Chapter 233
Chapter 233:
Back at the office, she locked herself in a bathroom stall and took the test. Two red lines appeared. Gabriela’s heart turned to ice. She really was pregnant. One single slip, and fate had landed its cruelest blow. Her luck was rotten beyond belief.
She stumbled back to her desk in a haze—only to find a package waiting for her. Gabriela was puzzled. She hadn’t ordered anything in ages. Why would there be a package under her name? After a long pause, she tore it open.
Inside lay a women’s crossbody bag, vintage in both color and design. Though she didn’t recognize the brand, the fine stitching and supple leather left no doubt—it was costly. Beside the bag rested a card. On it was a name that made her breath hitch: Brenden.
Her desk was right next to Tessa’s. Whenever Gabriela didn’t need to be in the CEO’s office, she often worked there instead. At that moment, the office had emptied for lunch—everyone except Tessa, who remained hunched over her keyboard. As the head of the executive office, she bore much more pressure than anyone else. She devoured work with an almost frightening intensity, returning from lunch…
Breaks to attack her tasks with renewed fury. Sometimes her relentless drive made even Gabriela’s pulse quicken with secondhand anxiety.
The moment Gabriela peeled back the package tape, Tessa’s peripheral vision caught the movement. Her head snapped up, eyes widening as they locked onto the contents. Work forgotten, Tessa spun her chair around with the swift precision of a hawk spotting prey.
Panic shot through Gabriela. She crammed Brenden’s card beneath a stack of papers, her movements clumsy with unease.
“Wait!” Tessa’s voice pitched higher with excitement. “Is that a vintage luxury bag? That particular model runs tens of thousands! I’ve been eyeing it for months but can’t bring myself to pull the trigger p>
Tens of thousands?
𝖳hо𝘶ѕ𝗮n𝘥𝘴 of 𝗋𝗲a𝗱e𝗋𝘴 𝗈n ѕ.соm
The number hit Gabriela like ice water.
“So who’s your generous benefactor?” Tessa leaned forward, practically vibrating with curiosity.
“I—I don’t know,” Gabriela fibbed.
Tessa’s tongue clicked in mock disapproval. “What can I say? Beauty like yours attracts mysterious admirers from thin air p>
“Maybe it was delivered to the wrong person.” Gabriela’s voice sounded hollow even to her own ears.
Tessa finally surrendered and swiveled back to her computer fortress.
Gabriela’s fingers trembled as she unfolded the hidden card. Three words blazed up at her in Brenden’s familiar scrawl: “Love you, Brenden.” Revulsion crawled across her skin like insects. Her stomach churned with fresh nausea.
For crying out loud. What on earth was Brenden thinking? Had he broken things off with Renee and decided she was his next conquest? That blacked-out night haunted her like a phantom limb. She remembered nothing and knew nothing of what had happened between them—and that ignorance left her defenseless against whatever weapons he might wield.
Her fingers flew across her phone screen as she texted “NotASaunders,” asking, “Why did you send me such an expensive bag, Mr. Saunders p>
The response materialized instantly. “What p>
She snapped photos—the bag in all its luxurious glory, the card with its stomach-turning declaration—and fired them into cyberspace.
Elsewhere, Wesley’s jaw clenched as the images loaded. His handsome features twisted into something dark and predatory. That bastard Brenden. He had never cared about Brenden’s revolving door of girlfriends—until now. Until Brenden had dared set his sights on Gabriela.
Wesley texted back with an icy expression: “Wrong recipient. Meant for girlfriend number forty-nine. Delivery error p>
Gabriela stared at her screen, stunned.
Another message appeared. “Well, since you opened it, everything’s been contaminated now. I can’t exactly regift it to my girlfriend. Just throw it away p>
Rage flared in her chest like struck kindling. Throw it away? That bag cost more than most people’s monthly salary. And he had the nerve to call her contamination?
Pure spite crystallized into resolve. She refused to do as he instructed. Her gaze drifted to Tessa, still buried in her work like a woman racing against time itself, and an idea began to bloom.