She immediately lowered her gaze after those words left her mouth. Gabriel frowned; he could smell something fishy here. It was clear from her expression that she was lying.“No, you’re not the perpetrator of all this. There must be someone behind you. You will be under my protection, so feel free to tell us the name of whoever ordered you!” Gabriel assured her.Covered with fear, the waitress shook her head and insisted. “It was my idea to put the ring in your blazer pocket, sir.”Gabriel huffed. “And for what? What was your purpose in doing that? Wouldn't it be better if you gave the ring to Nicholas? He will give 100,000 dollars to whoever finds his ring, so putting it in my blazer pocket doesn’t make sense at all. There must be someone behind you, I know, even when you keep denying it,” Gabriel asserted.The waitress’s mouth shut tightly as her hands trembled with fear. Nicholas narrowed his eyes, watching her movements.“Will she reveal who ordered her?” Nicholas muttered to hims

Gabriel answered the call; a soft female voice rang out a second after the call connected.“Gabriel, sorry for bothering you, but there is something I have to tell you.”He furrowed his eyebrows, curious about what Natalie would say.“It’s okay, you’re not bothering me, Natalie. What’s happening?”Natalie sighed heavily as she rolled her eyes. “It’s my family. They want you to come with me to attend a family gathering tomorrow at our villa,” she explained.Gabriel was about to open his mouth to respond, but Natalie swiftly continued. “I feel so guilty putting you in this situation. I already told them you were busy and couldn’t come, but they insisted.”“Wait, you said tomorrow?”“Yeah,” Natalie responded curtly as she nodded. "Since you're in a safe state now, as Robert won't be likely to bother you, I think our pretense needs to be over. Tomorrow I will attend your family gathering, and there, I will announce our breakup. I assure you that it will happen calmly and naturally, so th

“Louis, you can’t go back to the dorm alone. I’ll accompany you! I’m worried about you.” Eleanor took the initiative.Louis looked up at her, a faint smile forming on his lips as he fought back the pain.“But I don’t want to bother you. It’s our first date, and I’m already bothering you.” His words dripped with guilt.She shook her head, reassuring him. “No, you’re not bothering me at all. I’ll take you back to the dorm. I’ll order a taxi online now,” she insisted.Louis let her order one. When his gaze shifted away from her, a sly grin tugged at the corner of his lips. Instead of ordering a taxi online, she sent someone a message.“Louis, hold on. The taxi will arrive soon,” Eleanor said, rubbing his shoulder and comforting him.He nodded, hissing as he held his heavy head. Not long after, Eleanor saw a black car arriving in front of the cafe.“Come on, Louis. I’ll help you up. The taxi has arrived,” she stated as she helped Louis up.Louis’s vision began to blur. He rubbed his eyes,

The waiter nodded and explained, “Yes, I saw your friend, sir. He met a woman and then left with her. A car picked them up, and I saw a burly man get out of it. So they weren’t alone.”Joseph’s eyes widened as he responded. “Was the car that picked them up not a taxi?”“I don’t think it was a taxi,” the waiter confirmed.“Something must have happened to Louis.” Gabriel and Joseph exchanged glances.“I can speak to the restaurant manager and show you the CCTV footage to see the car and the direction they went,” he offered.“Yes, please!”“Okay, please follow me!” The waiter politely asked Gabriel and Joseph to follow him to a room.Before allowing them to enter, he spoke to the manager first. After the manager agreed, Gabriel and Joseph stepped inside.The manager opened the CCTV footage. Their eyes were focused on the footage, which showed a woman directing Louis to get into a car.Gabriel narrowed his eyes. From the recording, they could clearly see the vehicle's license plate. He im

The men turned to her. They narrowed their eyes, studying her face, which was clearly visible even though it was only illuminated by the dim lamplight.One of the men walked over to her. She looked up at the burly man. Her gaze filled with hope.“We won’t let you go, whatever your excuse is. You better shut up or I’ll rip your mouth out!” The threat that escaped the man’s lips made her eyes widen, but her determination remained unwavering.“Please, can you imagine being separated from your children? They really need me.” Her voice was low, filled with pleading.The man snorted, instead of being touched by her words, he mocked her. “Do you think someone like me would be moved by that old, cheap excuse? Our master bought you, so you have no right to anything, even to yourself. Your husband sold you to my master. And tomorrow my master will send you to a better place.” A smirk formed on his lips, followed by an eerie laugh, which sent shivers down the spines of people who were behind bar