the college footage, but he needed to exercise caution so as not to draw attention from the employees.

Stefan went about his work, sliding into the surveillance and obtaining the necessary footage as he typed smoothly on the keypad.

“Gabriel was correct, after all. Something is happening between them,” he whispered.

Stefan followed up with Tiffany’s background information after Gabriel’s suspicions were confirmed, and to his surprise, the girl turned out to be the daughter of the person who has been taking care of Eveline for many years.

His eyes widened as he processed the details about the young woman, “Tiffany is Aunt Susan’s daughter,” he exclaimed.

“Is Eveline aware of it?” he asked, wondering why no one else knew about it either.

*****

Gabriel’s eyes darkened as soon as Stefan disclosed the most crucial detail about Tiffany’s identity and her being the biological daughter of Aunt Susan.

It was unexpected because they had never planned to delve into great detail about Tiffany’s past, so it makes sense that the result left them perplexed.

However, they just can’t blame Susan for being Tiffany’s mother because, from what they had seen, the lady was quite fond of Eveline and looked after her like her own child.

Gabriel typed, “I doubt Eveline knows this,” and Stefan answered in a split second.

“Indeed, but we must tell her now. Hopefully, we can stop Tiffany from pursuing Eveline with Aunt Susan’s assistance.”

Gabriel considered what he had said, then gave his approval. But given that he is the root of the entire problem, how are they going to reveal this one?

Gabriel was hesitant to believe Eveline when she said that Tiffany was interested in him, even though Tiffany was now persistently pursuing Eveline in the wrong ways.

Gabriel put down his phone and stepped out onto the balcony, his head spinning with all kinds of things.

Standing by the railing, Gabriel closed his eyes and tried to ease his mind from those thoughts. His body relaxed with each breath, but suddenly, like a lightning bolt, he was taken aback by a vision that caused his eyes to pop open.

“Eveline!” he screamed, extending his hand in the air.

His entire body shivered while his eyes frantically looked for the sigh of the girl he just called out in panic. However, he didn’t seem to find it.

It was then that it dawned on Gabriel that all of that was just his imagination.

‘But why did it feel so real?’ he muttered, still not able to wind up his thoughts.

Gabriel became intrigued by this dream; he began to regard it as a real event rather than an illusion.