“Tsk, what should I do?” Max thought as he ruffled his hair. That man’s gaze was still fixed on the back that shook in sorrow. “Am I being too hard on her?”
After a few seconds, Gabriella was still curled up in tears. Her sad sobs made Max’s heart more uneasy. Grinning, the man considered the situation.
“Should I calm her down?” he muttered doubtfully.
After taking a deep breath, Max finally lifted his wife.
Unexpectedly, Gabriella’s crying stopped in surprise. Her red eyes were then fixed on her husband, full of questions. Every now and then, her shoulders jerked with the remnants of sobs.
“No need to be surprised. I just don’t want you to bother me anymore,” Max said as he led his wife to the sofa.
There, he gently lowered Gabriella and handed her the lunch box. “Eat! Auntie has kindly delivered it to you.”
A second later, Max returned to the secret room, leaving the woman in amazement.
“Is he not mad at me anymore?” Gabriella thought as she stared at the food in front of her.
In an instant, the hunger that had been lost, re-inflamed. With trembling hands, she tried to open the transparent lid.
“You can’t even open a lunch box,” Max quipped, suddenly sitting beside his wife.
After pressing Snowy into Gabriella’s lap, the man opened the box which was indeed locked tightly.
“This. Eat it!”
With a stiff face, Max waited for his wife’s movements. However, three seconds passed, the woman was still unmoved with a question mark hanging over her eyebrows.
“Don’t force me to feed you!” the man threatened.
After sighing softly, Gabriella put Snowy aside. Then, with great difficulty, she grabbed the spoon and began to eat.
Seeing his wife’s progress, Max suddenly sighed in relief and relaxed his tense shoulders.
“After eating, take this!”
The man tore off the medicine strip and put one pill on the lid of the lunchbox. Then, he poured water into a glass. Looking at that rare treatment, Gabriella was pensive again.
“Remember! I don’t want you to bother again. Don’t take it wrong!”
Ignoring Gabriella’s gaze, Max returned to the mockup table. He didn’t want the strange feeling in his heart to show.
“Why do I still care when it’s already clear that she expects farewell to me?” the man thought before closing his eyes.
Realizing that his mind would not be clear, he forced himself to do things. For the first time, Max Evans couldn’t stop thinking about a woman even though they were in the same room.
Meanwhile, behind the CEO’s back, Gabriella continued to chew with a suspicious look.
“Why is that guy suddenly nice to me? Was it because he was bothered by my crying?” she thought before taking a deep breath. After releasing the tightness, the woman turned to her favorite teddy.
“He even brought Snowy to me. Is he planning to throw us out on the street after this?”
Even until the food was finished, Gabriella was still thinking about her husband’s kindness. It was difficult for her to understand the man’s fickle attitude.
“Whatever he will do to me, I have to be ready to accept it. My presence has indeed become a burden on Max’s shoulders.”
After closing the debate in her mind, Gabriella laid down. Her brain needed to rest. While snuggled into Snowy’s arms, she fell asleep.
***
“I’d better continue tomorrow morning,” Max muttered as he stretched his stiff muscles.
Inadvertently, his gaze fell on the woman lying on the sofa. The man’s brows furrowed.
“Why is she sleeping there?” With slow steps, Max approached his wife.
As he studied Gabriella’s face, the CEO involuntarily let out a sigh of relief. Her eyes were no longer puffy, while the lips that were originally pale had become colored.
“Thank goodness you’re getting better.”
Max’s hand moved lightly to stroke the woman’s hair. However, after a while, annoyance rose from his memory. Wasn’t Sebastian also that close to Gabriella?
“You refused to be touched by Roberto. But, why did you let Sebastian do it? Do you like him?” the man whispered with a disappointed streak on his forehead.
Not wanting himself to be caught up in the rage, Max finally lifted his wife and carried her to a comfortable bed.
Just a few steps the man walked, Gabriella’s eyelids opened to greet his stiff expression. Worry suddenly awakened the woman.
“Are you going to throw me out on the street?” she sighed as she checked her surroundings.
“Would you be happy if I let you out on the street?” the man said, testing.
