Before Amber could reach Gabriella, Minnie stepped forward to stop her. “What do you want to do, Miss? Please don’t cause a fuss.”
The guest suddenly cast a disappointed look at the butler.
“Why did Auntie defend her? Isn’t it me who you know first? What a disappointment,” Amber grumbled as she opened the bag without looking.
A few seconds later, the lady took out an invitation. “I come to deliver this.”
Gabriella’s brows automatically furrowed. “Why don’t you give it to Max directly?” she investigated suspiciously.
“It’s not for Max, but Miss-Without-Last-Name. Am I right? You don’t have a family name, do you? Just like your father and mother?”
Gabriella’s jaw began to throb with displeasure. “Please don’t insult my family.”
“I don’t insult. Just tell the truth. So, do you want to accept my invitation or not?” Amber raised her eyebrows as if her pride lay there.
“Why do you invite me? Don’t you hate me?” the cautious woman asked.
Suddenly, Amber’s smile spread wider. “If you’re curious about that, can we talk face to face? Hot tea would be good to accompany us.”
The butler immediately turned to Gabriella. As soon as she saw the lady nod, hesitantly, the old woman stepped back.
“I’ll catch up to the back garden with tea and snacks.” With eyes secretly attached to Amber, Minnie came out of the dining room.
“You want to wait for a bodyguard to take you to the back garden?” Amber mocked with a disdainful expression.
Without answering, Gabriella stepped out of the dining room first. She would not allow anyone to look down on Mrs. Evans anymore.
“What do you want to tell me?” the host asked once they sat in the back garden.
“Can’t you relax a little more? I’m not asking you to fight,” Amber said as she placed the invitation on the small table that separated them. “To be honest, I didn’t want to invite you to my engagement party.”
With the same look, Gabriella chimed in, “Then, why do you change your mind?”
“To prove that you’re not the only one who’s good at acting about love.”
Listening to the guest’s suspicion, Gabriella’s heart suddenly raced. However, she tried hard to keep her face from changing. “What do you mean? Who’s acting?”
Amber’s laughter instantly froze the tension. “You think I don’t know? You and Max are playing lovers. What surprised me is how you consulted about love with Aunt Minnie.”
A second later, the lady leaned forward with slightly narrowed eyes and palms at the sides of her lips. “Are you planning on making your play real?”
Gabriella’s jaw throbbed again. “We’re not pretending. Max and I do love each other,” she said coldly and flatly.
“Well, then, you’re already caught up in that handsome CEO game,” Amber nodded without the slightest bit of hesitation. “His perfection must have blinded your eyes so you can’t see what’s real and what’s not.”
Watching the host’s hands begin to squeeze each other, the sly woman secretly smiled.
“You’re still sane enough to know who you are, aren’t you? Is it possible for a man as successful and handsome as Max to choose you as a partner? It is like heaven and earth that will never unite.”
Gabriella swallowed hard and tried to remain firm. “Your provocation won’t work for me.”
“I’m not provoking, but awakening you. You should know that Max’s attention has been fake. Just imagine, a man who has never touched a woman, is suddenly thrust by warmth.”
Once again, Amber leaned forward and whispered, “He only keeps you for having fun. If he is looking for love, he will definitely choose a woman who is on the same level as him. Now, Max is just enjoying his delayed pleasure.”
Gabriella’s ears suddenly felt hot, just as her chest tightened. The guest’s words were dubious, but there might be some truth tucked away in them.
“And, I still remember how he played with you on the table. Do you think it is possible for a man to do that to the woman he loves? Working on it in front of other people?”
“Stop your bullshit,” Gabriella said as she had faltered.
“Julian wouldn’t do that to me. She always treats me like a queen. He also respects my privacy. So, doing that on the table with audience is not a form of love, but a show of the king’s power over his slave.”
Gabriella’s face was no longer straight. Her mind had been weighed down by worry and disappointment. Amber’s explanation did make sense. That’s what first crossed her mind before her heart was colonized by love.
“I feel sorry for you. Don’t be a victim of that handsome CEO. His charm does bring all women to their knees. You are the most unlucky one to be chosen as his slave.”
A second later, Amber stood up, facing the woman who was hiding her face in the shadow of her head.
“It looks like, you need some time to digest my input. So, I’m leaving now. Don’t forget to come to my engagement party. You can see the real example of love there.”
After delivering the closing message, the lady walked away. A crooked smile had hung under her sly eyes.
“My coming here was not in vain,” Amber thought as she looked back. Gabriella was still looking down with her hands gripping in annoyance. “Perfect.”
With lighter steps, Amber left the CEO’s residence. The lady had forgotten the tea she ordered which just arrived at the garden.
“Madam, why are you sitting here alone? Where’s Miss Amber?” Minnie asked as she motioned for the young servant to place the tray on the table.
Hearing the trembling voice, Gabriella quickly took a breath and raised the corners of her lips. “She has gone. There is another agenda that awaits her,” she answered stiffly.
“Did something happen?” the old woman inquired with furrowed brows.
“No,” the woman shook her head as she didn’t want her sadness to be revealed. “Amber just told me why she invites me. She wants me to see her happy.”
Even though Gabriella had tried her best to stabilize the voice, Minnie was still able to detect the vibrations in the young woman’s tone.
“My apologies, Madam. I shouldn’t have left you two.”
“It’s okay. Nothing happened,” Gabriella said as she forced a smile. A second later, the pale woman stood up and swallowed hard. “Sorry, I have to practice now. Excuse me.”
Before the butler could reply, the young woman had already walked away. She couldn’t hide her expression any longer. Tears could fall at any time.
Arriving in the room, Gabriella did not touch the piano. She threw herself on the bed and choked on tears. The flowers that had just sprouted in her heart, had withered and dying.
“Amber is right. I should have realized that Max can’t possibly love me. That man only needs my body,” she sobbed softly. “Why am I so stupid, thinking that he did it out of love?”
Wiping her face, Gabriella got up and took a notebook. The writing that witnessed her love confession looked as if it was mocking. Without hesitation, the woman tore up the page, then threw it in the trash.
“It’s all fake,” she said before turning to the paper about the things Max liked.
With tears in her eyes, she kneaded the white sheet into a ball, then threw it to the same direction. “And it’s completely useless.”
When Gabriella was about to return to Snowy, her eyes fell on the green teddy. In an instant, her breath rumbled louder. The feeling of tightness in the chest was no longer restrained. As her legs had no strength to stand, the woman sat down on the floor, pounding her chest.
“Why does it hurt so much? Is this the punishment for a foolish woman who is incapable of guarding her heart?”
With a shaky breath, Gabriella tried to suppress the vocal cords that were burning with regret. “I can’t love that man anymore. I should not.”
Closing her eyes, the woman steeled her heart. “I can’t be fooled by his attention anymore. It’s all fake,” she sighed, cutting off the hope she’d been nurturing since morning.
The beautiful memories suddenly turned into misery. Gabriella had lost the reason to be happy. As if knowing that she had lost her grip, the woman’s fingers trembled again.