The Ultimate Chance-Chapter 66

Song recommendation: avant toi—Vitaa & Slimane

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"That’s not what I expected from your sudden visit." He raised the glass in his hand to offer her a drink. "Scotch?"

"No."

"Gin?"

"Answers. That’s all I want. Thank you." She glanced around for a place to sit and chose the couch closest to the elevator, once again earning a teasing laugh from him.

"You give me too little credit. If I wanted to hurt you, do you think you would be here?"

He was right. This was his hideaway and he had to let his guests in before they could access the elevator. The fact that she still had access meant he still thought of her as someone he could trust.

She would never admit it to him. "Gabe, I need to know why you hate him so much. It’s important to me."

He hummed and poured himself more scotch at the bar. "You already know. If you didn’t think there was a good reason for my hatred, you would still be keeping your distance from this monster." He pointed at himself.

She looked down. "He told me some things I found, well, unbelievable."

"About our mother?" He guessed. "That’s so much like that D’Aboville dork. He wants to paint a bad picture of our family. But did he mention that he was using you?"

"Yes."

"He did?" He was shocked.

She shrugged. "It was time. Is it true? Our mother and his grandfather..."

"Don’t talk about it." He approached carefully and when she didn’t scurry away, sat down at the other end of the couch.

"When I found out, I thought you were not my sister. But who cared whether our fathers were different? You were my sister nonetheless and I loved you."

It suddenly clicked. "Your obsession with me...you actually meant to protect me?"

She finally understood how he felt but it didn’t matter much anymore. Even if she had found out that her relationship with Damon was a human-sized lie, she didn’t look like she had any intention to end it.

He inched closer. "I just wanted to make sure if we one day found out we were not siblings, you would still want to be my sister."

"Stop." She didn’t want to hear his reasons. "I now know you meant well but that doesn’t mean you didn’t ruin my life. Do you have any idea how it feels like growing up on your own because everyone is too scared to befriend you? Do you know how I felt every time I entered a room and everyone went silent because I was ’Gabe Vaillant’s sister’ and annoying me in the slightest was equal to a crime?"

"It took me ages to come out of your shadow. And then what? You try to kill me for falling in love? Which brother does that?" She accused him angrily.

It sounded exaggerated but she wasn’t wrong. If he didn’t meddle, she would never have been locked in her room for long enough to want to take her life.

"I don’t blame you that much for being an overbearing asshole." She took a deep breath. "But you tried to kill my son."

"I didn’t." He cut her off.

"I saw you."

"I was putting him back in the incubator where he belonged at the time—after fighting an assassin in the disguise of a nurse."

"Excuse me?" She huffed at his explanation that sounded like something out of his imagination.

"Someone was going to kill your child that night, Vivi. But it wasn’t me. I only came to check on you. I couldn’t muster the courage to face you after our last fight but my sister had just become a mother. I’d become an uncle. How could I not come?"

She didn’t know whether to believe him but she listened nonetheless.

"I was watching secretly when I took notice of this strange nurse. I hadn’t seen his face but I knew your attending nurse was a woman. I had suspicions that were, unfortunately, right. He was there to kidnap your son."

"I will only believe you if you show me where to find this creepy nurse."

He went silent and that was more scary than what he was saying.

"Did you kill him?" She asked dreadfully.

"I only wanted him to tell me who sent him. He didn’t comply and the torture went too far."

She slapped her forehead. Could he solve anything without violence?

If what he was saying was true, it explained why he was set free so fast. He must have provided sufficient evidence that he wasn’t guilty of what he was being accused of. She had not wanted to get any updates on the case in fear of his retaliation.

"So I don’t know who tried to kill my son. Just great." She lamented.

"Would you rather it was me?" He joked.

She had not considered it. "Actually, I think that would be better. I would know what to do to make you stop."

He didn’t miss her unsaid words. She would kill him and be done with it.

"I should get going."

"Aren’t you going to let me see my nephew, as apology for mistaking me for a murderer?" He asked with a smile she found creepier by the second.

"You want to see my son, who is also Damon D’Aboville’s son?" She challenged.

"Who cares who his father is? He is your son and that’s what matters." He stood, ready to follow her.

"No. You are not going anywhere." She warned him.

"Do you think I wouldn’t see him if I tried hard enough? I’m just respecting your choice by asking for permission." He snickered.

"That’s not how you ask for permission. That’s how you pin pressure on someone until they have no choice but to do your bidding. You haven’t changed a single bit."

He laughed and followed her into the elevator despite her panic.

When he entered her car, a cold sweat broke out on her neck. "I’ll have to search you, Gabe." She told him.

"Go ahead. Wait. I forgot something." He bolted out of the car and she followed him. There was no way she could risk letting him hide something he shouldn’t.

He opened a his closet and she was baffled. Instead of the skeletons she was expecting, wrapped gift boxes fell out. They were all in pairs, one in each pair labelled with a ’happy birthday’ sticker.

"It’s not my son’s birthday." She corrected him.

"I knew. These are presents I wanted to send to you on his birthdays." He tore off one of the stickers. "These are no longer needed."

He found a large box and threw in five of the gifts, slotting the rest into her arms. "These are for you."

"For me?" She blinked in confusion.

"Well, Angel’s birthday is the day you had him. In fact, all he did was be born. You did all the work. You deserve the gifts more than he does, if you ask me."

She shook her head. He was crazy.

"Do you want to inspect the gifts for bombs?" He asked.

She knew he was teasing her, and she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing his words got to her. So with a shrug, she tore the first gift wrapper open. It was a cute dress and matching white onesies.

"Uhm, that’s four years overdue." He scratched his head.

She quickly returned the gift into its box. Gabriel was a trickster. She had come here confused and seeking answers, and she was going back home with her enemy in her car to see her son.

...

Angel rushed out to meet her as soon as her car entered the garage. He was pleasantly surprised that she was back so soon but before she could hug him, he noticed the man in the car and hugged her legs to hide from him.

Gabriel got off the car with a smile. "Angel! I finally get to meet you. Aren’t you the cutest?"

The boy hugged his mother’s legs tightly to get away.

"Baby, this is my brother. He is your uncle. Do you want to say hi?"

He shook his head vigorously.

Avery was secretly relieved. "Too bad, my baby doesn’t often accept strangers."

"Strangers." The word felt bitter in his mouth. It was his fault that it had spiralled to both of them being suspicious of him so he didn’t blame them. He could see the relief on his sister’s face. She was still wary of him.

"I guess you need to get back to work so I’ll get out of your hair." He took out one of the gifts to give to Angel.

When he avoided it like the plague, he opened it and took out the fire fighter’s truck Angel was obsessed with.

As expected, the boy inched closer to take a look and looked up to his mother to silently ask for permission to accept it.

"It’s a present from your uncle. Do you want to accept it?" She nudged him.

Gabriel placed the truck on the ground and turned to leave. "See you if you ever want to see me, Vivi."

Her eyes dimmed. She didn’t mean to be so unfriendly. But how could she trust anyone when her world had just shattered yet again? The man she thought had tried to hurt Angel was not the culprit...but what if he was steering her away from his crime so she would lower her guard?

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AN

Scheduled mass release on Wednesday at reset. Yay!

Check out my other books:

Taming The Villainess.

The Helio’s Bride.