Unexpectedly, Gabriella shook her head. Her hands automatically hugged Snowy tighter. Max’s smile almost broke if his mouth didn’t get the word out soon. “Why?”
“There are a lot of bad people out there,” the woman answered in a low voice.
The man’s heart melted for a moment.
“Aren’t I bad too?” Max asked as he lowered Gabriella onto the bed.
The woman swallowed. “But you’re my husband,” she said, successfully silencing the man’s suspicions. Gabriella sounded like a loyal girl.
Not wanting that trust to fade, Max laid beside and hugged her.
The woman’s brows furrowed in surprise. “What are you doing?”
“I can’t sleep without a bolster,” the man replied casually.
“Isn’t this bed too narrow for both of us?” Gabriella asked doubtfully. She felt strange being so close to the man who had just scolded her.
“Keep quiet, I want to sleep.”
The woman dared not speak anymore. Stroking the teddy sandwiched between them, she pondered what was really going on in Max’s mind.
“This man is very hard to predict.”
***
As soon as she woke up, Gabriella immediately panicked. The exit door was completely closed. There were no gaps in the surrounding walls, other than air holes.
“Why does he lock me here?”
With an exasperated expression, the woman examined the thick plank blocking her path.
“How can I move it?” Gabriella thought as she looked for the lever or the release button.
After a while, the woman sighed in resignation. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she contemplated her fate. “What should I do now?”
Suddenly, the furrows of her brows unraveled by the lunch box and water bottle on the table. A piece of paper was taped to its side.
“Finish your breakfast and medicine, then change! Your clothes are in the closet. I’ll open the door after the morning meeting is over.”
Gabriella’s shoulders slumped limply. “I’m really locked up in this place?”
After looking around, the woman finally made her way to the closet. But, when she was about to take clothes, her gaze was attracted by a box at the bottom of the wardrobe.
“What is this?”
Without thinking, Gabriella took it apart. Photo albums and books greeted immediately.
“Is it Max’s diary?”
The woman took the brown bear picture book and examined it. Child’s writing on the first page immediately provoked a smile.
“Apparently, his writing has been neat since he was a kid,” Gabriella muttered as she started reading.
One minute, two minutes, the woman began to dissolve in the story. Each sentence provoked a different expression. Sometimes she laughed, sometimes she frowned. Little by little, Gabriella got to know her husband through the chatter of a child. Unbeknownst to her, she was digging Max Evans’ deepest secret.
Two hours later, the door finally opened. Gabriella was dressed neatly and sat on the edge of the bed. The lunch box was empty, while her nightgown was neatly folded in the corner of the room.
Looking at the woman’s obedience, the man’s brows furrowed in surprise. “What are you doing?”
“Waiting for you to open the door. I have to go to the toilet,” Gabriella replied before smiling a sweet smile.
Getting that kind of response, Max’s suspicions grew even more.
“What did you do before waiting?” he inquired, glancing around, looking for evidence of his wife’s misbehavior.
“I ate, changed clothes, and waited,” Gabriella said casually.
Despite his hesitation, Max finally sighed. “If you want to go to the toilet, do it now. The driver is waiting for you.”
The woman automatically tilted her head, asking a question. “Where should I go?”
“Home. There’s nothing you can do here, and I have to get out of town soon.”
Gabriella thought for a moment.
“Can I come with you?”
Max spontaneously blinked in disbelief. “You want to follow me out of town? Haven’t you always wanted to stay away from me?”
“Anyone would feel bored if she’s locked up all the time. I wanted to find a new atmosphere,” the woman replied with pursed lips. She realized that the eyes of the man approaching her had narrowed.
“Even if you come with me, you’ll be locked up in a hotel room. There’s no way I can take you to meet clients and potential investors.”
Gabriella looked up at Max who was standing with his hands in the pockets. “No problem,” she said, successfully widening the man’s eyes.
Intrigued by what Gabriella was planning, Max finally nodded. “Okay. But if you cause trouble, you’ll have to pay the price.”
The woman’s mysterious smile immediately answered the challenge. “Let’s test the veracity of the diary,” she thought.