Rebirth of Billionaire's Wife - Chapter 86

Chapter 86: I miss you too

As Eveline heard Gabriel’s words, her heartbeat quickened. All of her internal numbness swirled through her mind.

There were no words for her.

She was so overcome with longing by his tone that it hurt her chest to speak.

All she wanted to say was, “I miss you too,” but she was unable to.

She was afraid Gabriel would reject her or abandon her, so she refrained from speaking.

Gabriel’s heart fell when Eveline ignored him in the interim. He would always feel uncertain when Eveline would not acknowledge his feelings, and he would feel like a loser who was incapable of even winning over a girl.

However, he could not shake an odd feeling that persisted: when and how did Eveline come to change so drastically? How come she felt so cut off from him?

“Can we meet?” he suddenly asked, breaking Eveline’s thoughts and she nodded instantly.

She was not sure why she had initially approved it, but she felt obligated to respond to the statement that she had not received it sooner.

Even though it was odd that they were together most of the time, it was not enough. She felt compelled to talk to Gabriel about something she had forgotten, though.

“I’ll be there to get you,” he said before hanging up the call.

Eveline changed quickly, and after a while, Gabriel arrived to collect her from the Miller Mansion. They then took a car to a remote location where they would be all alone to talk freely.

*****

After witnessing the inebriated Max being hauled by the guards, Stefan turned to face the chief guard, who repeatedly apologized for the trouble.

“Make sure this man does not come here again. If he does, prepare to be jobless for the rest of your life,” Stefan sternly told the man, causing him to tremble.

Stefan shrugged off the man and turned to face Ella, who was still suffering from the fallout from the earlier conspiracy. Her bold attempt to save herself was about to backfire, but Stefan arrived just in time, or else the outcome would have been too shocking to forget.

Walking towards her, he grabbed her hand and guided her towards the elevator.

They arrived at her apartment in less than a minute and entered.

Ella remained silent the entire time, but she could feel Stefan staring at her with excruciating intensity.

With her eyes downcast, she said, “T-Thank you for the help.”

After all that had transpired, Ella was too embarrassed to look at him. The person she became angry with over a pointless joke ultimately came to her aid.

Stefan folded his hands across his chest and studied Ella in silence, glaring at her for being so unaware of her surroundings that she failed to see that Max had been following her.

Had he not noticed him entering the building, perhaps he would not have survived to save her in the first place.

Ella was an intelligent girl, but when she was upset, her intelligence would take a walk.

“Anything else?” he asked, following a protracted silence.

Ella was taken aback by his icy tone and eventually nodded.

Stefan scowled as he observed her gradually raise her head and make eye contact. The innocence in those eyes nearly took him by surprise, and what followed next left him speechless.

Ella hugged him.

She was sorry for being angry with him and scared after whatever was about to happen to her.

She was horrified by Max’s actions and felt bad for having fallen for such a jerk, who was nothing but a shit.

“I am sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten upset with you earlier,” she said, burying her face in his chest.

The sudden proximity to him caused Stefan to stand motionless like a statue.

Although Stefan did not anticipate Ella becoming so affectionate, he could not resist putting his hand around her in return now that she had taken the initiative to apologize.

He just continued to stroke her back, as he had the night she had poured her heart out in front of him, not knowing how else to console her.

“That is alright. I was not angry with you to begin with. Furthermore, I should be the one to apologize for mocking your emotions,” Stefan remarked, his hand still softly caressing her back.

Ella drew back, scowling. “No, it should be me,” she said, shaking her head.

“You could have apologized to me a thousand times, but I still could not ignore you. But believe me, I did recognize my error and I was planning to speak with you tomorrow. But then Max came and-”

The shift in Stefan’s eyes caused Ella to pause. The mention of Max’s name made it slightly darker.

“I think you should file a complaint against him. I don’t think it’s wiser to let him roam freely after whatever he tried doing to you tonight.” Stefan’s words were firm and serious, but Ella instantly refuse with a shake of her head.

“I don’t think it would be a good idea. I don’t want him to lose his job or face any hurdles because of me.”

Upon hearing her statement, Stefan’s expression hardened. “And you think after whatever he did, it will be feasible for you to protect yourself ?” He scoffed, considering Ella’s justification to be too foolish.

“El, he was drunk and god knows what would’ve happened if I didn’t reach on time. He would have-” Stefan’s voice faltered at the thought of Max launching himself at Ella.

He questioned whether she was still infatuated with him, given her attempts to shield him from his flaws. Or was she so stupid to think that he wouldn’t repeat the same mistake after a mere warning?

“That’s not what I mean-” Ella tried to explain; however, Stefan refused to listen.

“I understand your point, El. Do you still hope that Max will take your advice and not contact you again? Am I right?” Ella blinked as she became aware of how quickly Stefan read her mind.

“But you know what? You are giving him an excuse to overwhelm you again by sparing him,” he stated, expressing his thoughts.

Men like Max, who were incapable of accepting shame, would stop at nothing to avoid it, but Ella would not get it since she still believed that the giraffe would heed her warning.

Ella was silent for a moment, considering his words, which made sense, but she still thought it would be too much to report Max.

Ella gave Stefan a pitiful look that only infuriated him because he understood the meaning behind it.

“Okay, give him a chance, but keep in mind that I will not be there to save you every time,” His fake warning brought a smile to Ella’s face.

Stefan couldn’t help but observe her lips, which seemed so tempting with that long stretch and suddenly a thought popped into his mind.

‘I wonder how delicious they would taste.’

“All right, tell me what food I should order for you. I need to feed you well so you will protect me in the future.” Ella pulled away from him, making him miss the warmth in an instant. However, he laughed it off and brushed his thoughts aside.

“You ought to be the one who requires a healthy diet. I wonder whether you could have moved Max if he had not been intoxicated.”

Ella rolled her eyes at his comment and made the independent decision to get takeout instead of enduring his taunts.

****

Eveline rubbed her hand, feeling the cool breeze caress her skin as they stood at the top of the cliff.

Just because he felt it was a quiet and isolated place, Gabriel chose to take Eveline there, despite her reservations.

Gabriel watched Eveline rub her arms and quickly took off his jacket, putting it around Eveline.

“Among all the locations, you discovered a cliff for conversation.” Eveline inquired, pulling her jacket over her shoulder.

Gabriel could tell that the temperature didn’t set well with Eveline as he noticed the tip of her nose turning red.

“Let us sit in the car,” Gabriel said, and they got inside with him adjusting the temperature for her.

Eveline was impressed by Gabriel’s thoughtfulness, but she continued to wear the jacket even when she wasn’t feeling cold any longer.

“Why did you want to meet me?” Eveline asked, striking up a discussion.

When Gabriel realized he had no specific reason for requesting this meet-up, he was at a loss for words and started avoiding her gaze.

Observing the contemplation in his expression, Eveline gritted her teeth in frustration.

“You took us all the way to this abandoned location purely for amusement?” she questioned, her tone laced with mockery.

With discomfort, Gabriel cleared his throat.

“I simply wanted to meet you because I missed you,” he repeated those words from the call earlier caught Eveline scoffing at him hysterically.

Gabriel, I simply cannot believe you! How come you seem to be missing me when you have been clinging to me all day like a bug?”