Chapter 204
Chapter 204:
The young man didn’t follow or press further. He simply watched her retreat, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he murmured to himself, “Do I really look like a thug or something p>
Gabriela couldn’t hear him as she was already slipping into the car.
When she returned, only Miriam was left behind, quiet in the vast, empty house. Wesley and Brenden were away at a family dinner, and Loretta had gone back to the countryside.
Gabriela slipped into her room with a first aid kit, carefully dabbing ointment onto her bruised elbow. The sting made her wince, but it was nothing compared to the questions swirling in her mind. She turned the incident over again and again, yet no clear answer surfaced. Aside from Phyllis, she couldn’t think of any woman who held such hatred toward her. And the woman in the car didn’t resemble Vivian at all.
Could it have been nothing more than some spoiled rich girl tearing through the streets, reckless and thoughtless?
That would be far too convenient.
J𝗼𝗂ո t𝗁𝗼us𝘢𝗻𝗱ѕ 𝗼𝖿 𝗳а𝘯ѕ 𝗼𝗻
Gabriela picked up her phone and called Tyler. Transferring money to his account, she asked him to pull strings and see if surveillance footage could be recovered from that stretch of road.
Tyler readily agreed but refused the money.
“Please take it, Tyler,” Gabriela said. “I’ll need your help again in the future p>
Only then did he relent. In fact, his bar had been struggling, and he was strapped for cash.
“Don’t worry, Gabriela,” he said firmly. “I’ll have someone look into this p>
The enemy of his friend was his enemy as well. There was a dangerous edge beneath his promise, as though he was prepared to go further than she had asked.
“Thanks, Tyler p>
After hanging up, Gabriela stared at Wesley’s number in her contact list. Her thumb hovered over it for a long moment, but in the end, she let the screen go dark without making the call.
Though Wesley had told her she could turn to him whenever trouble found her, Gabriela knew how busy he was. For something so small, she preferred to bear it alone.
Meanwhile, Wesley and Brenden arrived at their grandfather’s residence.
The house stood in the eastern district, its modest façade blending almost too perfectly with the neighboring rows of homes. Only the two stony-faced bodyguards stationed at the entrance betrayed its importance, their presence lending a gravity that the house itself did not boast.
Inside, it was alive with voices. The entire Moss family had gathered to celebrate the New Year.
In the living room, a dozen younger relatives clustered together, their laughter and chatter filling the air—until Wesley and Brenden stepped in.
A hush fell almost instantly, respect laced with unease.
Wesley’s quiet dominance seemed to press upon the room, stirring a tangle of emotions in the hearts of the younger generation: envy at his brilliance, jealousy of his standing, fear of his authority, and the burning ambition to one day rise above him.
Before long, the servants arrived with coffee, setting the cups down with practiced grace.
The first to speak was Davion Moss, one of Wesley’s cousins. His eyes flicked toward Billy standing behind Wesley, and a crooked smirk tugged at his lips. “Wesley, since when do you bring your assistant to family gatherings? Careful, people might mistake this for a business meeting p>
Wesley offered no reply.
Billy, for his part, stood tall and composed, as though he hadn’t heard a word. The silence cut deeper than any retort. Davion’s smirk faltered, his expression darkening with humiliation.
He quickly pivoted, his gaze landing on Brenden. “Ah, and Brenden’s here too? Wesley, it’s one thing to drag an assistant into the old house, but why a Saunders p>
Brenden’s smile froze mid-curve.
Though his father was a Moss, his parents’ divorce had left him carrying his mother’s surname. The word “outsider” followed him every time he crossed this threshold.
Yet Wesley never treated him as such. To Wesley, Brenden’s blood was Moss through and through.
Still, other members of the Moss family were unfriendly toward him, viewing him as a threat to their share of the inheritance.