Chapter 5

Gabriel stormed over and pulled Linda up from the floor. He gently wiped the tears from her face with his long fingers. The tenderness in his touch was almost too much for Eliana to bear. He turned to Eliana, his eyes cold as ice. "Eliana, I never thought you could be so ruthless." With an arm around Linda's waist, Gabriel spoke in a firm, commanding tone. "You want to press charges? Fine. But let me tell you, as long as I'm here, no lawyer in Southview will dare take your case." Then, without even glancing back, he walked out with Linda. Jamie grabbed a piece of fruit from the bedside table and hurled it at Eliana. "You witch!" Hannah lifted a vase and threw it at Eliana. "Go to hell!" The glass shattered against Eliana's forehead, slicing a gash that sent blood running down her cheek. After venting their anger, the two kids chased after Gabriel, leaving the room a wreck. Eliana sat there in a daze, blood and tears mingling as they dripped onto the crisp white sheets. A nurse peeked her head in, trying to sound gentle. "Ms. Winters, there's a phone call for you." Moving like a lifeless shell, Eliana picked up the receiver. The voice on the other end was cold and professional. "Ms. Winters, we've received orders from higher management. We can't proceed with your case. If you insist on pursuing it, our advice is to drop the charges and try your luck in another city." The phone slipped from her fingers. Eliana suddenly started to laugh. It was a hollow, shaking laugh that wracked her whole body. These were the children she had nearly died bringing into the world. The ones she had devoted her entire life to raising. And this was the man she had loved her whole life. "Fine. I'll drop it." Two days later, Eliana came home from the hospital to find Linda settled comfortably on the living room couch, the kids cuddled up beside her. Gabriel stepped out of his study, his face cold. "Nobody was here to look after the kids while you were in the hospital. They like Linda, so she's going to stay for a while." He paused before continuing, "You don't care about your own kids anyway, do you?" Eliana just smiled and said nothing. Then she went straight to her room. In the days that followed, it was like she'd become a completely different person. She stopped doing housework. Dirty laundry piled up, dust covered the floors, and the kitchen reeked of spoiled leftovers. By the fifth evening, Gabriel finally lost his patience. He burst into her room. "Eliana! How long are you planning to keep this up?" Eliana was reading and didn't even look up. "I'm not keeping anything up." "Then what is all this supposed to mean?" He could barely contain his anger. "You're not cooking, not doing the laundry, and not cleaning." Eliana calmly closed her book. "I have other things to do besides that." Jamie suddenly rushed in, his face red with anger. "What else could you possibly do? You're just a housewife. Other than chores, what do you even know how to do?" Hannah followed right behind, pouting. "You're just being lazy! You're mad about what we did." Her eyes were full of resentment. Eliana gave a small, cold smile. "Isn't Dr. Shaw here? She's your favorite, right? Let her take care of you." "Linda isn't supposed to do this kind of stuff!" Jamie snapped. "She's a doctor! She needs her hands for surgery!" "Yeah!" Hannah chimed in. "Linda plays piano. She knows Virellan. She teaches us about science! All you do is cook. What else can you do?" Every word hit Eliana like a knife. Watching her kids regard Linda with such worship, she felt something sharp twist in her chest. "Enough," Gabriel finally snapped, fed up. "I don't have time for all this drama." He pulled two tickets from his pocket and tossed them on the bed. "Didn't you always want to go on a date with me? Tomorrow afternoon. Ice skating." His eyes were cold as he said, "After that, I expect you to get your act together." With that, he turned and walked out, the kids trailing behind him. Jamie slammed the door shut on their way out. Eliana picked up the tickets and gave a bitter laugh. In her past life, she had begged Gabriel to spend time with her. He always brushed her off, saying he was busy and had no time for her boring requests. But now, he was offering to spend time with her just to make her do the chores.